Remembering as Form of Advocacy

It was during our first team day when myself (Nompumelelo) and Africa, Havering London’s Community Network Venue Producer, saw a coat of arms from Bulawayo stored in a glass box in Havering Museum. Perplexed, we both wondered: how are Matebeleland and Havering connected? How did this artefact representing a region in Zimbabwe find its way to a local museum’s collection in east London? A not-so-hidden yet hidden history.

There is something special about uncovering hidden histories together – having a sense of shared ownership of our heritage, embarking on collective learning and knowledge sharing, investigating past truths and present realities like Holmes & Watson. An artivist approach to narrating histories and collecting truths. A way of remembering that expands how we remember and who is remembered, giving the mantle to the public and defying a historically exclusive discipline.

So if given the opportunity to unpack Havering’s connections to Bulawayo, how would we go about it? First, we must consider the meaning of a coat of arms – a sacred symbol that echoes identity and belonging to a state, a community, an organisation, a family. It’s a different way of immortalising one’s presence. Bulawayo’s coat of arms is, to some degree, a contested piece of heritage. It reflects Britain’s imperial past with the cross-crosslet Christian emblem selected and used to symbolise missionary work in Matebeleland. Though the Khumalo royal family is remembered through the family’s totem present in the coat of arms, it is bittersweet. King Lobengula signed his kingdom away to British rule through the support of a missionary, John Moffat.

So here lies this object that already carries a complex history, and we haven’t even explored why it is present in the Havering Museum. Industrial areas across the UK fuelled the machine that was the British Empire – Havering included. The borough’s industrial heritage likely played a role in colonial extraction and wealth accumulation, creating invisible threads connecting national prosperity to distant places like Bulawayo.

Whilst exploring this history, I could see myself approaching communities of the African diaspora to reimagine what a coat of arms could be in a postcolonial world eager to platform decoloniality. Picture this: merging collective voices to create a large tapestry of reclaimed coats of arms from African countries that were once under British imperial rule, echoing the inspiring words on the Bulawayo coat of arms – ‘Siya Phambili’ (We’re going forward).

This collaborative artwork would serve multiple purposes: it would acknowledge the painful histories embedded in colonial symbols while reclaiming agency over cultural representation. Community workshops could explore what symbols truly represent African heritage and identity today. The tapestry could travel between community centres, schools, and cultural spaces, sparking conversations about colonial legacies and contemporary belonging in a world where many of us have more than one home. A heritage home and an adopted home.

The project would culminate in a public installation, perhaps in Havering Museum itself, creating space for dialogue between colonial artefacts and contemporary responses. Local historians, community elders, and young people could contribute their own research, stories, and artistic elements, ensuring multiple generations and perspectives continue to shape this narrative.

I have demonstrated to you how you could find a piece of history that you could unravel with others and create a compelling creative output that speaks to both past and present truths. This is the beauty of hidden heritage – it transforms invisibly visible pasts into catalysts for collective storytelling and healing.

That’s why Our Stories offers commissioning opportunities to bring Havering’s hidden histories to life – you can propose the story you want to tell and how you’d realise it.