Reposted from @lhamiltonbrown Iāve just watched āSmallman: The World My Father Madeā a beautiful short documentary by Mariel Brown @marielbrown74 āSmallman is Richard Mark Rawlinsā @rmraffinity personal exploration of the real and imagined worlds that his father, Kenwyn, made, in the workshop beneath their houseā. The film won the prize for Best Documentary Short at Caribbean Tales Film Festival, 2015. Please watch (link in my profile) š Watching the documentary reminded me how important it is to capture our familiesā making history. This is especially true for black people whose stories are often missing or when told are from a white gaze. Itās Windrush Day tomorrow - my parents like others came to British in response to the request from the Motherland - England. They were tailors, shoemakers, artists, photographers, graphic designers, seamstresses and more - who will tell their stories? Are they valued as Arts & Crafts people? We need to value what our parents and grandparents made and their making stories - do you agree? Itās been lovely to see Belinda @theknittinghotel share information about her Indian mother who was a knitwear designer - studied at the Royal College of Art, London and set up a company called Newsight that ran the British School of Knitting. I think film has an important role to play in documenting these hidden stories. Armed with your phone you can capture these quite easily for posterity. My dad made shoes, designed and made candlewick bedspreads. Sadly I never record him talking about what he made or own one of his bedspreads. I have recorded my mum talking about knitting and her job as a seamstress. #blackmakersmatter #bipocinfiber #knittersofinstagram #crochetersofinstagram #quiltersofinstagram #blackcrafters #oralhistory #modelmaking #modelmaker #windrush - #regrann https://www.instagram.com/p/CBtbBQlJDR2/?igshid=14ja974ydrecr
