Windrush exhibition on at Jamaica Music Museum

World War II left Great Britain economically, socially and infrastructurally devastated. The headquarters of the British Empire did not escape Germany’s wrath. Though Hitler was defeated by the Allied nations, Britain lacked the manpower needed to rebuild. The gates of the empire were therefore opened to subjects across its vast network of colonies, whose people were regarded as British citizens.

Most Jamaicans and other Caribbean people were unaware of the extent of the destruction in the ‘Mother Country’. Many migrated in search of opportunity, believing Britain offered prosperity. Labourers, carpenters, draughtsmen, welders, mechanics, seamstresses and cabinet makers would go on to make a significant contribution to Britain’s post-war recovery. The first group arrived aboard the HMT Empire Windrush on June 22, 1948, at the Port of Tilbury.

“It carried 492 officials Caribbean passengers fleeing the economic stagnation of a devastating hurricane season. They arrived looking to the ‘mother country’ to realise their dreams unaware that they were about to permanently alter the social and cultural structure of Great Britain. Far from a uniformed group of labourers, these first arrivants contained an extraordinary vanguard of musical geniuses, master craftsmen, and progressive thinkers,” writes Herbie Miller, director-curator of the Jamaica Music Museum, in his booklet, Windrush: Catalyst for Black British Culture.

The publication, which is on sale for $500, accompanies the Windrush: The Midwife of Modern Britain exhibition, which opened at the Jamaica Music Museum Water Lane Gallery on June 21.

“This document presents the Windrush story as part of a much longer black British history, beginning with early figures, such as John Blanke and extending through Georgian and Victorian society, wartime service, post-war migration, cultural innovation, and contemporary debates about citizenship and belonging,” Miller says.

The publication argues that Caribbean people and their descendants did not merely contribute to Britain from the margins. They helped shape the nation’s modern identity through labour, art, music, literature, sport, civic leadership and resistance to racism.

Ultimately, the exhibition presents the Windrush generation and its successors as central agents in rebuilding post-war Britain and transforming it into a more diverse, culturally dynamic and contested multicultural society, Miller notes.

Among the figures highlighted are Ignatius Sancho, writer and composer; Una Marson, author and broadcaster; Lord Kitchener, calypsonian; Cecil Baugh, ceramicist; Dizzy Reece and Joe Harriott, musicians; and Learie Constantine, cricketer and legislator, and Sam King, politician. The passengers and their descendants introduced Caribbean genres such as calypso, ska, reggae and dub, which went on to influence British music, including punk, grime and dancehall.

The exhibits at the Water Lane gallery consist largely of storyboards illustrating different aspects of the Windrush story through photographs and posters. There are profiles of artists and artisans, along with images of album covers. Also on display are an aged suitcase belonging to a surviving passenger, and a piano.

The booklet includes sections examining black British history before the arrival of Windrush. In ‘The Royal Trumpeter’ and the ‘Early Black Presence’, Miller focuses on John Blanke, the black royal trumpeter who played in the courts of both King Henry VII and King Henry VIII during the early 16th century.

“His image, preserved in the 1511 Westminster Tournament Roll, represents a profound visual acknowledgement of a longstanding black presence in Britain … While this presentation focuses on the creative and cultural contributions of black people in Britain, it also provides context for the achievements of black West Indians,” Miller states.

Other sections include ‘The Multifarious Tapestry of Black Georgian and Victorian Society’, ‘Pre-Emancipation Voices in British Literature and Song’, ‘The Voice of the Verse, The Voice of the Streets’, ‘The Prisoners of Portchester Castle (1796)’, ‘Community and Agency in 18th-Century Britain’, and ‘The Mid-20th Century Avant-Garde’.

“If one examines the passenger list of the SS Empire Windrush, one finds professionals ranging from carpenters, draughtsmen, welders, mechanics, and fitters to seamstresses, seamen, and cabinet makers, among a long list that also included cultural professionals, such as painters, singers, musicians, and the potter, Cecil Baugh. They did not arrive empty-handed; they arrived carrying the sounds, sights, physical grit, and foundational intellect required to lift a broken nation out of the wreckage of war,” Miller says in the conclusion.

“Despite facing racism, exclusion, and violence, these generations did not simply assimilate. They played a crucial role in shaping modern Britain, helping to rebuild the nation and foster its vibrant multicultural identity.”

editorial@gleanerjm.com