Migrant Memory and the Post-colonial Imagination (MMPI) is a five-year research project funded by The Leverhulme Trust. Coinciding with the 70th anniversary of the Partition of India, the project explores how Partition and wider processes of decolonisation are remembered by people of South Asian heritage in the UK. By exploring what is remembered about Partition and the events that followed it, and the form that these memories take in the present, we are trying to better understand how memories of Partition continue to shape social relationships both inside South Asian communities in the UK and between different groups and communities.
Latest news
Teaching Partition and imperial history: training for KS3
teachers -London and Leicestershire
In collaboration with our partners from Inspirate, A Little History of The Sikhs, The Samosa and The Partition Education Group, MMPI is hosting a workshop event on 16 Sept 2022 for teachers in KS3 to discuss ideas, techniques and methodologies for teaching Partition and the legacies of Empire.
More details of the event, with schedule and speakers can be found below:
Looking for Partition stories in the streets of London: a collaboration with A Little History of the Sikhs
The streets of London reveal a wealth of Sikh and Anglo-Sikh history based on a relationship between the British and the Sikhs which spans more than three centuries. This relationship been widely researched by Rav Singh, a London-based Sikh historian, who has developed a range of innovative lectures to introduce Sikh and Anglo-Sikh history to audiences, young and old. These lectures are now supplemented by guided tours under an initiative called A little History of the Sikhs.
In 2021 we have teamed up with Rav Singh and his Little History of the Sikhs for a series of walking tours on the history of Sikhs, the British empire, independence, and Partition. Project participants will follow Rav online, as he guides us through the streets of London and will share their own memories with the MMPI team. For more information click here
2021 is the 50th year since the creation of Bangladesh and we will be marking this milestone with a number of interviews prompted by cultural objects that tell a story about Bangladesh and Bangladeshi diaspora. Below is part 1 of the ’50 years of Bangladesh through 50 objects’:
The MMPI project is a five-years project (2017 – 2022) at Loughborough University and funded by the Leverhulme Trust, which explores how the 1947 Partition of British India and wider processes of decolonisation are remembered by people of South Asian heritage in the UK.
On the anniversary of 50 years of Bangladesh in 2021, our project will launch part 1 of the online exhibition “50 years of Bangladesh through 50 objects”, a collection of everyday items and family heirlooms that hold memories of Bangladesh 1971 – 2021. These are photographs of objects that have been donated by research participants and will be released on our website throughout 2021, beginning on 26th March 2021.
The exhibition has been assembled by our Researcher and Artist Saif Osmani.
MMPI works in partnership with Tower Hamlets Council.
Maybe you have a family heirloom that holds a memory about a specific moment in time?
