Nutkhut is undertaking an exciting new history project about Fijian indentured labour and we’re offering free oral history training to members of the public as part of this project.
Project Girmit is Nutkhut’s Arts and Heritage initiative focusing on the indentured labour system in Fiji between 1870 and 1920.
After slavery was abolished in 1833, the British and other European powers started the indenture system to source cheap labour for their colonies.
Over 60,000 Indians were transported to Fiji between 1870 and 1920 as part of a legitimate but enforced mass migration.
Through the project, we’re looking to delve into this forgotten but essential part of history by sharing personal stories.
This is why we’re offering free oral history training to those interested in building a new skill and being part of this unique project.
We’re especially interested in hearing from people of Mauritian, Trinidadian and Guyanese heritage, as well as British-Fijian heritage, whose ancestors were indentured labourers.
The training will broadly explore the following:
This oral history training will be delivered over Zoom on two consecutive mornings from 9.30am to 1.15pm, with half an hour breaks in the middle of the morning.
If you’re interested in taking part in the free oral history training with us, all you need to do is fill in this form and tell us why you would benefit from the session.
We’re keen to get started with the training soon, so please don’t hesitate to complete the form if you’re interested. We need all forms back by 22 August 2020.
The free session will be an enjoyable way for you to learn a new skill to add to your experience and understand more about the project.
If you have any questions, please email louise@nutkhut.co.uk
Click here to complete the oral history training application form.
This year marks the centenary for the end of Indenture, a system of bonded labour that was instituted following the abolition of slavery. 2020 also marks the 50th anniversary of a new beginning, Fijian Independence.
Following the abolition of slavery in the 19th century, a new system of labour was introduced. Indentured labour first appeared on the Indian Ocean islands of Reunion and Mauritius in the 1830’s, eventually resulting in two million young Indians being transported across the world.
When children witness change – big change like famine, pandemics, political unrest, and war – the effects can often have a dramatic influence on who they become and the way in which they navigate through life.
So to mark this long-forgotten and unknown history, our story is told through the eyes of a young child.
Laali Maharaj was 10 years old when he experienced and witnessed famine. Born in a land that time forgot, the geographical heartbeat of central India, a Peepul Tree stands proud and below this tree is where Laali was born. As the 19th century drew to a close, Laali experienced the devastating effects of famine. Compelled to help his family and his community, he left his ancestral home and boarded a sailing ship in the Port of Calcutta, which he travelled on for three months, eventually arriving in Fiji in the South Pacific. He had unwittingly became an indentured labourer.
Laali was barely 14 years of age when he started cutting sugar cane for 15 hours a day, six days a week. This went on for five years. He had left his own home, 7,000 miles away, where the crops had failed and the land was dry and arid, to travel to an island of abundance, where the soil was rich and the harvest of sugar cane was plentiful.
Supported by an ecology of plantation owners, financers and botanists who were all invested in farming sugar cane, the world’s fastest-growing commodity was booming and Laali was a small part of that giant global jigsaw. The cane would be turned into sugar and eventually find its way to the sugar bowls of Victorian England and the wealth creation to the boardrooms of London.
By the end of the First World War in Europe, Laali had completed his Girmit – his agreement. He decided to branch out and set up a small shop in the farming heartlands of Fiji selling tinned fish, rope and basic provisions, eventually purchasing a plot of land in Flagstaff, Suva, the Capital city of Fiji. Flagstaff soon became synonymous with Laali Maharaj. His work ethic was legendary and his emphasis on education to make change was instilled in his children. By the time the Second World War began in the Pacific, he had transformed the lives of many by sharing his wealth and supporting the wider community as a philanthropist. The family’s growth and prosperity mirrored Fiji’s growth and prosperity.
Laali Maharaj has left an incredible legacy. With his roots deeply ingrained and nourished in Fiji, his heritage has spread its wings far and wide. Laali’s descendants, who number in their many hundreds, now live in the UK, Canada, USA, New Zealand, Australia, Fiji and India.
Laali Maharaj was my Great Grandfather.
By Ajay Chhabra
Girmit is a Defining Moments project, which aims to mark significant historical anniversaries and moments which reflect the rich and complex relationship between Britain and South Asian communities globally.
For more information please visit the Nutkhut page about the Girmit project.
We’re looking for a Social Media Guru to join our team on behalf of the Mela Partnership!
If you have a great knowledge and enthusiasm for all things social online then we’d love to hear from you.
The Mela Partnership is an exciting outdoor arts consortium made up of 14 partners across the UK and our aim is to achieve a consistent, exciting, creative presence and interaction across social media including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube so a knowledge and understanding of all platforms would be required.
This role is offered on a monthly freelance basis (1 day per month initially) with heightened activity around specific performance and event dates.
For more details and a job description please contact emma@nutkhut.co.uk
To apply please email your CV and covering letter outlining why you believe you would be perfectly suited to the role to: emma@nutkhut.co.uk with ‘Social Media Application’ in the subject header.
Application Deadline: 31st May 2020
With the public spaces we consider as our venues closed and the world around us making it difficult to comprehend how we’ll be able to get back to ‘doing what we do’ we want you to know that we’re here for each other!
To our Artistes and Colleagues …. We’re here to discuss, share and explore ideas and potential collaborations. From supporting you where we can with funding opportunities to exploring how we adapt and plan.
To our Audiences, communities and friends…. We’re staying creative, adapting to this different world we’re living in and developing new work for both digital and real-world stages and staying connected with you, our wider Nutkhut family.
We’ll walk this strange and crazy path together, preparing for the world that awaits!!