Belonging and Belongings: Gearing up for the launch

The MRN community exhibition opens this Friday 8 June, 6pm in the Library Lab at the Willesden Green Library Centre. This blog offers a sneak preview of the exhibition and new insight into Community Curation project as the opening draws nears. (for more info on the project have a read through the Belonging and Belongings: Community Curation in Action). Register now! 
 

Alice Ekwalla, 2012
Photographer: Mike Massaro

Lessons Learned from the Community Meetings

The second community meeting was a bigger success with a larger turnout. People opened up with stories of their experiences of Brent. More crucially, participants connected and networked with each other. People exchanged contact details and followed up with each other after the meeting on various work including historical projects in Brent.

One of the strengths of Community Curation is that it supports and encourages local area members to network and create new connections. This opens up new lines of communications while fostering community engagement that extends beyond the exhibition project.

Ebrahim Kinteh, the Volunteer Community Curator, noted other successes of the meeting including the spread of skills and experiences among the participants and that community interests were at the heart of the meeting.

Kwaku, 2012
Photographer: Mike Massaro

A Glimpse into Exhibition

The stories shared at the exhibition were diverse including Kwaku who worked on a project documenting Black music in Brent. Did you know that Brent played a huge role in the British music scene?

While many spoke about the positives of Brent, Delwyn played an important role in reminding us the work still needing to be done in the borough and Brent Council’s shortcomings. How many of us know about the alternative Cabinet War Rooms in Dollis Hill or what the oldest building in Brent is?

Although much of the information gathered came from the community meetings, it was necessary to conduct follow up meetings on location. Rev Leão Neto of Harlesden Methodist Church was kind enough to invite us to an event at the church where we met members of the Harlesden Town Team and a cofounder of JSTAR. Visit the exhibition Belonging and Belongings to learn more about them and their stories.

Dr. Purushottam Patel, 2012
Photographer: Mike Massaro

We even travelled to the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden. The Hindu temple is the first of its kind outside of India. Above is a photo taken from the community meeting. See the photo taken at the Temple and learn more about the temple and Dr. Purushottam Patel’s relationship to it as well in the exhibition.

Countdown to the Launch!

To celebrate the opening of Belonging and Belongings, Migrants’ Rights Network is having an event this Friday, 8 June, 6-8PM in the Library Lab at the Willesden Green Library Centre. Speaking at the event will be Don Flynn, director of MRN, and Ebrahim Kinteh, the Volunteer Community Curator.

I would like to invite you to join us for the event. This is a great opportunity to see the photographs by Mike Massaro, learn more about each person’s story and hear more about the community curation project. To register for the event, visit http://belongingandbelongings.eventbrite.com/.