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Heritage is about the food I grew up eating and the different countries that influenced Caribbean food altogether. I liked food as a lens into my heritage because it felt like an easy stepping-stone into a much larger story that would take more time to uncover. I looked at the African and Indian influences on our foods by incorporating textiles that come from those cultures. For example looking at the second row from the top, the turquoise squares inside the blue squares are pieces from a sari my grandmother had from her times in India. Looking at the third row, the green and white shapes on the blue squares represent ockra, or ladys fingers. They are now part of Antigua's national dish but they originated in India. The black dots on the fourtth row represent beans, the countless beans and rice we eat. The fish represent snapper, a local delicacy. It also represents the fish dishes we have like salt fish or fish cakes whose recipes came over from Europe. All in all this patchwork celebrates the cultural amalgamation that is the Caribbean.

I wanted to make a patchwork about the history of the Caribbean . People know about the trans Atlantic slave trade, one of the biggest events in Caribbean history, but I wanted to look deeper into it. I wanted to find the stories of the people who lived through it, after it and how they shaped history around them. With research I found 6 people who played interesting roles in Caribbean history. So in the end I created a patchwork quilt, and a research book illustrating who these people were and what mark they left behind. I picked bold African wax textiles to represent the African Diaspora, as each person was a descendant of it. This patchwork can insight those who don’t know a lot about Caribbean history and the effects of slavery.

All together my patchworks try to tell the story of my family, my region, my own history. This one goes through a timeline of my life, looking at the judgments, assumptions and opinions that people have about race, skin colour, appearances and culture. I took ten times when someone said something that made me think about these things. These are the times when I realised how the different ways people think could affect the way they view me. In order to make a piece like this I had to reflect deeply on my life; my encounters with people and my opinions of those encounters. It required me to place myself in the spaces I grew up in, and to think about how that has affected me today. The sentences that appear on each panel act as a conversation piece, to allow the viewer to question why that question or remark is there and what could it mean. I created it to reflect the format of a timeline, its not in strict chronological order but it represents a life journey, of picking up things a long the way, adding to my experiences.So instead of making it the typical rectangle shape I made it long, with ten panels. The colourful fabric that borders it defines the amalgamation of cultures and experiences – its a madras print that originated in India but through our colonial history is now a staple fabric of the Caribbean.

6 RADICAL BLACK HEROES

Dame Mary Eugenia Charles “Iron Lady of the Caribbean”

She is the first female prime minister of the Caribbean. She served as the pm of Dominica from 1980-1995. She was the granddaughter of slaves, born into humble beginnings, yet through her father’s success she was able to go abroad to study and obtain multiple degrees. Her main goal was to unite the English speaking Caribbean in a way that would be beneficial to them all.

Prince Klaas aka King Court Tackey “a Martyr of the rebellion”

He was an Antiguan slave, known for planning a rebellion against the plantation leaders for 8 years. He quietly conspired this plan with the other slaves for years but eventually the plan was found out and all those involved were executed, 88 people in total. They will forever represent the Caribbean and African resistance against slavery.

Elma Francois “Empowerment of negro people”

She is known as being the first woman in Trinidad and Tobago who was tried for sedition (Inciting others to rebel against the authority of a country). She successfully defended herself in court and spoke out about workers rights. She helped to found the Negro Welfare Cultural and Social Association.

Claudia Jones “Radical Thinker”

She also defended herself in court for committing ‘subversive activities’. She “combined Marxism-Leninism, decolonialisation, anti-imperialist and anti-sexist politics to make sense of the social and political situation of her day” (exact text taken from Amilcar Santan)

Olaudah Equiano “Adventurer”

He lived a very eventful life: he was taken from Nigeria as a slave, shipped to Barbados then Virgnia where we worked on a plantation. He was bought by an English naval captain and spent many years at sea, sailing around the world. Later on in his life he lobbied for the abolition of the slave trade and even wrote a book about his life.

Francis Barber “The life Long Servant”

Born on a sugar plantation in Jamaica he was brought to England by his owner at the age of 10. He lived with Johnson for many years, they were known for having an unusual relationship. Johnson treated ‘Frank’ like a son and even gave him the freedom to leave to find other jobs. During his time away they exchanged letters to keep in contact. The most surprising thing is that Johnson left most of his estate to Francis in his will, much to the dismay of others who frowned upon their father-son relationship.

Patchwork quilts are a type of textile art, bordering with handmade crafting skills. They have been used throughout history as a medium to tell stories. Traditionally they were made by hand and by women. During slavery times in America, black women got together to sew patchworks that contained hidden messages that only other slaves could understand, such as where slaves were escaping too.

I like to pay homage to this kind of slow craft making method, it makes me feel connected to the women who spent hours upon hours creating them once before. So my patchworks are (mostly) made by hand. I re-purpose or buy cheap fabrics and use basic sewing techniques to combine shapes and colours.

Using textiles as a storytelling medium really speaks to me, combined with the rich history and the versatility of the fabric, it allows me to bring light to stories that have been dusted under the rug.