History detectives needed to explore Lancaster's black history

The artist behind a project featuring Africans who lived in Lancaster in the 18^th century is to host a series of workshops at Judges' Lodgings, starting this month.

Facing the Past: Black Lancastrians - A Portrait exhibition by Lela Harris, was unveiled in spring 2023 and remains on permanent display at the museum, alongside a selection of artwork by local school children.

The exhibition features six portraits of black Lancastrians from the 1700s, with Lela Harris drawing on church records, runaway slave adverts and family stories to bring their stories to life.

Coinciding with Black History Month, Judges' Lodgings will be hosting drop-in art workshops with Lela, suitable for all ages, on Saturday 19 October and Saturday 16 November.

The workshops will explore the powerful story of Afamefuna, a young African child who escaped from slavery in Heysham.

Lela said:

"I'll be teaching people how to be history detectives, so how to bring history to life through art, and we'll be focusing on Afamefuna's story.

"He was a young African boy who ran away from Heysham in 1765. We'll be uncovering facts about his escape and using that to help us make portraits and fold out story books about how he may have escaped.

"We don't actually know what his name was, but young people who took part in schools workshops decided on his name, which means my name will not be lost."

Black History workshops are also being offered to four local schools and will be delivered by Lela Harris and Geraldine Onek from Lancaster Black History Group.

The events have been made possible thanks to a grant of £4,200 from the Association of Independent Museums as part of New Stories New Audiences, funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Since the exhibition opened Lela has been involved with workshops, talks at universities and attended conferences abroad.

She said:

"It's been fantastic. I didn't expect the exhibition to be so well received by the city of Lancaster and further afield.

"It's great to see so many people adopting the people in the exhibition. I feel like they're really embedded in Lancaster's history, not just black history, but everybody's history."

Lynda Jackson, manager of Judges' Lodgings Museum, said:

"Black history is a fundamental part of Lancaster's story as it was once the fourth largest slave trading port in the country, with slave ships making more than 100 voyages from the city to West Africa.

"It's important to keep sharing the stories of the people featured in the exhibition and some people have become very emotional after learning about their lives.

"I'm really excited to see the artwork that's produced at the workshops with Lela."

You can find more details about the events with Lela Harris at Judges' Lodgings here

Judges' Lodgings is a unique historic house and museum run by Lancashire County Council in the city of Lancaster, close to its famous castle. It is Lancaster's oldest town house and was once home to judges who worked in Lancaster Castle. You can find out more here: www.lancashire.gov.uk/museums

AIM is The Association of Independent Museums, a charity which supports museums in the UK. The New Stories New Audiences is a grant scheme for AIM small museum members funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund. It aims to inspire museums to stay relevant to their audiences