No Turning Back
Seven Migration Moments That Changed Britain
Migration Museum at The Workshop, 26 Lambeth High St, SE1 7AG
20 SEPTEMBER 2017 - 9 SEPTEMBER 2018
Free
Immigration is a hot topic in today's political climate, and whilst issues surrounding it may seem to resonate largely with the modern world, it is actually an occurrence which has been tackled since the beginnings of time. The Migration Museum opened in April last year, hoping to shed light on stories of those who do not usually get a voice and educate others on their struggle. Originally focusing largely on the refugee crisis, The Migration Museum's current exhibition 'No Turning Back', focuses on the history of global-scale migration.
Within the exhibition, seven key moments in Britain's migration history are explored. These are: The expulsion of the Jews in 1290, the arrival of the Huguenots in 1685, the voyages that gave rise to the birth of the British Empire, the first attempt to restrict immigration in 1905, the earliest moments of jet-powered aviation, the popular cultural moments of the 1970's and, finally, the population realities outlined in the 2011 Census.
The first half of the exhibition works largely as a historical education, there is not much art documenting this time and the few pieces which do exist are a mixture of documentary painting and photographs. As the exhibition progresses, however, lots of different mixed media is introduced: from embroidery to personal stories and sculpture. An addition which I really liked were quotes hanging from the walls. Displayed in a non-linear fashion, a variety people from different periods were able to speak out and contribute to the overall effect of the exhibition.
An area which stood out to me were the small boat sculptures, used to signify Windrush. Windrush, which is currently celebrating its 70th anniversary, was a ship which saw 1027 West Indian passengers on a voyage from Jamaica to Britain. Despite common belief, this was not actually the first movement of West Indian's to Britain, but it was by far the largest and most significant, and certainly changed the face of Britain forever. I found these small boats incredibly moving as despite their size and delicate structure, the sheer number of them was symbolic and suggestive, whilst the different patterns and colours on each boat adequately represented the changing appearance of Britain at this time, resulting in a heightened cultural diversity.
Another moving piece in the exhibition was Deiedre Kelly's 'Communicazioni'; a collage and thread piece on a map. Kelly explains being drawn to the map due to it's compact shape, how the continents appear as bodily organs and the red threaded flight paths as veins. The addition of human arms bringing the whole work together symbolises not only the joining of people from all over the world, but also the fact that no matter where you are from on Earth, we all share the exact same insides, and are all unequivocally human.
The introduction of a passenger jet service made the movement of people across the world possible in a way that had been previously unimaginable, and changed a number of lives. A personal story which stood out was that of Ahmad al-Rashid, who claimed on his first flight he "enjoyed the feeling of being a human being moved from one place to another without being shot at, drowned or suffocated in the back of a truck. That fake passport and flight have changed my life and fate for good."
The exhibition closes with the rise of mixed-race Britain. The multi-racial family has become a symbol of modern Britain: even the opening of the London Olympics featured a black father and white mother sitting around a family dinner table. In the 2011 Census, there was an 85% increase in those describing themselves as 'mixed or multiple ethnic', compared with the previous in Census in 2001. On this subject, Andy Barter takes some fantastic family portraits, detailing the true 'modern family' of Britain today. In the image above, taken from his series, you can see three completely different nationalities embedded within three generations: a white mother with an mixed-Asian daughter who has a mixed-Black son.
Other works by Angelica Dass explore the notion of being 'mixed race'. Her play on Pantone paint colours with people aim to catalogue every conceivable human skin tone. The aim of the project, which is still a work in progress, is to illustrate that skin and race are far more complex than they might appear at first glance. Her work raises the question - is it really right to be calling someone who is White-Irish and Black-Carribean under the same umbrella term? An additional point, made as early as 1904, by writer Ford Madox Ford raises the fact that we, as Britons, are all mixed-race to some degree:
"In the case if a people descended from Romans, from Britons, from Anglo-Saxons, from Danes, from Normans, from Scotch, from Huguenots, from Irish, from modern Germans and from Jews, a people so mixed that there is in it hardly a man who can point to seven generations of purely English blood, it is almost absurd to use the word 'race'. These fellows are ourselves."
'No Turing Back' is a relevant and thought-provoking exhibition which explores a multitude of different migration movements into Britain. It is informative and enlightening and most definitely worth a trip.
OVERALL RATING: ****
http://www.migrationmuseum.org/exhibition/noturningback/
