Windrush: Arrival 1948 @ the V&A

This immersive, interactive installation personalised the destruction of the original Windrush landing cards for participants, who not only explored digital recreations and passenger journeys but completed their own landing card, which was subsequently stamped and shredded by a facilitator.

This impersonal and alienating environment gave way to the warmth of the Caribbean Front Room space, where participants joined a craft workshop to weave the shreds of their landing card back together into a unique square of woven card.

In the comfort and kitsch of the Caribbean Front Room, participants engaged with the story of how Caribbean crafting practices contributed to the creation of communities and Caribbean settlement in the UK.

Each square of newly woven card contributed to an evolving, collaboratively crafted tapestry of arrival stories, redeeming the alienating, and for some shocking, experience of navigating the Hostile Environment.

Based on a new transcription of the Windrush passenger list held at The National Archives, the installation built on a series of exhibitions across 2019 responding to research by Goldsmiths Historian Dr John Price and designer and lecturer, Rose Sinclair.

Location: Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK