Help us wish a warm welcome to Vee Belinga our Freelance Cataloguer on the Resilience and Continuity Project. Vee has been working on cataloguing two collections since August, read on to learn more about vee!
What collections will you be cataloguing?
As part of the Resilience and Continuity project for the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Education Trust, I am cataloguing Crescent Radio’s Punjabi Lives collection and the Conflict, Memory and Migration collection. Both collections include oral histories, digital photographs as well as physical material.
Tell us about the work you do and what interested you in working with us?
I am a cultural worker and events coordinator that works primarily in the heritage and creative sector. My relationship to archives spans from doing research, organising and cataloguing collections or running workshops for those new to archives. I also enjoy engaging with archives through arts and creativity. The first time I came to Manchester was for an event at the AIU RACE Centre in 2021. At the event we explored how archives and community memories can support action and healing for people affected by the Windrush Scandal (2016). It is there I connected to the AIU RACE Centre & Education Trust’s approach to supporting people and communities traditionally marginalised from museums, archives and heritage. Working with the AIU RACE Centre & Education Trust on the Burning Work archive Collection, it also cultivated my interest in cataloguing and record-keeping in general. I also look forward to working with and learning from the team who have been incredibly welcoming to me in my new role.
What are you most excited to uncover, learn and organize once you dive into the material?
So far, I am enjoying my dive into Crescent Radio’s Punjabi Lives Oral History Collection. Although most of the interviews are in Punjabi, I’m learning a lot of those interviewed through the indexes. My favourite part of the collection is the radio shows and the music shared in between segments. As someone that’s been involved in community radio before, I appreciate it being used as a platform for connection and creative expression. The Conflict, Memory and Migration collection documents the Troubles in Northern Ireland and Northern Irish migration to Great Britain. I look forward to the opportunity to learn from this History and engage with the oral history collection.
What is something you enjoy doing in your spare time?
Something I enjoy in my free time is playing drum rhythms. Over the last few years, I’ve learnt to play polyrhythms on a few West African drums such as the djembe and the calabash drum. Rhythmic knowledge is something I’m passionate about because the way to memory is through the body. Rhythmic knowledge also holds rich histories of art, cultural mobility and collective gathering of people and communities that have historically resisted empire and colonialism.
Next Steps:
We will continue to share the cataloguing work taking place on the Crescent Radio’s Punjabi Lives collection and the Conflict, Memory and Migration collection, be sure to follow along to learn more!
