Collection: 'Jigsaw Heritage' & 'More than Words'

These exhibitions spotlight Jaixia Blue’s multimedia textile collection, 'Jigsaw heritage', which explores her relationship with her grandmother who is battling with dementia and Parkinson’s disease and the remarkable work of pioneering activists, publishers and bookshop owners Jessica and Eric Huntley through photographs and book covers in 'More than Words'.

Through Jaixia's work, she reflects on the story of her grandmother’s journey aged 21, from Savanna-la-mar, Jamaica to Paddington, London toward the end of the Windrush period. Drawing on her grandmother’s handwritten musings and fragmented memories, the artist embarked on her own journey of piecing together the jigsaw puzzle of her dual British and Caribbean heritage.

Whilst, radical political activists, Guyanese-born Jessica and Eric Huntley founded Bogle-L'Ouverture Publications in Ealing which celebrated Black culture and history, producing a wide range of publications, including seminal texts by writers from across the African diaspora.  Later Eric and Jessica opened the Bogle-L'Ouverture bookshop – an important cultural hub.

Jessica was deeply passionate about young people’s education. She galvanised support to counter the rise of unfair practices that saw Black pupils classified as sub-normal and excluded from schools. She and Eric were also instrumental in developing the template for Black Supplementary Schools.