This learning resource was created as part of a project between the Gujarati cultural organisation, Subrang Arts and Brent Museum and Archives.

 

The project highlights the influences of the Gujarati diaspora in the UK focussing on the London Borough of Brent. You can use this learning resource by itself or you can hire the Roots and Changes – Gujarati Influences loans box from Brent Museum and Archives so that your pupils can get hands-on experiences with real Gujarati objects. See the section on the loans box in this learning resource for more details. The project explores the cultural heritage and the historical journey of the Indian Gujarati community from Gujarat to the east and south coast of Africa and eventually to Britain.

 

The settlement of the Gujaratis in the UK from the 1960s onwards changed its own community, but they also influenced their host and other immigrant communities. Gujaratis are part of a long history of migration from a region shaped by early economic relations in trade, colonialism, and educational and professional exchange. The underlying feature of this project is to tell the ‘Gujarati story’ of a successful migration, which has enriched the UK. The themes of work and leisure are explored using displays and events around traditional crafts, trade, architecture, commerce, employment, entrepreneurship, music, dance, food, family and spiritual life.