Introduction
A Photographic Exhibition - 'Sparkbrook is our Home'
The Carnival
Adventure Play
Directions for Learning
Introduction
The Sparkbrook Association was concerned that the problems of housing and economic deprivation should not be allowed to overshadow the positive aspects of living in an area with people from diverse backgrounds. Its view that ethnic diversity was something Sparkbrook could profit from is highlighted in one of the newsletters from 1966:
"The influx of new people brings problems of housing and social welfare which the Sparkbrook Association, for one, has been helping to solve. But at the same time it brings new blood, new ways of life, and the possibility of creating in our local society a true commonwealth of nationalities."
Newsletters were used by the Association to promote 'neighbourliness'- a euphemism for 'racial harmony'. The report of voluntary worker Stephen Gregory highlights how three men Mr Bokhari, Mr Qureshi and Mr Islam translated newsletters for the Association for distribution to Indians and Pakistanis in the area. Newsletters offered a space for residents to express their positive experiences of living together at a time when both the local and national press were frequently depicting Sparkbrook as an area of disintegration:
"Too much we think is published in the local press indicating the difficulties of an area like Sparkbrook. Much more could be written about the many daily examples of neighbourliness and co-operation between peoples of very different backgrounds who live and work in Sparkbrook. This we intend to demonstrate in this paper."
Rather than using demonstrations and radical activities to promote the anti-racist cause, the Sparkbrook Association's approach to communicating the message involved the promotion of the positive aspects of living in a city with many migrants. In an open letter to the residents of Marshall Street in Smethwick, a site of racial tensions in the early to mid 1960's, Jagmohan Joshi, General Secretary of the Indian Workers Association (GB), proposed that the formation of an association similar to the one in Sparkbrook would do a great deal towards easing the situation. Whilst changing legislation was one part of the battle against racism, changing the attitudes of people and encouraging understanding people's difference was an equally important task. The Sparkbrook Association thus undertook a number of projects, involving art, culture and play, which attempted to foster goodwill between people from different backgrounds and showcased the positive aspects of living in an ethnically diverse community.
<return to top>
A Photographic Exhibition - 'Sparkbrook is our Home'
One project which involved both the Sparkbrook Association and the Birmingham School of Photography was the 'Sparkbrook is our home' exhibition which took place in June 1964 at the Queen's Hotel in Birmingham. 'Sparkbrook is our home' was an exhibition of photographs showing aspects of Sparkbrook life taken by the photography students. The aim of the exhibition was to 'tell the other side of the story' about living in a 'twilight' area and to demonstrate that Sparkbrook was not so different from other communities in the region. A similar ethos was later shared by Bishton, Homer and Reardon the creators of the Handsworth Self Portrait exhibition (1979) which can also be found in the City Archives. Shots of houses, parks, streets, children at school and at play as well as older people at the Darby and Joan Club revealed the diversity and creativity of Sparkbrook. Promoting the exhibition, Miss V Owen, a member of the exhibition committee, highlighted that its aim was "to show particularly the growth of a community spirit in the area among people of all ages and races". 'Sparkbrook is our home' thus provides a positive example of how art can be used to challenge common misconceptions about difference and promote inclusiveness.
<return to top>
The Carnival
Sparkbrook's Carnival Day was another event which affirmed the cultural diversity of the community and showed Sparkbrook "at its cheerful best". The intention behind the carnival was similar to the idea behind the exhibition which was to reveal and celebrate the positive aspects of living in Sparkbrook. The first Carnival Day took place on 3rd June 1965 at Farm Park and was organised in large part by one of the Association's volunteers, Chris Turner, who was inspired by the carnival in his home town of Portsmouth. Sparkbrook's first carnival was thus very different culturally from the Notting Hill and later Handsworth carnivals which were inspired by the cultures of the Caribbean. Activities were many and varied, including a carnival procession, carnival queen competition, a folk dancing display, children's sports and fancy dress, a baby show, bands, a fun fair, barbecue and dance and a bonfire at the adventure playground. The carnival provided an opportunity for people - no matter where they had come from - to mix, relax and enjoy being part of their local community. The Sparkbrook Association's annual reports reveal that the annual carnival was the highlight of the year and was well-received by all.
<return to top>
Adventure Play
The opening of one of the country's first adventure playgrounds in Sampson Road also contributed to the revival of spirits in Sparkbrook by providing space for children in the area to play and develop. The concept of the adventure playground as a space within the city where children could create and shape their environment through play fitted well with the Sparkbrook Association's concern with the intellectual, emotional and physical well-being of its residents, particularly the children. In a letter to the Birmingham Post, the Adventure Playground Sub-committee proposed that an adventure playground could supply the needs of children growing up in an environment beset by problems such as overcrowded housing and a lack of a 'sense of belonging' to the community.
As well as providing a space where children could learn how to build and grow through imaginative and creative play, the playground enabled children to develop new relationships and a sense of responsibility for the place they had collectively developed. Due to a need for more space the playground reopened on Farm Road on 31st May 1968. Local children were given an hour off school to test the soundness of the equipment before the Whitsun holiday stampede - hundreds took part, shooting down slides, scaling climbing frames and swarming over the play dome. As well as providing a place for play, the new adventure playground was recognised as playing an important role in "countering racial discrimination by giving children of all ethnic backgrounds the opportunity to play together".
The Sparkbrook Association's approach towards improving the living conditions for local residents and countering racist attitudes incorporated a number of creative solutions which showed the critics of Commonwealth migration that people from different backgrounds could live together and enrich each others' lives. It was a subtle but well-intentioned strategy which attempted to involve Sparkbrookians, both old and new, in the reshaping of public perceptions of the place they called home.
<return to top>
Directions for Learning
The example of the Sparkbrook Association shows that there are many ways of promoting good images of and relationships between people from different ethnic backgrounds. You may like to carry out a piece of research on the many other artists and organisations - past and present - which have done similar things through their work.
Birmingham has hosted a number of carnivals and cultural celebrations over the years (eg. Handsworth carnival, the Eid Mela and Birmingham Pride). An interesting activity for further learning might be following up the histories of these events, considering the similarities and differences between them.
<return to top>
Author: Sarah Dar
Image: Sparkbrook Carnival, 1960s
[Birmingham City Archives: MS 1914/1/10/48]
|
