BCVA recently welcomed Kamal Badhey, an American documentary photographer and PhD researcher from New York, who joined one of our community workshops with Punjabi participants at the Black Country Living Museum (BCLM).
Kamal’s doctoral research, funded through the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and hosted by the University of Brighton, explores themes connected to migration, photography and community archives. As part of her research, Kamal will be working closely with BCVA and the Apna Heritage Archive, conducting interviews and developing new research perspectives around the archive’s growing collection of stories and photographs.
BCVA Chair Anand Chhabra is supporting the project as a supervisor and will help facilitate research activities and community engagement opportunities throughout the course of the programme.
Kamal was particularly keen to begin meeting members of Punjabi communities in the Black Country during the first year of her research. This visit marks her second time in the region, and it provided an opportunity for her to begin building relationships with community participants whose stories form part of the archive.
The PhD research will continue over the next three years, and BCVA looks forward to supporting Kamal as she develops her work. We are excited to see how her research will contribute new insights and discoveries connected to the Apna Heritage Archive and the wider history of Punjabi migration in the region.
Educational officer at BCLM Janine Downs welcomes the community of ladies to BCLM and wishes to readdress narratives about the Punjabi community for their forthcoming Forging Ahead project at the Museum. IMAGE ©BCVA (An Arts Council Funded project)
The community of ladies enjoy the objects put on show for them by BCLM c1950s-1970s and they re-ignite memories of the post war era in the UK and their subsequent migration to the BC region. IMAGE ©BCVA (An Arts Council Funded project)
PhD student Kamal Badhey looks on to join the discussion as group leaders gather ladies to share their images and stories of the early years of migration. IMAGE ©BCVA (An Arts Council Funded project)
Sharing a photograph like this is indicative of the working lives of many Punjabis with this fantastic image of sewing machines at home in the Black Country. IMAGE ©BCVA (An Arts Council Funded project)
Ladies share some fascinating and emotive stories testament to their struggle to settle in the Black Country during the 1960s-80s IMAGE ©BCVA (An Arts Council Funded project)