Black Cultural Archives’ latest exhibition reveals the overlooked stories of the Windrush children

Over A Barrel: Windrush Children, Tragedy and Triumph is a new exhibition that will be opening at Black Cultural Archives in London on 22 June 2023. As the name suggests, the exhibition explores the history of the Windrush generation, with particular focus on the children of those who migrated to the UK between 1948 and 1971.

The exhibition is curated by leading journalist Nadine White, who won awards for her reporting on the Windrush scandal in 2020, and by producer, writer and researcher Jasmine Pierre, whose practice looks to use archives and art as vessels for both storytelling and platforming culture.

Featuring archival photography, ephemera material, multimedia collages and film, Over A Barrel reveals the “tensions and traumas of separation and reunion, isolation and belonging” that the Windrush children experienced and continue to experience as a result of this serial migration. “The exhibition will speak to the experiences of both Barrel Children (term coined by Dr Claudette Crawford-Brown), whose only connection with their parents was through remittances from abroad, and children born in Britain to Windrush parents,” a release says.

Though many went on to contribute significantly to the economic and cultural fabric of British society, Over A Barrel serves as a poignant reminder of the adversity this generation had to endure, as well as the struggles they still face today.

“The Windrush generation’s contribution to British society, culture and art is immeasurable. Their stories are multi-faceted and filled with both triumph and joy as well as tragedy and injustice. It is vital that these stories are being told with the breadth that they deserve,” Jasmine says. “As a descendant of the Windrush generation it is an honour to platform these stories.”

Over A Barrel: Windrush Children, Tragedy and Triumph is on show at Black Cultural Archives from 22 June-10 September.