Special Wolverhampton exhibition to mark 70th anniversary of Windrush voyage
Photographs, artwork and memorabilia will take over an art gallery to mark seven decades since the Windrush voyage.
The new exhibition packed with photographs, artwork and video will pour into Wolverhampton Art Gallery from June 9.
It will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the arrival of Empire Windrush at Tilbury Docks, which brought more than 1,000 West Indian Migrants to Britain on June 22, 1948.
Councillor John Reynolds, Wolverhampton council's cabinet member for city economy, said: "The anniversary of Windrush is an iconic one and I am pleased that Wolverhampton Art Gallery is going to highlight an unforgettable time in our city’s – and our nation’s – history.”
Windrush 70 will feature a projected slideshow of pictures shot by photographer Nick Hedges, showing Caribbean workers in Black Country industries in the 1970s.
Previously unseen images capturing the community spirit in Wolverhampton's Caribbean churches will also be displayed at the exhibition, which has been specially curated to mark the anniversary.
Paintings by Jamaican artist Sylbert Bolton, along with vintage video footage of Wolverhampton’s African Caribbean Achievers Awards, will also take centre stage.
The exhibition at the Lichfield Street gallery will feature recorded memories of the Windrush Generation – those who arrived in Britain from the West Indies in the post-war period.
Families are being encouraged to stop by at the free exhibition, which will leave the art gallery on July 29.
As part of the celebrations, there will be a special screening of 'A Charmed Life' - which tells the tale of Jamaican-born RAF man Eddie Martin Noble, who inspired Andrea Levy’s award-winning book Small Island.
Noble was stationed in East Anglia during the Second World Ward and his autobiography 'Jamaican Airman' explored his wartime experiences and living in Britain during the 1950s.
The screening, at the gallery from 2pm on June 23, will be followed by a question and answer sessions with the film's Wolverhampton-born director Patrick Vernon.
The film was the catalyst for the Windrush Day Campaign, launched by Vernon in 2013.
