Video

Video artists tend to deal with the here and now.  Historians, by definition, concentrate on the past.  Yet the two came together to uncover sites related to racism and anti-racism in the West India Docks area, when they worked over 5 days with teenagers from Newham.

Each of the young participants produced a personal short video, or 'postcard', depicting their own interpretation of the slave trade. This resulted in the production of 33 unique films which will be screened at the Museum in Docklands from 10th November 2007.

The complementary video project, a joint initiative of the Runnymede Trust and Manifesta was supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), with support from the Association for Cultural Advancement through Visual Art (ACAVA), Forest Gate City Learning Centre and Museum in Docklands.

The Museum in Docklands provided a rich backdrop for this exercise since it's housed in a building which was originally constructed to store sugar, as part of the trade triangle between Europe, Africa and the Caribbean.  The museum's artefacts and historical heritage fuelled the young film makers exploration into the city's past relationship with the  slave trade while also probing links between the contemporary and historical struggles against injustice and racism.

To view comments from some of the film makers and one of the project trainers click on the links below:

All 33 films will be screened a the Museum in Docklands on 10 November 2007 with a selection remaining on display in the main foyer for three months. It's expected that the Video Art Postcards will be exhibited at a variety of events and sites - from museums and community centres and will even be incorporated into educational material.