The Caribbean, Commonwealth and Decolonisation: major new exhibition at University of London

“In the Grip of Change: the Caribbean and its British diaspora” traces the path from colonial rule to self-governance, examining the impact of these changes on both the Caribbean and Britain. 

Opening on Tuesday 29 October 2024 at Senate House Library, the exhibition highlights the work of transnational activists and the impact of decolonisation on ordinary peoples’ lives. It also explores how successive changes to immigration and nationality laws culminated in the ‘Windrush Scandal’. The exhibition was curated by Dr Juanita Cox from the Institute of Historical Research, and Argula Rublack from Senate House Library. 

Visitors can trace the transition from colony to independence and diaspora through a vibrant range of materials from Senate House Library's Caribbean and Black history collections. Items on display include pamphlets, posters, newspapers, comics, calypsos, poetry and badges. Visitors can also listen to oral history recordings created as part of the project ‘The Windrush Scandal in a Transnational and Commonwealth Context’. 

One of the project’s respondents, Jerome Chew A Tow, explained how Britain’s changing immigration legislation affected him: 

“My mum was ill, and I had to get down to Guyana,” said Jerome. “They didn’t want to give me a passport because my passport had run out then.” The High Commissioner of Guyana was able to give him a Guyanese passport, but when he went to Petty France he couldn’t obtain a UK one. “I never thought I could be stripped of my British citizenship - my wife worked at Parliament!” 

Some items in the exhibition belonged to the late John Mark Adamson (1938–2024). When he moved to the UK in 1961 he carried all of his valuables in this suitcase, then more commonly known as a ‘grip’. He wrote to and received letters from relatives in Guyana. This enabled him to keep abreast of the latest news and events. Like him many West Indians arrived in the UK wearing a pork-pie hat and immaculately clothed. The record represents the sounds of Guyana that he enjoyed. 

Britain’s Caribbean colonies had been exploited for centuries. By the 1930s the region was characterized by widespread disturbances and demands for self-determination from Britain. Progress towards self-government unfolded in stages between the 1960s and 1980s, a journey that is traced throughout the exhibition. Today Britain retains six overseas territories in the Caribbean and is still linked to its former colonies through the Commonwealth. 

Dr Juanita Cox, Black British History Community Engagement Fellow at the Institute of Historical Research, said: 

“This exhibition focuses not only on the movers and shakers who fought so long and hard for self-determination – a fight that continues to this day - but on ordinary people, many of them invited to rebuild Britain and then betrayed. Each of the exhibits – a suitcase, a hat, a pamphlet – tells a poignant tale and brings a very human touch to the story of those affected by the scandal.” 

Notes to editors

• “In the Grip of Change: the Caribbean and its British diaspora” is open from 29 October 2024 to 28 March 2025, Monday to Friday 9am - 7pm and Saturday 9.45am - 5pm. Entry is free.