The concept behind this project was to create a series of T-Shirts with children and young people across the city which celebrated Black History and Culture.   We chose three themes for the project, split between schools projects and more informal projects in two adventure playgrounds.

The Anansi Stories.   These folk stories effectively trace the journey of many Black people from Africa to the Caribbean and then on to Britain because they have been told by people as they made those journeys.   We used a CD Rom created by Black Heritage Over 55’s group to tell the story of Anansi and the Old Higue, inspiring the children to create a t-shirt design which told the story in a single picture.

African Decoration.   We also asked to the children to decorate the edges of their pictures with designs inspired by African Decoration. We used various artefacts to show the children designs, some loaned by inter cultural services, some by   SASA African Cultural group. We broke down the designs into various geometric elements so that the children could create their own rather than copy.

Black Inventors.   This project was put together with help from staff at Newtown Adventure Playground.   The children were given information about various Black inventors and their inventions.   They were then asked to fill in a template which said ‘Without…………we wouldn’t have…………..’ stressing that without many Black people various products, from curling tongs to the post box, would not have been invented and/or developed.   These finished designs were then printed onto a t-shirt.

Approximately 321 children took part in the project