August 16, 2024 |
If there was ever an advertisement for the crucial need for further education on the history of Britain’s multiculturalism, it’s the past few weeks. Claiming to respond to the tragic murder of three children in Southport at the end of July, a series of violent, hate-fuelled riots erupted across the UK. Targeting British Muslims, Black Britons and asylum seekers, the attacks were blatantly coded by racism and xenophobia, reaffirming the sobering reality of living in contemporary Britain as a person of colour.
As a show of solidarity for those affected, mass anti-racism rallies were organised in response and a renewed focus on the factors that have allowed, and at times encouraged, this hatred, has surged into conversation. With a lack of education surrounding the history of Britain’s immigrant communities being one of the reasons asserted, platforms that intend to dispel this ignorance are as crucial as ever.
948 Collective, a female-led organisation founded by Londoners Lauren Peaty DaSilva, India Morgan, Ruby Ukairo and Sofia Whilby, is one of those platforms. Focusing on the intersection between culture and creativity, 948 aims to grow a global network of creatives from all backgrounds, championing the history of the UK’s diverse population as an unwavering party line. Hosting events like a panel on soundsystem culture with designer Nicholas Daley and parties that celebrate the legacy of the Windrush Generation in collaboration with Peckham’s hi-fi music spot, Jumbi, 948’s movements are bolstered by a respect for community and bringing people together.
With 948 referring to the year the HMT Empire Windrush docked in Essex, transporting hundreds of Caribbean passengers to the UK after they were invited to help rebuild post-war Britain, Caribbean culture has also been at the centre of what the collective have wanted to share from the get go. With its roots in the celebration of the history and culture of Britain’s Caribbean communities, Notting Hill Carnival is a significant date in the 948 Collective calendar and to commemorate the festivities, they’re hosting an NHC warm-up event this Saturday.
Divided into two parts, punters can head over to Undr in Ladbroke Grove between 12:30pm to 6pm to cop some Carnival-ready gear from black-owned businesses like Sante and Reloaded London before returning at 10pm for an evening soundtracked by upcoming selectors like Izzy Bossy, Ella DHC and Bubu Sound. The perfect precursor for the dancing, joy, colour and celebrations set to line the streets of west London this August Bank Holiday (August 26), you can secure your spot here.
To learn more about the importance of collectives like 948, we speak to the founders to ask them what they hope their impact will be and what Carnival means to them.
INDIA MORGAN
1. Alongside running 948, you’re also a documentary photographer – how does photography contributing to the impact you hope to have with 948?
For me, photography is an incredibly powerful medium, as it allows us to communicate untold stories and capture the subtleties of everyday life and our surrounding environment. At 948, we are deeply committed to conveying lived experiences and documenting British culture in real time, providing an authentic reflection of society as it evolves. Our team’s projects not only aim to contribute to British archival history but also to create a dynamic record that captures the now, examines the influences of our past, and offers insights into the future.
We strive to engage with our audience through various mediums, using photography as a key tool to bring these visions to life. We believe in the importance of creating work that resonates on a personal level, inviting our audience to connect with the stories we tell and the moments we capture. Whether through events, community based projects or digital platforms, our goal is to foster a deeper understanding of the diverse experiences that shape British identity.
2. What does Notting Hill Carnival mean to you?
I first visited Notting Hill Carnival with my family, when I was two years old. I’ve now pretty much been every year ever since! It’s my favourite day of the year. I love going down and visiting my favourite sound systems, you can often find me at Gladdy Wax or somewhere around All Saints Road. It’s an important weekend for celebrating multiculturalism in the UK!
This year, Lauren and I will be managing the stage at Powis Square, which is a really important milestone for us both. We first went down to NHC together at the age of 16 and now eight years later we will be working on it together. It’s super important for us to be involved in such a culturally significant event and have to shout out Passa Productions for giving us such an amazing opportunity – if you don’t know them, get to know!
3. You’re going to be photographing Carnival across the weekend – what’s your favourite thing about documenting the festivities?
My favourite thing about capturing Carnival is definitely documenting my friends. Carnival is one of those special times of the year when everyone – literally, everyone and their nan – comes out to celebrate and have a great time. It’s an event that’s firmly marked on all of our calendars, so it’s really meaningful to be able to capture everyone’s favourite weekend.
For me, it’s also about contributing to a collective memory. These photos become part of the shared history that we’ll all look back on, years from now. Capturing the music, the food and the energy of all being together, celebrating British history – it’s a privilege to document those fleeting moments that we’ll treasure long after the weekend is over.
LAUREN PEATY DASILVA
1. Your background is in media and sociology – how have you applied this to your role within 948?
I draw from a lot of the knowledge I was exposed to at university, particularly from a sociological perspective, as it lends itself to the things we’re drawn to as a collective, be that of a social, cultural, or political nature. I’ve always believed that sociology is a subject everyone should have the chance to study, so being able to take the teachings from its wide-ranging themes and make that information more accessible is something that genuinely excites me.
Sociology also fosters critical thinking. It encourages you to question the status quo and look beyond the surface. What are the true functions of our institutions? Who do they serve, and who do they fail? I think that in many ways it promotes empathy and understanding – qualities that society can always use more of!
2. You and the other founders are all of dual heritage and place multiculturalism at the heart of 948. At a time of increasing vitriol from the far right towards immigrant communities, what impact do you hope platforms like 948 can have on combating this?
While the events of the past few weeks are shocking, I don’t believe they’re entirely surprising for a lot of non-white people in this country. Countless examples illustrate how Black and Brown people are only ‘welcome’ or ‘tolerated’ in this country on a conditional basis. For decades, migrant communities, asylum seekers, and Muslims have been positioned as the center of all our problems. Whether it’s by politicians using them as political pawns or by billionaire-backed media outlets employing sensationalised, racially charged reporting, it all fuels the exact kind of toxic, violent behavior we’ve witnessed towards said communities in recent weeks.
As a platform built on celebrating a Britain that more accurately reflects the Empire it once reigned over, I do feel we have a responsibility to contextualise discourses around immigration. At the end of the day, Britain is the original immigrant, and you reap what you sow. You cannot colonise half the planet and then demonise and scapegoat people of certain shades who seek refuge or opportunities in a country that is largely responsible for the global inequalities we see today. I suppose that level of hypocrisy is a special kind reserved for nations built on white capitalist supremacy.
It’s also important to recognise that, as we witness the ongoing violence against Palestinian men, women, and children, and the destruction of schools, hospitals, and places of worship by a settler-colonial ethnostate, these racist British thugs feel emboldened to attack mosques and hotels housing vulnerable people because our government have sat idly by while it happened to Brown bodies on our phones and TV screens for months on end; years and decades before that. That is to say, our oppression is interconnected; we must call out misjustice wherever we see it for the liberation of us all.
3. What does Notting Hill Carnival mean to you?
Notting Hill Carnival fills me with a lot of pride! It’s the weekend I look forward to most all year, and the one I miss the most when it’s over. It is a true celebration of Caribbean culture, and being able to share it with loved ones is a real joy and privilege.
It’s also crucial to remember that Notting Hill Carnival was born from a place of necessity. The first Carnival took place in 1959 as an indoor event organised in response to the racially motivated murder of Kelso Cochrane, a carpenter and aspiring lawyer who had migrated to Britain from Antigua as part of the Windrush Generation. In the face of hatred and aggression, Claudia Jones recognised the need for a safe space where communities could gather and have their culture championed.
Now, some 60-something years later, over two million people flock to West London every year to proudly bask in this culture. It is the biggest open-air event in Europe, the second-largest carnival in the world, and the best bank holiday weekend of the year – and we have the Windrush Generation to thank for that. It’s a sacred gift, a true act of resistance, and something that, in my opinion, should be cherished dearly.
RUBY UKAIRO
1. Take us through how you became a co-founder of 948 – when and why did you decide to start the collective?
Creating this collective with the girls has been essential to not only expressing, but understanding and celebrating part of who I am. Growing up mixed is a unique experience for everyone and has always been a part of my identity that I wanted to explore. Through 948, we aim to make a difference, no matter how big or small, by amplifying voices and stories that resonate with our own experiences.
We launched 948 the summer I graduated from university, with a degree I didn’t feel passionate about anymore, in a post-pandemic world, working jobs I wasn’t enjoying. It was a scary moment suddenly, I was out of academia, and the responsibility for shaping my life was entirely in my own hands.
In that tricky and overwhelming time, 948 became a way for me to take control and find a sense of purpose. It wasn’t just about creating something for myself but also about helping others who might be going through similar struggles. Being able to navigate that period with people who were not only like minded but who also shared the same fire in their belly was incredibly empowering.
2. Your background is in creative production & you have a prominent role in organising the 948’s creative events – why are these events important to achieving the ambitions of 948?
Our 948 events are integral to who we are when we first launched on Instagram, our community was primarily people from wider circles around us, we’ve always known the importance of creating tangible experiences for everyone. Our events allow us to bring people together in ways that online platforms simply can’t.
Intergenerational impact is what has always driven 948, we want to curate and nurture spaces where people from all backgrounds/ages/races/etc can meet and connect.
My studies in landscape architecture have given me a deep appreciation for how people move through and interact with spaces – whether it’s at exhibitions, events, in public parks, or urban areas. This understanding is something I bring to the planning of our events. I’m fascinated by how spaces can influence the way people connect, and I aim to design our events in a way that encourages meaningful interactions. For 948, these events are not just gatherings; they are experiences that embody our mission and bring our community closer together.
3. You platform a lot of interdisciplinary creatives through 948 with a stacked line-up for your NHC Warm Up on August 17 – why is this important for you to do?
The term ‘creative’ has always been a topic of intense discussion among us. What does it truly mean to be a “creative”? Traditionally, this label has been reserved for those who fit a certain mould – often people who are visibly ‘arty’ or engaged in conventional artistic disciplines.
Personally, I didn’t see myself fitting that bill during my school years. I wasn’t the stereotypical artist, and that made me question where I stood within the creative spectrum. This experience underscored for all of us at 948 the need to expand the definition of what it means to be creative. Creativity isn’t confined to painting, writing, or music; it’s a versatile force that manifests in countless forms – be it in science, technology, community organising, or even in how we navigate daily life.
Our NHC Warm Up event on August 17 exemplifies this commitment. With a stacked line-up of talents from various disciplines, we’re showcasing the vast landscape of creativity. By doing so, we aim to break down the barriers that often limit people’s perceptions of themselves and others. We want to provide a platform where everyone can see a part of themselves reflected, validated, and celebrated.
Ultimately, our goal is to foster an inclusive environment where creativity is not a boxed-in label but a broad, welcoming space. By highlighting interdisciplinary creatives, we hope to inspire others to recognise and embrace their own unique forms of expression, regardless of whether they fit traditional definitions.
SOFIA WHILBY
1. Take us through how you became a co-founder of 948 – when and why did you decide to start the collective?
The girls and I started 948 in 2022 while we were all still in university. We all felt we could creatively contribute something valuable to culture through our ranging lived experiences within the fabric of south London’s Brit(ish) cultural landscape. Our families, whether our parents, grandparents, and even some of us migrated to England at different times, each welcomed by a slightly varied cocktail of social, political, and cultural nuisances that shaped our lives in distinct ways in the years to follow.
We also recognised and, in some cases, experienced a lack of opportunities mixed with a sense of stagnation within the cultural and creative sectors, particularly in the post-COVID environment. So, we took matters into our own hands and came together like the boss babes we are to carve out our own space, and in doing so, created opportunities not just for ourselves but for others too.
2. The name of 948 pays homage to the Windrush Generation – why was it so important for you to nod to this watershed moment in Britain’s history?
Both myself and Lauren are direct descendants of the Windrush generation, so it may seem obvious to say that without them, there would be no us. My grandparents would possibly never have moved to the UK from sunny Jamaica, my dad would then later in his life never have moved to Amsterdam where he met my mum, and subsequently a few years after my younger brother’s birth returned to England with us.
Our name 948 is a deliberate homage to the Windrush Generation, a watershed moment in British history that profoundly shaped the country’s cultural and social landscape. For us, it was crucial to nod to this moment not just as a historical reference, but as a living legacy that continues to influence and inspire us today. The way Black History tends to be depicted can often be hazy or through a lens of tragedy and struggle, overshadowing the love, strength, and resilience that was and still is alive within these communities today. The Windrush story, for example, is frequently told in a way that focuses on the hardships faced when they arrived in Britain rather than how the business began popping up and different iterations of ‘likkle Jamaica’ were formed in areas like Brixton, Notting Hill and others across England. These were spaces of creativity, business, and cultural exchange, and they laid the foundation for much of what we see in British culture today.
By naming our collective 948 after the crowning year of Windrush (1948), we aim to honor its legacy while also challenging the notion that Black British history and multiculturalism began or ended with the Windrush generation. Dropping the ‘1’ from 1948 is symbolic for us; it represents our acknowledgment that Black history is far deeper and broader than this one moment, grounding us in a constant commitment to growth and reflection. It’s our call to action, a reminder that our history and our future are interconnected in an ongoing journey and that we can and will actively work to shape the future of Black British identity and culture.
3. You and the other founders are all of dual heritage and situate multiculturalism at the heart of 948 – at a time of increasing vitriol from the far right towards immigrant communities, what impact do you hope platforms like 948 can have on combatting this?
We along with everybody who is morally in tune are deeply saddened and disgusted by the mob of far-right terrorists blindly targeting immigrant communities. But this is Britain. Talk of a ‘civil war’ (in whichever contemporary context this is inferred) has always circulated, it’s something we as a nation are seemingly and continually on the brink of.
4. It doesn’t go unnoticed how quick these people are to join the onslaught and reach to make vile dehumanising statements, this time under the name of three 3 innocent little girls. How should immigrant communities feel?
Between some of the immigrant population in the UK being invited over by the British Empire and others due to wars this same empire has been complicit in. We hope that at this time and any time going forward (because sadly this will not be the last) 948 will be a truly safe space, where the impact of them and their ancestors’ histories and contributions to England can be felt, learned and celebrated.
Now, more than ever, it’s crucial that we come together to promote values of respect and inclusion. We owe it to ourselves, our children, and to the memory of those we’ve lost, to build a Britain that is truly a home for all.
5. You highlight your role in 948 as creative strategist, planning and creating something tangible through activations, events, social media campaigns etc. What can people look forward to from 948 in the coming year?
Well, without giving too much away and keeping any potential ‘evil eye’ at bay, we are thrilled to announce that we will soon be opening applications for the (1)948 Windrush Legacies Grant. We first launched the project and began fundraising last year, to mark our first birthday and the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush. Designed to commemorate this monumental event and the profound legacy it represents; the grant aims to support one creative or cultural practitioner who is a direct descendant of the Windrush generation. It isn’t just financial aid; it’s a vehicle to platform and celebrate the multi-faceted work of today, ensuring that the legacy of Windrush continues through the voices and talents of a new generation. It has been incredibly rewarding for us to see this initiative take shape, entirely supported by the community we have built and who truly believe in our mission. It feels homegrown, powerful, and authentic.
From September 13-15 we will be taking part in Peckham Festival. Designing and curating an installation in Unit 8 that focuses on gentrification and the lived experiences of long-standing communities in Peckham, documenting and archiving the rapidly changing landscape and capturing stories through our unique lens. The installation will be an immersive experience; encouraging people to engage with the issues faced by the community and be inspired to act. Alongside the installation, we’ll be programming a series of activations within the space, and hopefully create a hub of learning, discussion, and community connection.
Beyond these two exciting projects, the girls and I have for some time now been eager to embark on a mission centred around health and wellbeing, particularly focusing on the sickle cell community and the critical need for more Black blood donors. This is a goal we know will be challenging, given the complexities of our healthcare system. But we are determined to make it happen, and we’re reaching out to anyone working in or with the NHS who might be able to support us in this important endeavour. If that is you, please feel free to give us a shout we’d LOVE to hear from you!
So, in short, expect to see us continuing to push boundaries, creating spaces and opportunities for real, impactful change, striving to honour the histories of the past, empowering our communities, and building a future that reflects the values and experiences that make up multicultural Britain.
6. How does your background in architectural design contribute to your work at 948?
During my time studying architecture, I found myself not just focused on the physical aspects of designing spaces but deeply drawn to the cultural and social dimensions of architecture. I continually and somewhat irresistibly threw myself into projects and initiatives that extended beyond the traditional frameworks of design – focusing on creating a larger cultural impact through creative strategy and place-making. I became involved in campaigning against the disruptive nature of regeneration projects in my home, south east London, where I saw firsthand how inconsiderate redevelopment could erode the cultural fabric of communities.
This experience shaped my approach to conceptualising space – not just as a physical environment but as a vessel for legacy, history, and honour. I began to see space as something that could be designed to reflect the stories and identities of the people who inhabit it.
The title ‘cultural architect’ feels, driven by a pull toward people and their stories rather than just the refinement of the built environment. This perspective has influenced my work at 948, where we focus on campaigning for and creating spaces that resonate with cultural significance. My background in spatial projects, technical thinking, and mapping allows me to easily navigate the early stages of conceptualisation to the final delivery of a project. Fusing technical precision with cultural sensitivity to create spaces that are not only functional but deeply meaningful to the communities they serve.
7. What role do you see 948 having in educating the younger generations about the history of immigrant communities and about the importance of celebrations like Notting Hill Carnival?
We see our role in educating younger generations about the history of immigrant communities and the importance of celebrations like Notting Hill Carnival as absolutely vital. We’ve always believed that our purpose lies in exploring our collective histories, embodying our present realities, and envisioning the paths that lie ahead. What will the world look like in 2048? 100 years on from the arrival of the Windrush generation what can we do to shape this? Our mission is deeply rooted in the understanding that we can’t move forward without fully grasping where we’ve come from.
Educating younger generations is about more than just sharing facts or recounting events; it’s about immersing them in the stories, experiences, and cultural expressions that have shaped our communities. Notting Hill Carnival isn’t just a massive street party it is a living, breathing testament to the resilience, creativity, and unity of the Caribbean and wider immigrant communities in Britain. These events are a celebration of culture, but they also carry the weight of history, representing the triumphs and struggles of those who paved the way for future generations.
We want to show them that the history of immigrant communities is not just a chapter in a book; it’s an ongoing narrative that they are a part of. We hope that by educating we can also inspire younger generations to take ownership of their cultural heritage.
Tickets for 948 Collective’s NHC Warm Up on August 17 are available here.
Photography by India Morgan.
