Tracing narratives of catastrophe, displacement, renewal, and contestation associated with empire.

Migration narratives are often told by those who have not experienced them. How do we reclaim the lived complexities of our stories when they are told on our behalf by institutions?

Stories from the ‘Roads’ of Empire was an initiative curated by Counterpoints in collaboration with London South Bank University (Dr. Elian Weizman, Dr. Henry Redwood, Dr. Ozan Kamiloglu) as part of the Being Human Festival. 

First, a workshop with seventeen migrant Londoners led by Dana and BLKBRD Collective entwined stories of migration with collective drawings, thinking through the following questions: What are the conditions of recreating a life after a long journey? How can we think about official archives of the empire with oral histories and personal stories? How can we create a different understanding of the past that will inform a different politics of the present, and future?

The collective drawings and subsequent artwork responses by Dana and BLKBRD Collective were exhibited in November 2021 at Borough Road Gallery. 

Photo credits: Annie Hall, Marcia Chandra