Projects

Once British Always British is a collection of two 30-minute audio dramas that are the result of a collaboration between The National Archives and Tamasha Theatre Company and explore the migration of Yemeni and Indian sailors to British ports during the 1920s.

The Irish War of Independence audio plays, The Bulletin and Persons Unknown, were commissioned to help explore more about the military dimensions to the conflict and the efforts on both sides to win the propaganda war.

Connecting through Collections brought together older women and young people to explore history, art and dementia in a women-only online space.

Several years in the making, the 1919 Race Riots Project helped mark the 100th anniversary of this important moment in history.

Two new collaborative outreach projects with the Black, African and Asian Therapy Network (BAATN) and Stillpoint Spaces were conceived in 2019, in recognition that there is still much to do to address histories in relation to racism, colonialism and empire, and the feelings they provoke.

Participants worked on this project to make memory boxes and collages and record responses reflecting their unique memories of Battersea.

The Outreach team at The National Archives is looking at developing resources with education colleagues that will help improve understanding and access to our rich collection of records relating to the recognition of Bangladesh as an independent country.

Through a number of creative workshops, we encouraged participants to recall how people from different continents stayed in touch with soldiers and personnel during the First World War.

We worked with community groups to share and explore our collection of Caribbean images with some remarkable results.

The National Archives Outreach team has developed new projects on Indian indenture researching our collections and writings on indenture to support collaborative projects with Nutkhut and BAATN.

This art and performance project involved students of Wren Academy and the V&A Museum. It was inspired by a report held at The National Archives written by Commander Oliver Locker-Lampson depicting events of the Russian Revolution.

This project worked with historians and playwrights to devise a series of short plays and accompanying education resources exploring the topic of South Asia and the First World War.

We recorded the narratives of four Panjabi elders uprooted from their homeland during the Partition of British India in 1947.

To mark the 70th anniversary of Partition this project worked with a number of partners to creatively respond to this important commemoration.

William Towers was 12 years old when he was sent to Wandsworth prison as Prisoner 4099. A group of students created and performed a play inspired by William’s experience using real historical documents.

Records of the Revolution was a theatrical and artistic collaboration in which students used historical and exhibition material to provide a creative insight into the many changes of the 1960s, culminating in a performance.

In marking the end of the First World War we embarked on a project to recognise the contribution of colonial seafarers, many of whom came from what today is Pakistan, and whose stories link with more recent migrations. 

As part of Black History Month, the Outreach team at The National Archives set up a display at Roehampton Library, sharing a selection of our photographic records of everyday life in Africa and the Caribbean.

Stories from the Streets was a partnership project with tenants of three sheltered housing schemes, sharing international images and memories to inspire poetry and community building. 

There Be Monsters used our Map and Atlas collection to inspire adults with experience of mental ill health to create a sculpture that was placed within the grounds of The National Archives.

In This Is Our Park, students were given images of parks, flora and fauna from both the Wandsworth Heritage Service and The National Archives collections. They were encouraged to use them as inspiration to create their own park design.

In 2012, the Outreach team organised a day to reflect, remember and at times celebrate the lives and experiences of those who left Uganda for Britain.