Ethiopian Echoes on the British Landscape
Lead Research Organisation:
University of the West of England
Department Name: Fac of Arts Creative Ind and Education
Abstract
'Ethiopian Echoes on the British Landscape' - UN International Decade for People of African Descent in the Research Networking Scheme
The city of Bath hides a little known gem of history named Fairfield House, where an Ethiopian Emperor - who was said to descend from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba - lived with his royal family, government advisers and Ethiopian Orthodox priests, in quiet exile from 1936 - 1941. At Fairfield the Emperor had an onsite greenhouse converted into an Ethiopian Orthodox church. When the Emperor returned to Ethiopia, he gave the house to the city as a gift to be used by its elder citizens. Sounding like a story from fairy-tales, this research network project will use the basis of this very real moment in Bath's history, and explore related topics from the perspective of how it translates to the lives of today's Black and White residents living in a similar, but also changed, Bath landscape, (a landscape that the Emperor said reminded him of his Ethiopian home). To achieve this intercultural and multilayered dialogue, the project will employ a diverse range of innovative creative methods and approaches to engage audiences in debate and new forms of thinking. These approaches, such as; theatre, photography, pop-up museums, and 'safe spaces' to bring seemingly opposing groups together to find common ground, will be innovative in generating new knowledge from under-researched groups, (most specifically Ethiopian and Rastafari communities), and also by revisiting familiar ideas from new critical perspectives.
The project has invited five guest curators to bring to a public audience themes, voices and debates seldom heard in open arenas, and engage history in a seamless way to discuss issues of the day, and creating new understandings in the process. The curators will present a range of themed seasons, followed by a published book which captures the whole experience for further study.
The seasons of this project will engage in debates relating to;
- Reluctant Sites Of Memory
- Collective Security
- Rastafari and Ethiopian Politics
- Documenting Presence
- Liberated Spaces
'Ethiopian Echoes on the British Landscape' will be a unique experience for the city of Bath to not only imagine a new narrative, (different from stories of the Romans, Georgians, and Jane Austen), but to embrace a true story many of its residents didn't realise it already possesses.
The University of the West of England will work with Fairfield House as its key partner, which for the past 20 years has been resident home of the Bath Ethnic Minority Senior Citizens Association (BEMSCA), who will also be a central collaborating organisation.
Using multidisciplinary creative arts and social science approaches, the project will explore this central question:
- 'What can Anglo-Ethiopian relations, in context of the Fairfield House story, tell us about post-colonial discourses and diversity debates concerning the African diaspora in contemporary British society?'
By addressing this central key question across these five seasons of activity, this project will create a number of new dynamic networks that will facilitate the exploration of previously under-researched ideas and connections that will generate new knowledge in the fields of heritage studies, history, and post-colonial discourses, and the role of the creative arts in stimulating dialogue and creating shared value. This project will work with groups and facilitators both external to and within academia, and will create innovative bridges across formal and informal learning spaces. This project will also help position Fairfield House and the city of Bath as a site of intercultural dialogue, and play a significant role in bringing to the surface largely undocumented voices on highly topical and pertinent issues relating to the important debates regarding the dynamics of the African diaspora in contemporary Britain.
The city of Bath hides a little known gem of history named Fairfield House, where an Ethiopian Emperor - who was said to descend from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba - lived with his royal family, government advisers and Ethiopian Orthodox priests, in quiet exile from 1936 - 1941. At Fairfield the Emperor had an onsite greenhouse converted into an Ethiopian Orthodox church. When the Emperor returned to Ethiopia, he gave the house to the city as a gift to be used by its elder citizens. Sounding like a story from fairy-tales, this research network project will use the basis of this very real moment in Bath's history, and explore related topics from the perspective of how it translates to the lives of today's Black and White residents living in a similar, but also changed, Bath landscape, (a landscape that the Emperor said reminded him of his Ethiopian home). To achieve this intercultural and multilayered dialogue, the project will employ a diverse range of innovative creative methods and approaches to engage audiences in debate and new forms of thinking. These approaches, such as; theatre, photography, pop-up museums, and 'safe spaces' to bring seemingly opposing groups together to find common ground, will be innovative in generating new knowledge from under-researched groups, (most specifically Ethiopian and Rastafari communities), and also by revisiting familiar ideas from new critical perspectives.
The project has invited five guest curators to bring to a public audience themes, voices and debates seldom heard in open arenas, and engage history in a seamless way to discuss issues of the day, and creating new understandings in the process. The curators will present a range of themed seasons, followed by a published book which captures the whole experience for further study.
The seasons of this project will engage in debates relating to;
- Reluctant Sites Of Memory
- Collective Security
- Rastafari and Ethiopian Politics
- Documenting Presence
- Liberated Spaces
'Ethiopian Echoes on the British Landscape' will be a unique experience for the city of Bath to not only imagine a new narrative, (different from stories of the Romans, Georgians, and Jane Austen), but to embrace a true story many of its residents didn't realise it already possesses.
The University of the West of England will work with Fairfield House as its key partner, which for the past 20 years has been resident home of the Bath Ethnic Minority Senior Citizens Association (BEMSCA), who will also be a central collaborating organisation.
Using multidisciplinary creative arts and social science approaches, the project will explore this central question:
- 'What can Anglo-Ethiopian relations, in context of the Fairfield House story, tell us about post-colonial discourses and diversity debates concerning the African diaspora in contemporary British society?'
By addressing this central key question across these five seasons of activity, this project will create a number of new dynamic networks that will facilitate the exploration of previously under-researched ideas and connections that will generate new knowledge in the fields of heritage studies, history, and post-colonial discourses, and the role of the creative arts in stimulating dialogue and creating shared value. This project will work with groups and facilitators both external to and within academia, and will create innovative bridges across formal and informal learning spaces. This project will also help position Fairfield House and the city of Bath as a site of intercultural dialogue, and play a significant role in bringing to the surface largely undocumented voices on highly topical and pertinent issues relating to the important debates regarding the dynamics of the African diaspora in contemporary Britain.
Planned Impact
SENIOR CITIZENS who use Fairfield House for their day care, and members of the wider Bath community in their older years. Older people will be engaged in a rich range of interactive activities, events and conversations that will stimulate them in ways that will both exercise their cognitive and creative abilities, (in accordance with the theme of 'Priority 8 -Improved services for older people' in the Bath & North East Somerset Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2015-2019, page 26). These activities will draw on their expertise and skills to contribute towards new knowledge, positioning them as valued members of society, which in itself also contributes towards a sense of wellbeing and belonging.
ETHIOPIAN COMMUNITY - members of both the secular Ethiopian community, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, view Fairfield as an important site of significance and pilgrimage. This project will provide the opportunity for history to be shared and 'new' histories unearthed, and for their community to come together and explore new ideas regarding their history and presence between themselves and in dialogue with others.
RASTAFARI COMMUNITY - The views and practices of the Rastafari community are significantly under-researched, and where they are, largely misrepresented. This project will enable Rastafari members to explore and document their views on their own terms, facilitated by members of their own community. This project will also go some way to redressing the balance of common misunderstandings about the Rastafari way of life, and help position their influential role in various pan-Africanist campaigns, and also the significant Rastafari presence working in voluntary sector organisations in the UK, which has largely been unrecognised and undocumented. A further direct aim of the impact of those participating from the Rastafari community will be to help establish in Fairfield an archive and database of related research, to be a resource usable by other scholars. This is an initiative that Rastafari members of the committee have wanted to implement for some time, though needed additional support and guidance to make that happen. This project will work with that group to begin this process.
LOCAL RESIDENTS - As all of the events of this project are free, and most open to the general public, general Bathonians, tourists and others who attend sessions will gain direct impact from learning new angles to history they were previously unaware of. This project will also work with local schools, working with the children on aspects of Ethiopian culture and Rastafari religious beliefs. The project will bring together different groups and individuals, creating new dialogues and understanding. This aspect will also directly impact Fairfield, who want to be seen as an accessible space to all, and need mechanisms to reach audiences that would not otherwise be inclined to visit. Likewise the city of Bath in general will benefit, as the tourist trade will have a new offer for visitors of regular events at Fairfield, and new market opportunities opening up.
NATIONAL and INTERNATIONAL - Fairfield already attracts visitors from across the UK at least once a month, when the house is used by the Rastafari community for 'Sabbath' days. This project will engage with existing visitors to Fairfield at a much deeper level than before, and provide two-way dialogues of understanding of greater depth insights for both research facilitators and participants. The house is also visited by people who have heard about it and are generally curious, who have relevant stories of their own to tell. Often there is no suitable mechanism to record these stories, and this project will work with Fairfield staff towards a suitable methodology to document these occurrences, having a direct impact on the site's knowledge base, working towards a Fairfield House archive.
ETHIOPIAN COMMUNITY - members of both the secular Ethiopian community, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, view Fairfield as an important site of significance and pilgrimage. This project will provide the opportunity for history to be shared and 'new' histories unearthed, and for their community to come together and explore new ideas regarding their history and presence between themselves and in dialogue with others.
RASTAFARI COMMUNITY - The views and practices of the Rastafari community are significantly under-researched, and where they are, largely misrepresented. This project will enable Rastafari members to explore and document their views on their own terms, facilitated by members of their own community. This project will also go some way to redressing the balance of common misunderstandings about the Rastafari way of life, and help position their influential role in various pan-Africanist campaigns, and also the significant Rastafari presence working in voluntary sector organisations in the UK, which has largely been unrecognised and undocumented. A further direct aim of the impact of those participating from the Rastafari community will be to help establish in Fairfield an archive and database of related research, to be a resource usable by other scholars. This is an initiative that Rastafari members of the committee have wanted to implement for some time, though needed additional support and guidance to make that happen. This project will work with that group to begin this process.
LOCAL RESIDENTS - As all of the events of this project are free, and most open to the general public, general Bathonians, tourists and others who attend sessions will gain direct impact from learning new angles to history they were previously unaware of. This project will also work with local schools, working with the children on aspects of Ethiopian culture and Rastafari religious beliefs. The project will bring together different groups and individuals, creating new dialogues and understanding. This aspect will also directly impact Fairfield, who want to be seen as an accessible space to all, and need mechanisms to reach audiences that would not otherwise be inclined to visit. Likewise the city of Bath in general will benefit, as the tourist trade will have a new offer for visitors of regular events at Fairfield, and new market opportunities opening up.
NATIONAL and INTERNATIONAL - Fairfield already attracts visitors from across the UK at least once a month, when the house is used by the Rastafari community for 'Sabbath' days. This project will engage with existing visitors to Fairfield at a much deeper level than before, and provide two-way dialogues of understanding of greater depth insights for both research facilitators and participants. The house is also visited by people who have heard about it and are generally curious, who have relevant stories of their own to tell. Often there is no suitable mechanism to record these stories, and this project will work with Fairfield staff towards a suitable methodology to document these occurrences, having a direct impact on the site's knowledge base, working towards a Fairfield House archive.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Shawn Sobers (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Sobers S
(2019)
The Routledge Handbook of Memory and Place
Sobers, S
(2017)
Participatory Heritage
| Title | African Queens photography exhibition |
| Description | Fairfield House will next be hosting the African Queens photography exhibition, by stylist (and UWE employee) Christelle Pellecuer. The exhibition is a collection of portraits of local African heritage women playing the role of historic and legendary queens from Africa or of African origin. The collection looked at issues related to history, culture, women empowerment, strength and beauty. Many of the photographs were taken by UWE students. The African heritage women who portrayed the African Queens are themselves leaders and influencers in their fields of work, including two Councillors, policy makers, activists, academics, company directors, and educators. This exhibition will be launch mid-February 2018, and will include a new photograph produced specially for Fairfield House, with a local Bath elder portraying Empress Menen, Haile Selassie's wife. As part of the exhibition we will run a symposium in conjunction with the exhibition looking at the topic of Black women in leadership. |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Impact | Although this exhibition has yet to be launched, (it is already installed), the range of influential women in the exhibition is a key strategic way to expand Fairfield House's reach. The symposium will be the significant marker of impact from this exhibition, as Bath does not have these types of events held there, and is more commonly known in Bristol. The symposium will specifically target women of colour in the city of Bath, with Fairfield House being the host location, which again is a key strategic way to expand Fairfield House's reach and reputation. The exhibition is also making important connections between Fairfield House and UWE - Christelle Pellecuer is a non-academic UWE employee working in international recruitment, and has been recognized for having a particular skill in fashion styling and make-up, which she was brought together for this exhibition. Many of the photographs were taken by UWE Photography and Graphic Design students, and one of the women portraying a queen in the photographs is of Asher Craig, a trustee of Fairfield House, and is also a Bristol City Councillor. The new photograph of Empress Menen, which will be funded by this award, will be old a local African Heritage elder, and user of the day centre based at the property. |
| Title | Emperor and Empress statues |
| Description | Rastafarian artist Jez (Ras Bunny King ) Wilkinson produced a 7ft tall cut out statue of Haile Selassie, originally for Isle of Wight council, in recognition of the Emperor having visited there. Hearing about the statue I contacted the artist and inquired about it. Inspired with what they heard about Fairfield House, the artist got agreement from the council to donate the statue to Fairfield. |
| Type Of Art | Artwork |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Impact | This has built links between Bath and the Isle of Wight, which will prove useful in the building of the national network. This award will commission the artist to produce an accompanying statue of the Empress Menen, hopefully completed in time for the women in leadership symposium in conjunction with the African Queens exhibition. The artists was not previously known to Fairfield House, so this is a productive and valuable new partnership established. |
| Title | I Am Melanin - photography exhibition |
| Description | Fairfield House hosted the first solo exhibition of recent UWE Graphic Design graduate Stacey Olika, which explored fashion and identity of young African heritage people in their 20s. |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Impact | One of the key strategic principles of Fairfield House is to encourage interaction and dialogue between its different stakeholder groups. This exhibition became a good opportunity to bring together two groups that have seldom been considered in relation to each other - the Rastafari community, and young African people born on the African continent, many of whom were Christians. To do these we held the exhibition opening on the same day as Rastafari Sabbath gathering. First Stacey (who is not Rastafarian) addressed the Rastafari group directly, told them about herself and work, and what the intention of the exhibition was. The talk was officiated by Ras Bandele Selassie, the priest for the South West. Next the Rastafari gathering went upstairs and joined the rest of the people present for the exhibition. Besides these two arranged moments the event was not orchestrated, and we rather wanted the connections and communications to be made naturally. To begin with both groups seemed wary of each other, though as the evening went on they intermingled and conversation started to happen between them. To build upon this, we are discussing to bring back Stacey later in the project to run some specific sessions and workshops. |
| Title | In the shadow of Colonies d'Afrique |
| Description | I created a new photographic montage work based on the 1927 civic memorial 'Colonies d'Afrique' by sculptor Louis Botinelly, which sits at the base of the main steps leading up to Gare Saint-Charles in Marseille. This was the result of visiting Marseille to meet with academics exploring similar topics to Ethiopian Echoes in a British Landscape. |
| Type Of Art | Artwork |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Impact | The work will be featured in an exhibition in Paris in October 2020. |
| Title | Made in Ethiopia |
| Description | Worked with Dr Peter Kellett from Newcastle University to bring his exhibition of creatively presented Ethiopian artifacts to Fairfield House, for a 4 month duration - March - June 2017. |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Impact | The opening event of the exhibition involved a wide range of people from both Bath and Bristol, and gained interest from outside the usual visitors to Fairfield House. The mixture of communities included Rastafari, Ethiopians, elders from BEMSCA day centre, charity groups from Bristol, and various cultural leaders of Bath tourist institutions and festivals. The event resulted in Peter being able to secure an exhibition of the same work in July 2017 at Hamilton House in Bristol, which further spread the narrative of the Ethiopian connections with the South West, which was precisely the aim of this award. Myself and Peter will write a joint journal paper on the subject, which is still in discussion. For the paper we will reach back out to some of the key individuals that were in attendance across the demographic groups. The paper will explore how art and creative practice can be an instigator for dialogue, in ways that other forms of cultural practice does not. |
| Title | Tell Me The Good News - short film |
| Description | Produced an experimental short film titled 'Tell me the Good News', which explored the idea of how the African landscape was used as a playground and exploited for the causes of European political and ideological struggles, such as the Cold War, and the general underdevelopment of Africa in the cause of European progress. This film was the result of visiting Cape Town meeting other cultural stakeholders who are exploring the visualisation of alternative civic narratives. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | I have shown the film at a number of conferences, and also screened it at Kosar Contemporary Gallery in Bristol. |
| URL | https://vimeo.com/327907077 |
| Title | Visual Ethnography of Ethiopian Traces on the British Landscape (Part 1) |
| Description | Resulting from conversations following my talk at Birmingham City University (see Engagement Activities section), as a photographic response to the relationship between the Ethiopian Royal Family and the UK, and also in response to Fairfield House being a site of pilgrimage for members of the Rastafari faith and Ethiopian communities, I created an alternative Rastafari pilgrimage of other sites the Emperor stayed during his exile. During his time in exile the Emperor visited a number of sites around the UK. This saw me inventing my own three day 899 mile solo pilgrimage across England and Scotland. I drove from Fairfield House, Bath, to Wemyss Bay village, on the coast of the Firth of Clyde, Inverclyde, Scotland. I then worked my way back down and visited Kelburn Castle, Abbey Hotel and Holy Trinity Church in Malvern. During my road trip I took over 900 photographs and documented the journey in writing, which I will be turning into a photo book after I have completed part 2 of this pilgrimage in February 2018. Part 2 will consist of visiting places on the south, including Brighton, London, Cornwall, Devon, and back to Bath. I have already written about part 1 of this pilgrimage in a book chapter for forthcoming Routledge publication 'Landscape and Memory', (see Publications - 'Post-Colonial connections with the British Landscape'). |
| Type Of Art | Artwork |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Impact | When the photobook of this pilgrimage is published money from the sales will be donated to Fairfield House. The book will be used strategically to build upon connections made with people and places during my journey, to establish a national network of sites with links to Haile Selassie, to coordinate events and maximize collaborative opportunities for engagement with visitors, tourists, and researchers, at those sites. |
| Description | Significant findings from Research Networks project in relation to original objectives 1 - It is not enough for cultural sites targeting the African-diaspora in the UK, to promise narratives of African discourse heritage alone, to satisfy sustained repeat audiences. There also needs to be a service provided which scaffolds heritage interests with real-world concerns in the African-diaspora communities, linking heritage lessons with present day interests and issues. Social media now provides a sustained daily flow of African heritage stories on timelines for those who wish to consume such content, though such online spaces cannot provide more nuanced conversation, support and action still required for the lived experience of being Black in the UK. Sites aimed at the African-diaspora, especially outside of bigger cities, such as Fairfield House, are thus invariably required to provide those scaffolds and extend their reach into operating as multi-armed agencies and deliver or sign-post to advocacy, education, activism, health, and other services, to be deemed relevant long term, beyond heritage and the arts. 2 - An 'unexpected offer' needs to be provided to break through the temporary novelty factor often generated by new civic narratives and 'untold' stories. Academia is good at unearthing 'untold' stories, though to have impact in the public sphere there needs to be a vehicle for change and or/a mechanism for that story to be made visible in the remaining civic landscape, and/or to have a purposeful utility. Little-known and untold narratives, such as that provided by Fairfield House's history, can generate new audiences, but at a steady level which visualises as a plateau, without significant quantitative peaks in interest or demographic. To break through this plateau, 'unexpected offers' needs to be made to both the demographic of the dominant cultural discourse, and within its own current stakeholder group, to spark new and renewed interest, to generate the quantitative peaks needed to sustain a cultural site in a civic space where the dominant narratives control the cultural market. 3 - Decisions made at Fairfield House played a key role in the subsequent development and growth of the Rastafari movement in Jamaica and the United States. Meeting a delegation from USA at Fairfield in 1937, Emperor Haile Selassie tasked his personal physician Ethiopian diplomat Dr. Malaku Bayen to set up the first office of the Ethiopian World Federation (EWF) in Harlem, to help support the campaign for the liberation of Ethiopia from Mussolini's troops. The membership of the EWF quickly grew, and new offices were quickly set-up across the USA and Caribbean. It was from the offices in Jamaica that all the main groups of the Rastafari movement grew, energised by the EWF's allegiance to the Ethiopian campaign and identity. EWF's history of being founded from Fairfield was previously known, but the link with Fairfield to the subsequent narrative of the growth of the Rastafari movement, from the unwitting decisions made there in 1937, had not previously been articulated. This finding repositions the house at the axis of important developments in Jamaican history, as well as the usually discussed links with Ethiopia. The funding also sheds light on the growth of social movements, and the dialogic relationship between certain activism, political and spiritual discourse. 4 - Observing use of Fairfield House and notions of ownership, in context with the role of pilgrims to the site, and the idea of 'diachronic pilgrimage'. Diachronic pilgrimage is positioned as a state where over time, repeat visitors to a space develop an increased sense of ownership over their site of pilgrimage, through a sense of shared or expected values, language, and practices. Expected values, language and practices (i.e discourse) are held in balance in the body of the pilgrim before, during and after their physical act of pilgrimage. That discourse enters into dialogue with the site when they arrive, and the dialogue continues at multiple levels simultaneously, (e.g. conscious, subconscious, overt, meta, etc), with the values, language, and practices present at their arrived site of expectation. Thus diachronic pilgrimage acknowledges the agency of the pilgrim, and how their physical presence enacts an embodied dialog with the space of expectation which forever changes both the site and the pilgrim. How on leaving the place, the discourse of the pilgrimage continues as a site of narrative in the memory of both the visitor and the visited. In the case of Fairfield House, the shared, met and unmet, sense of values, language, and practices in the discourse has increased the visceral sense of ownership in the minds of the pilgrim, and a heightened the responsibility and stakeholder accountability for the keepers of the site. |
| Exploitation Route | Fairfield House to be used as a consultation case study for other cultural groups who are establishing themselves, particularly those that have a religious connection in their narrative. Can deliver facilitated workshops for groups, supported by previously published paper for background reading; Sobers, S. (2017) Ethiopian stories in an English landscape. In: Roued-Cunliffe, H. and Copeland, A. , eds. (2017) Participatory Heritage. Facet Publishing and also Sobers, S. (2019) Post-colonial connections with the British Landscape: An African-centric auto-ethnography. In: De Nardi, S. , Orange, H. , Koskinen-Koivisto, E. and Drozdzewski, D. , eds. (2019) Landscape and Memory. London: Routledge. which are both published outputs from the Research Networks project. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Education,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Other |
| Description | In the previous Research Fish submission, I reported in the 'Other Outputs & Knowledge / Future Steps' section, that the likely significant output from the project would be, what was then called 'Fairfield Internet Radio Station'. The idea of the station came from public engagement and consultation events during the main Ethiopian Echoes project, and seen to be more beneficial to the community as a legacy, rather than a book, for example. The first strategic meeting to explore its viability was one week after that last Research Fish submission, on Feb 13th 2018. Since then the idea of setting up a radio station has transitioned from a mere notion to an actual reality. We used money raised from Fairfield House room hire during the project to invest in equipment for the station, which is now called Imperial Voice Radio. We have held a range of consultation days and training sessions with members of the local community, and also for those from other parts of the country, and we have now got approximately 46 people signed up interested in being presenters on Imperial Voice Radio, as a vehicle to celebrate and legacy of the Ethiopian connection with the city of Bath, and provide a very real broadcast service to audiences worldwide via the internet. We have a launch date of May 4th 2019. The draft website is www.imperialvoice.com - (being redesigned mid-March 2019). The station will raise money for Fairfield House via advertising, sponsorship, events, and other on and off-air revenue streams, and is now considered a core aspect of the strategic business plan for the property and its importance to not only the city of Bath, but also worldwide. ///////// UPDATE 10th MARCH 2020 Imperial Voice Radio has now been broadcasting online for approximately 40 weeks, and we have presenters from all over the country. Shows range from sustainability, fashion, cultural life of Bath, arts, and much more. Approximately 60% talk radio, 40% music. We are looking to scale up the station's reach and visibility in 2020. Following the death of some relatively young people in Bath city, we are launching a mental health and wellbeing project at the station, which will extend into actual events and activities at Fairfield House, exploring a wide range of related topics, such as loneliness, diet, exercise, keeping active, speaking to people, etc. Due to a higher rate of suicides amongst young people, this initiative is timely and much needed in the community. The mother of one of the young people who died asked the radio station to spearhead the campaign. This small anecdote highlights how the station has already been adopted by some members of the community and the value placed in it. Station is likely to have a float in this year's Bath carnival, and generally be much more visible around the city. There is much more work to do. but the word is spreading about not only the radio station, but about Fairfield House more generally, which was the original intention. The other intention was to engage in people that had not previously been involved in Fairfield House, and that has also been a successful strategy. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2019 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Economic |
| Description | Bath & Bristol Creative R+D - Digital Placemaking Fellowship |
| Amount | £15,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 05/2019 |
| End | 07/2020 |
| Description | ECHOES research project - Aarhus research network |
| Organisation | Aarhus University |
| Country | Denmark |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Sobers visited Aarhus university in Denmark and met with a roundtable of academics to discuss his work on the Ethiopian Echoes on a British Landscape project. `This was discussed in context of creative practice and deconstructing motivations of making - from the personal to the political and the blurs inbetween. Sobers discussed modes of using creative culture to challenge to the colonial centre, and examine the battleground from the perspective of two different fronts - the psychological battle of the maker challenging their own embodied colonial questions, and an external battle positioning creative works in the form of activism and awareness. Also, what additional qualities are to be considered for a creative work to foster active sustainable change and furthering the decolonial project? This talk primarily draws on works from Sobers own creative practice, drawing on examples from projects he did as a student through to his professional career. Works that were produced before the labels of 'decolonial' and 'diversity' became popular, and asks 'what has shifted in that exchange'? Sobers also questions the notions of 'hidden histories' and 'untold stories', with the challenge of 'what are the dynamics that led for those narratives to become buried and forgotten?'. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Academics from Aarhus produced a roundtable event where different academics from Denmark and surrounding countries, to discuss similar topics for their own experiences of cities they live in. The ideas from this event have been fed into the wider ongoing ECHOES project. . |
| Impact | As a result of this event a book proposal has been sent to a publisher, to capture both the ideas from the roundtable, and also other relevant voices. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | ECHOES research project - Bath and Bristol field trip |
| Organisation | University of Rennes 1 |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Hosted researchers from University of Rennes and Marseille, who spent three days Bath and Bristol, visiting Fairfield House primarily, (the site of research for Ethiopian Echoes in a British Landscape project), and other related people and places in the surrounding areas. 2nd - 4th march 2020. Organised meetings the centre manager of Fairfield House, members of the senior citizens day centre based there, and local artists, curators, archivists, museum curators, young people's groups, and other researchers interested in these shared ideas. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The visiting researchers interviewed the local people I arranged for them to meet and connected them with. |
| Impact | The researchers, and myself, will be writing about some of the meetings that took place and interventions that they heard about in a future publication. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | ECHOES research project - Cape Town field trip |
| Organisation | University of Rennes 1 |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Visited Cape Town to interview civic leaders, museum directors, artists, curators, architects, anthropologists and others about how that city has attempted to address its colonial history, and to learn from their experiences and make contacts. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Organised a wide range of people for me to meet during my week long stay, and also arranged for me to give a film screening and talk about my work and research. |
| Impact | 1) Produced a short film titled 'Tell me the Good News', which explored the idea of how the African landscape was used as a playground and exploited for the causes of European political and ideological struggles, such as the Cold War, and the general underdevelopment of Africa in the cause of European progress. 2) Contacts have been with useful museum directors, which are in discussions with Fairfield House to create a cultural partnership. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | ECHOES research project - Marseille research scoping network |
| Organisation | University of Rennes 1 |
| Country | France |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Sankofa dialogues: Making things to make sense of colonial saturated embodied landscape. Sankofa is a Ghanaian symbol which represents the idea that there is no shame in going back to fetch that which you have forgotten. The symbol is of a bird looking back with a seed it its mouth. The common interpretation is that the seed represents culture, heritage, traditions, and a sense of African identity. This presentation discussed how I have explored this idea of embracing Sankofa principles through my practice as a filmmaker and photographer, in response to the landscape of Bath and Bristol, which as a history of making vast wealth through the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, and later being the home of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I. The use of the Sankofa principle as a metaphor in this presentation highlighted a key element that often gets overlooked in this discourse. That no matter what I choose to point my camera lens at, whether that be the material Bath or Bristol landscape, or at someone else to tell their story, ultimately the work is about me, my sense of self, and me making sense of the landscape within which I find myself. During this presentation I showed video clips and examples of my photography where I have wrestled with these themes, and point at some directions of where this creative journey has now taken me, including examples from the AHRC funded project Ethiopian Echoes on a British Landscape. As a maker of things, not all of my work is related to identity and colonial narratives, and nor do I want it to be. Though at the same time I accept the responsibility of using whatever platform I have to produce and present work that has some form of cultural resonance, with a motivation of African self-representation. The Sankofa symbol resonates with me, as I try not to forget that even though the bird is looking backwards, it still flies forwards. This presentation attempted to reflect that tension in duality - the need to look back, whilst at the same time shaping what the future can become. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The ECHOES project ran a research networking event - European colonial heritage in entangled cities, Museum Mucem, Marseille, France, 19 - 20 December 2018. (Talk on 19th Dec) Academics from across Europe who are running the Echoes project, funded by European Research Council (ERC), were interested in academics and artists from the UK who were researching and working on the space of pre/post-colonial era European spaces with African context discourses. They heard about the work at Fairfield House and brought Shawn to Marseille to give a talk about his work and research. The event was a symposium consisting of other academics looking into similar related studies of how cities are engaging with their colonial connections, though more than an academic symposium, the event was also a working meeting for the ongoing ECHOES project, which each paper (Shawn's included) feeding into how the ECHOES project was conceptualised and positioned for further research studies. The ECHOES project addresses a pressing dilemma at the heart of contemporary Europe: the fact that while the history of empires and colonialism undoubtedly constitutes a shared European past, this past remains strangely silent in official narratives about Europe's 'heritage'; those things it values enough to save for future generations. However, at the level of Europe's cities - where colonial heritage is often manifested in monumental symbolism and architectural materiality - we simultaneously see an increasing willingness to engage with this often problematic past, at times in highly creative, reflexive, and transnationally open ways. In the real and potential connectivities between former imperial metropoles of Europe and the cities of the formerly colonized there exists a vibrant emerging transnational and global entanglement of European colonial heritage. We argue that the EU urgently needs not just to acknowledge this phenomenon but to reflexively and progressively include it at the heart of its identity. "Europeanizing" difficult colonial heritage is becoming all the more necessary today as the EU operates in increasingly global contexts, relationships, and geographies, where its ongoing 'deficit' towards accepting colonialism as a part of European history collides with the palpable surplus of colonial memory in much of the outside world with which Europe grows ever more entangled. |
| Impact | I created a new photographic montage work based on the 1927 civic memorial 'Colonies d'Afrique' by sculptor Louis Botinelly, which sits at the base of the main steps leading up to Gare Saint-Charles in Marseille. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Stephen Lawrence Trust - Fairfield House visit |
| Organisation | Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Fairfield House hosted the Stephen Lawrence Trust for the day, for the launch of their research project report 'Connections People and Places'. The Stephen Lawrence Trust brought with them architecture students from across the country, all who had visited Fairfield House for the first time. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Stephen Lawrence Trust invited their supporters to the sold out capacity event, which included representatives from National Trust, English Heritage, Historic England, and other cultural institutions. |
| Impact | As a result of this event Fairfield House has gained new volunteers, and the Grade 2 Listed building information is being updated to more accurately reflect it's history and connection with Emperor Haile Selassie, which was not previously in the official listed building records of the property. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Stephen Lawrence Trust at RIBA - 19th Annual Memorial Lecture |
| Organisation | Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Gave a speech and contributed to panel discussion for the 19th Annual Memorial Lecture for the Stephen Lawrence Trust. Fairfield House was one of the case studies for the Connecting People and Places research project, led by the Stephen Lawrence Trust in partnership with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). In my opening talk I explained the history and context of Fairfield House, and in the panel discussion talked about how the architecture and heritage industries can increase and sustain BAME involvement (employ and pay!), measures that can be taken to involve young people (listen and give over decision making power), corporate (rather than individual) responsibility for widening access and the diversity agenda, to and the importance for BAME practitioners to recognise their value and take up space. |
| Collaborator Contribution | This event was the showcase event for a research project the Stephen Lawrence Trust had been undertaking with architecture students from around the country called 'Connecting People and Places', which looked at various sites across the country which were led by and catered for BAME visitors. Fairfield House was used as a case study in their research. |
| Impact | n/a |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Weston-super-Mare Town Council - coordination on Blue plaque |
| Organisation | Weston-super-Mare Town Council |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Sobers was notified during the period of the Ethiopian Echoes on the British Landscape project that Weston-super-Mare were planning to put up a Blue plaque to Haile Selassie in the town, due to him having spent time there at a leisure facility. Sobers made contact with Malcom Tucker, the Weston-super-Mare Town Clerk, and notified him that Fairfield House were also planning to put up a Blue plaque, as a result of the AHRC project. Over the two years that followed they worked together, and on September 22nd 2019 both plaques were coordinated and put up on the same day - Weston-super-Mare in the morning, and Fairfield House in the afternoon. Sobers arranged for Prince Michael, the Emperor's grandson, to unveil both plaques, travelling between locations on the day. Fairfield House was the culmination of the day's events, and over 200 people were in attendance from all over the country, including Rastafari drummers, reggae singers, council officers from both councils, and other dignitaries and local people. The event made local and national newspaper and television news. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Weston-super-Mare Town Council wrote the initial press release for the event and sent it out to a wide range of media platforms, which helped promote the event and garner media interest. For two plaques to be unveiled on the same day like this is unprecedented, and really shows the effectiveness of partnership working. This is the first Blue plaque in Bath, (as explained elsewhere in this outputs report), and is a real sign forward for how the council are recognising the importance of the Fairfield House story. |
| Impact | Increased tourist interest in the Haile Selassie story and connection with both places. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Civic Reception for the Fairfield House stakeholders in the Parlour at the Guildhall, Bath. Guest of The Mayor at the time, Councillor Paul Crossley. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | This event was an opportunity for the Fairfield House stakeholder groups to meet with Bath and North East Somerset council and business leaders to discuss the history, legacy and potential futures, and establish the a set of relationship that are still being built upon. Helped place Fairfield House in a key position in the Bath city's discussions about its future strategy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | African Caribbean Researchers Collective |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Speaking with African Caribbean PhD students about my journey in academia, and spoke about Ethiopian Echoes as a case study of how I negotiate research and community connections. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | African Queens symposium |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | African Queens symposium Saturday 25th September, 1 - 3pm Panel discussion exploring the opportunities and challenges Black women in leadership positions face, and what can be learnt from their experiences as well as identify historical and contemporary examples of leaders. Keynote Speak; Cllr Asher Craig, Bristol Deputy Mayor Speakers: Pauline Swaby - Charity director Estlyn McFarquhar - Community organiser Cordelia Johnney - EDI company lead Dawn Limbu (next generation) - Media producer, MA Student Chair - Christelle Pellecuer - Razana Africa director Introduced by Jennifer Sharratt. Freedom in the City producer This event also relates to the previous 'Ethiopian Echoes on the British Landscape' project as it was broadcast live in Imperial Voice Radio, which was founded for that project. This event was in connection with the African Queens exhibition, that was part of the 'Ethiopian Echoes in a British Landscape' project IMPACT - As a result of this event new volunteers came to Fairfield House. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.crowdcast.io/e/african-queens-symposium/register |
| Description | Appearance in Great British Railway Journeys, with Michael Portillo |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | As part of Michael Portillo's Great British Railway Journeys on BBC2, Shawn Sobers interviewed at Fairfield House about the history of the property, telling the story of the Emperor's time living there in exile. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Appearance on Flog It! |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | As part of the Flog It! series on BBC 1, Sobers was interviewed about Fairfield House and the time the Emperor spent living there in exile. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Appearance on Free Thinking, Radio 3 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Programme information: Fighting Women Free Thinking Maaza Mengiste, Christina Lamb, Julie Wheelwright join Eleanor Barraclough to look at women's experience of fighting from Ethiopia's war with Mussolini to modern day Sudan back to Amazonians and British and French colonial troops in Canada. And academic Shawn Sobers discusses his research into the years Haile Selassie spent living in Bath after he escaped from a war-torn Ethiopia. Our Bodies, Their Battlefields by Christina Lamb looks at rape as a weapon in war. Maaza Mengiste's novel The Shadow King is set during Italy's 1935 invasion of Ethiopia. Julie Wheelwright's book is called Sisters in Arms: Female warriors from antiquity to the new millennium. It includes the discoveries she made whilst researching one of her ancestors. Shawn Sobers from the University of the West of England is a filmmaker and photographer whose work can be found at http://www.shawnsobers.com/ Producer: Torquil MacLeod |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000g4bz |
| Description | Black History Walks presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Event description: The amazing story of ancient African royalty, World War Two, King George, Queen Victoria and the unknown Black presence in the South West. This illustrated talk by Dr Shawn Sobers will explore the connections the city of Bath (South West England ) has with African people. We start with Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I, who lived in the city in the 1930s and left a lasting legacy both physical and cultural. We will also explore the African presence that preceded his arrival and go back to Georgian and Victorian times. We will cover: - Ancient African history, royal lineage and culture - When Ethiopians defeated the Italian army. - Hitler, Mussolini, World War Two and European greed in Africa - The League of Nations betrayal - Black Victorians - Dirty Bristol money and beautiful streets, how to whitewash a Bath - Truth and Stereotypes of Rastafari |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://blackhistorywalks.co.uk/talks/emperor-haile-selassie-and-the-black-history-of-bath/ |
| Description | Candlelit Dinner |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Supporters |
| Results and Impact | A candlelit dinner was held at Fairfield House with local business leaders, philanthropists and investors, with the aim of gaining influential support for the future legacy in the city. The evening's meal was Caribbean food cooked by Fairfield House staff. Conversations and connections made that evening are currently being built upon. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Contemporary Rastafari Art - symposium |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Contemporary Rastafari Art - symposium Monday 24th May, 6pm - 8pm Explore the work and ideas behind some of the leading Rastafari inspired artists. Join Fairfield House's Tafari Gallery curator Kingsley Jahsiah for an evening of discussion and Rastafari filled arts appreciation. Ras Elijah Tafari in the USA will speak on current events in Rastafari culture and art. Abba Yahuda Selassie, also in the US, will speak on his art and recent published book. Canada based Colin Murray will speak on his art and work in arts education, and Kingsley Jahsiah will be in conversation with UK based artist Lois Cordelia. Feedback comments were predominantly in the style of saying - "A wonderful Seminar with so much beauty and so much information." This network of artists continue and have expanded, and will be having their inaugural exhibition at Fairfield House in Easter 2022. This event also relates to the previous 'Ethiopian Echoes on the British Landscape' project as it was broadcast live in Imperial Voice Radio, which was founded for that project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.crowdcast.io/e/contemporary-rastafari/register |
| Description | Emperor Haile Selassie's time living and travelling in Britain - 1936 - 1940 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | IMPERIAL EXILE Emperor Haile Selassie's time living and travelling in Britain - 1936 - 1940 A talk by author Keith Bowers Hosted by Marlene Bertrand, Imperial Voice Radio, for the Freedom in the City Festival of Learning Imperial Exile The talk will focus on the experiences and activities of Emperor Haile Selassie while he was in exile in the UK between 1936 and 1940. It will highlight how he and his family coped with the daily challenges of living as refugees in Bath, far away from their home in Ethiopia. The Emperor's travels around the UK and his relationship with the British government will also be explored. Although his exile experience had many moments of despair, his enforced stay in the UK is also a beacon of hope. General comments of feedback were that it was enlightening to get a more detailed account of the Emperor's time in exile, and how it fitted in the context of British political society. This event also relates to the previous 'Ethiopian Echoes on the British Landscape' project as it was broadcast live in Imperial Voice Radio, which was founded for that project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.crowdcast.io/e/imperial-exile--emperor/register |
| Description | Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church service at Bath Abbey |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church service at Bath Abbey SATURDAY 18th SEPTEMBER 2021 As part of Freedom in the City Festival - The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church held a service in memory of Blattengeta Heuroy Wolde Selassie, Emperor Haile Selassie's close friend and advisor, who died at Fairfield House in 1938. The service was hosted in the magnificent location of Bath Abbey. Watch the stream of it here. Thanks Bath Abbey for providing the stream of the service. IMPACTS 1 - In-person event at Bath Abbey, and also online. The event was incredibly emotional with many of the audience were in tears. 2 - The Priests visited Fairfield before the service and had a tour and have built a partnership between The Orthodox Church and Fairfield House for future events. 3 - This event was also broadcast as an hour long programme of Sunday Worship on BBC Radio 4, titled 'A Haven for an Emperor'. This event also relates to the previous 'Ethiopian Echoes on the British Landscape' project as it was broadcast live in Imperial Voice Radio, which was founded for that project. This event was in connection with the grave restoration in partnership with the family from 'Ethiopian Echoes on the British Landscape' |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.crowdcast.io/e/kqpvs4d1/register |
| Description | Fairfield House consultation webinar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Event description: The first Fairfield House online public meeting is a discussion and Q&A about the future of Fairfield House, former home of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I 1936 - 1941, which he graciously gifted to the Corporation of Bath as a home for the aged in 1959. Fairfield House : How we preserve Emperor Haile Selassie I's legacy for Our Community. Facilitated by Rob Mitchell (Imperial Voice Radio) Welcome from Esther Antohin, founder and director of Heritage Watch Ethiopia - Pauline Swaby Wallace - Manager, BEMSCA - Cllr Dine Romero - Leader, B&NES Council - HE Teferi Melesse Desta, Ethiopian Ambassador to the UK - Dr Shawn Naphtali Sobers, director, Fairfield House Bath CIC - Andy Salmon - Pro Vice Chancellor External, Bath Spa University - John Wilkinson - B&NES Council and an introduction to the other Fairfield House Bath CIC Directors. Date: Mon 30 November 2020 Time: 20:00 - 21:30 GMT |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-future-of-fairfield-how-we-preserve-hims-legacy-for-our-community... |
| Description | Fairfield House in Bath's heritage identity |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Fairfield House in Bath's heritage identity Saturday 9th October, 6 - 8pm The session will seek to locate Fairfield House and HIM's legacy within Bath's broader heritage identity. Is it accepted as a core part? Or does it sit on the edge and need to find its own way independently, with messaging that is outside the mainstream of Bath's heritage history? Chaired by Fairfield House CIC Chair William Heath, with guests: Barry Gilbertson, Dr Amy Frost and Ras Shango Baku. This event also relates to the previous 'Ethiopian Echoes on the British Landscape' project as it was broadcast live in Imperial Voice Radio, which was founded for that project. Impacts - One of the main influences of this event was the lead for the Bath UNESCO listing agreeing to work towards including Fairfield House in the updated listing for the city. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.crowdcast.io/e/fairfield-house-in-baths/register |
| Description | Festival Launch Event - Footsteps of the Emperor - film screening and Q&A |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | PUBLICITY INFO: To launch the Freedom in the City festival, join us for a free screening of Footsteps of the Emperor, a 50 minute documentary which tells the story of the time Emperor Haile Selassie spent living in the city of Bath. Presented by Benjamin Zephaniah, this influential film interviews local Bath people, with fascinating stories to share about their encounters with the Emperor. Following the film screening, join the film's Director Shawn Naphtali Sobers and Benjamin Zephaniah for a Q&A chaired by Rob Mitchell, to hear more about this magical moment in history, and find out about the Freedom in the City Festival of Learning - a seven month series of events celebrating Ethiopian and Rastafari cultures. Some feedback comments include; "Thank you so much for helping us to continue to learn." "Excellent event; consistently insightful and enlightening. Thank you all." "how can i help / get involve with the whole project - fairfield house etc" "Every time I see this film I learn something new - and am always inspired. Thanks Shawn." "Amazing film that I have watched so many times now I love it more every time I see it I learn something everytime!" "Just fantastic - revealing, inspiring, warm, engaging and thought provoking - thank you" "I showed this film to a huge group of Rastas on Negril Beach in 2008 and they loved it, they never heard English people speak about Rastas with so much love." "school day is every day! thanks for your thoughts" "Give thanks for the film and the all the energy. changed my life. All 3 of you are fantastic role-models" This event also relates to the previous 'Ethiopian Echoes on the British Landscape' project as it was broadcast live in Imperial Voice Radio, which was founded for that project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.crowdcast.io/e/footstepsoftheemperor |
| Description | Haile Selassie in exile, and life in the city of Bath. Public talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Event - Oxford, Ethiopia and the Legacies of Haile Selassie in the Popular Imagination, Oxford University, Oxford, England, 13 October 2018. This talk set the scene of the circumstances of how and why Emperor Haile Selassie came to the UK in exile, and how he came to settle in the city of Bath. This event in Oxford attracted many people nationally who was interested in the link with the Emperor and Oxford university, but they did not know about his long term residency in Fairfield House. Talking at this event gained interest in this history and have subsequently followed up with engagement and interest. Another result is that the Fairfield House committee have started conversations with key people at Oxford University, in the hope of establishing a cultural partnership agreement. Those talks continue. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://news.ethiopiantribune.com/news/9420-oxford-black-history-month-celebrates-the-legacies-of-hai... |
| Description | Hidden pluralities: Rastafari in the South West and the house where God lived - talk to advisors of Religious Education National Curriculum |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | National Conference for Religious Education Advisers, The Bristol Hotel, Bristol, England, 2-3 July 2018 (talk on July 3rd) Even though this is a conference, the reason this event is mentioned in this section is because the delegates were specifically Religious Education Advisers, so the talk was training and engagement for them, rather than a normal conference presentation. The delegates are advise on the content of the national curriculum for RE, and thus this was an important event for raising awareness of Fairfield House, Haile Selassie and the Rastafari faith on an important national platform. TALK DESCRIPTION In this keynote presentation Sobers discusses the intricacies of the Rastafari faith, how it has been underestimated as a cultural movement, and how its legacies have local, national and global significance. The paper tells the story of the first days of the Rastafari movement and its founders in the 1930s. It takes us on a journey from Jamaica, Ethiopia, to the surprising city of Bath in South West England, (where Emperor Haile Selassie I lived for four years, in a property called Fairfield House). Sobers argues that the Rastafari faith and the legacies of the Emperor have much to teach us in the context of family, political and spiritual affairs.The paper is presented in three parts. 1 - Roots - What is Rastafari? Who is Rastafari? 2 - The House where God Lived - Fairfield House as a gift to Bath city 3 - Future opportunities and securing legacies. Events, Heritage, and Imperial Voice radio. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | History and Theology of Rastafari Livity |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | History and Theology of Rastafari Livity 11th June 2021, 6.30pm - online, register in link provided Rastafari is a movement that has influenced Africans globally in positively recovering and reassessing our significance in the modern world. Its theological basis is an important backdrop to the movement's impact on a young international generation and has inspired all cultures of adherents. History and theology are intimately intertwined in the growth of the Rastafari movement. In this event we hear about the background and beliefs of this wise and insightful way of life which remains largely misunderstood by others, and hear about its significance today. Talk by Ras Shango Baku Chaired by Aleema Gray Feedback comments include: "Give thanks for such an inspiring informative and wide reaching talk." "Give thanks. Much appreciated. I hope this can be on YouTube for the young people to discover and to redress some of the negative portrayal they find there." "There is so much nonsense, and half-truths at best, being posted about Rastafari on Youtube, there needs to be more like this, which is probably the most grounded, well-structured, and comprehensive presentation I have seen to date on the phenomenon of Rastafari.... though InI know, there is no end to learning! Love and Respect! " This event also relates to the previous 'Ethiopian Echoes on the British Landscape' project as it was broadcast live in Imperial Voice Radio, which was founded for that project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.crowdcast.io/e/history-and-theology-of-2/register |
| Description | History and Theology of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | History and Theology of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Friday 4th June, 6.30 - 8pm The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) is the one of the oldest established Christian traditions on earth. In this event we hear about the formations, beliefs and practices of Orthodox faithful from three perspectives - EOTC leadership, academic research and personal experience. Talks by Rev. Abate Gobena, Dr Cressida Marcus and Anansa Auguste Chaired by Professor John Strachan This event also relates to the previous 'Ethiopian Echoes on the British Landscape' project as it was broadcast live in Imperial Voice Radio, which was founded for that project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.crowdcast.io/e/history-and-theology-of/register |
| Description | Imperial Voice Radio - training days |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | For volunteers who are interested in presenting on Imperial Voice Radio, we ran a five week training course, teaching them basic skills in radio broadcasting - from interview techniques, scripting, show planning, research, journalism principles, mixing desk and radio producing, and audio editing. Sessions ran Feb 9th, Feb 16th, Feb 23rd, March 9th, and March 16th 2019. Approximately 20 volunteer participants were involved, (slightly fluctuated each week). The course was certificated, (non-accredited). As a result of the course, some of the participants have now been operation their communities as journalists, reporting on events and researching for their programmes. Training was led by project participants Peter Green and Rob Mitchell, supported by Shawn Sobers |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | http://www.imperialvoice.com |
| Description | Imperial Voice Radio Community Consultation Days |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | On 10th Nov and 1st Dec 2018 we held two community consultation days at Fairfield House, for people to find out more about the plans for Imperial Voice Radio and how they could get involved. Approximately 40 people were in attendance in total. Attendees travelled from places such as London, Brighton, Birmingham, Lewes. Eastbourne, Wolverhampton, Oxford, Devon, Bristol, as well as from the local Bath area. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Interview on Ujima FM radio |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Interview on Ujima FM radio, Rise show, on January 18th 2019. Spoke about Fairfield House, research networks activities, the launching of Imperial Voice radio, and other topics related to the research networks project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Last Poets performance |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Performance - 25th May 2018 In partnership with local company Kelston Records and Bath Fringe Festival, we secured a performance with the founders of modern day hip hop, The Last Poets from Harlem. They were in Britain on tour to promote their latest LP, and we able to get them to perform at Fairfield House. They were supported by two local poets, participants of the project. We interviewed them and spoke about the plans for the house, they let us use some of their material for fundraising purposes. Audiences were given information about Fairfield House, to raise and engagement. The majority of the audience had never been to Fairfield House before, or knew about its history. This event has given Fairfield a model of how to run events in the future. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://kelstonrecords.co.uk/2018/06/01/fairfield-resident-artist-karen-wallis-draws-the-last-poets/ |
| Description | Live online Closing Event - Music, Poetry and Film - Freedom in the City festival party |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Live online Closing Event - Music, Poetry and Film - Freedom in the City festival party Sat 16th Oct - 2 - 5pm Live online Closing Event - Music, Poetry and Film Follow us around Fairfield House as we celebrate the finale of the Freedom in the City Festival! Performance of brand new music inspired by Fairfield House history by Chloe Rose Laing and Mohamed Errebbaa. New inspired poetry by Vanessa Melody. Premiere Screening of film 'The Emperor's Music' by Yuko Edwards Running order: 2pm - Tune in 2.15 Opening speeches 2.30 - Film showing and Q and A with Yuko Edwards 3pm - Vanessa Melody poem 'Precious Nubian Treasures' 4.00 Introduction to musicians residency 4.05 - Chloe Rose Laing and Mohamed Errebbaa music performance 4. 40 pm - Vanessa Melody performing 'In HIM shoes' 4.45 End of festival speeches by Festival Team and partners 5. 00pm Close This event also relates to the previous 'Ethiopian Echoes on the British Landscape' project as it was broadcast live in Imperial Voice Radio, which was founded for that project. Live event also broadcast live online. Significant impact was the musicians and poet being broadcast in the media picking up additional work. Also the fixed pianola was played live for the first time at a large event at Fairfield. The pianola will now become an income generator for Fairfield. Comments include - "Wonderful end to a wonderful festival" "Really appreciate being able to witness the joy and good vibes of this event!" |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.crowdcast.io/e/fitc-live-closing-event-/register |
| Description | My Ethiopia in Art |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | My Ethiopia in Art Artist Rediat Abayneh talks us through her creative process in illustration, animation and virtual reality, and how Ethiopia is a constant inspiration in her work. She also shares her recent experiences of teaching animation to young people in Ethiopia, and where she sees creativity in the country today. Talk by Rediat Abayneh Chaired by Jennifer Sharratt 16th August 2021, 6.30pm - 8pm - online, register in link provided Feedback comments include: "Lovely work! Nice to see the work you have done going back to Ethiopia to inspire young Ethiopian." This event also relates to the previous 'Ethiopian Echoes on the British Landscape' project as it was broadcast live in Imperial Voice Radio, which was founded for that project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.crowdcast.io/e/my-ethiopia-in-art/register |
| Description | Mystical connections between Bath and Ethiopia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Friday 14th May, 6.30pm - 8pm Mystical connections between Bath and Ethiopia Talk by Ras Benji, Rastafari Historian The City of Bath and the Ancient Kingdom of Ethiopia, distant lands that were brought closer by the presence of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I and the Ethiopian Royal family in the 1930s. Perhaps they have been intertwined much longer than we think. Could it even have been pre-destined that Emperor Haile Selassie I would one day walk the streets of Bath? Find out more on a rollercoaster ride of mystical, historical and spiritual investigation with Ras Benji offering new light on the significance of our surroundings. Chaired by Ras Hugo Makepeace, Light and Peace programme, Imperial Voice Radio Feedback comments include: "Really thrilled about this--one of the most interesting stories in the history of Bath" "I learnt so much!" "Wonderful. Thank you. Lots of information in this" "Give Thanks information Outstanding Powerful Ras Benji" "It has inspired me to walk around Bath looking at the symbols. Would be great to listen to you speak again whilst taking a walk with you around the sights. Ras Benji has gone onto give tours at Fairfield House, and as a result of feedback to this event, is developing a walking tour around the city. This event also relates to the previous 'Ethiopian Echoes on the British Landscape' project as it was broadcast live in Imperial Voice Radio, which was founded for that project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.crowdcast.io/e/mystical-connections/register |
| Description | Presentation given at the Birmingham City University Media and Culture Research Seminar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Gave a presentation outlining the scope of the award and some of the tangential findings that have emerged from the research. I structured the presentation deliberately like a meandering journey of findings that then came back to the core path of study, as an echo to the process of undertaking research. This presentation is what inspired me to undertake the visual ethnography journey (see Artist & Creative Products section), taking the metaphor from my presentation and translating it into a real life journey. The visual ethnography has now also been turned into a pending book chapter. (see Other Outputs & Knowledge / Future Steps section for - 'Post-Colonial connections with the British Landscape: An African-centric autoethnography'.) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Presentation given at the first meeting of the Reggae Research Network, Norwich. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Gave a talk titled 'Five Corners of Reggae Music, and the House where Rastafari Lived' at this event which happened a few months before the official start of this award, (though when I already knew the AHRC application was successful). I shared with the rare gathering of Reggae and Rastafari scholars who were in attendance from around the world, about the history of Haile Selassie and Bath (which many of them did not know about), and the plans for this forthcoming award. In the talk I gave an analysis of reggae music from five different perspectives - Educational, Spiritual, Political, Entrepreneurial, and Social, which I then applied to context of Fairfield House, and its future as a sustainable site of significance. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | RE-Definitions - Religious Education app recording |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | As a result of speaking at the National Conference for Religious Education Advisers in July 2018, Shawn was approached to speak about the Rastafari faith on the RE-Definitions app, which is an educational resource featuring key terms and definitions from all of the world's main religions, targeted at RE teachers, students, and other educationalists and researchers. The official App description says: RE-Definitions is an app for RE teachers giving handy access to the pronunciation and meaning of more than 200 key terms. As an app on mobiles and tablets, and as a website on PCs, it's for non-specialists who want to understand the words and how to pronounce them with confidence and for specialists who want to brush up on their knowledge. In both audio and text, RE-Definitions provides accurate, clear, resource-linked definitions of key terms in seven religions and beliefs, in ethics and philosophy and in the study of religions and beliefs. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | http://www.ctvc.co.uk/work/digital/re-definitions |
| Description | Race to Adwa for Fairfield House Bath |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Event description: Join us for this exciting Ethiopian themed online fundraising finale on Tuesday March 2nd !! This is an event with a difference! Friends across the world, lets come together to achieve a collective total distance as we #RacetoAdwa Starting in February ( From Today!!) and leading up to Tuesday 2nd March we are inviting you to put on your running shoes, walking boots or in the Ethiopian spirit - bare foot and count your total distance to help add to a total mileage as we try to reach Adwa from Addis Ababa ( 904.7km) in spirit with those pioneering heroes of African Victory back in 1896. We recommend finding an app or device that will help with recording your total distance journeyed. Please update us with your progress using the Hashtags #RacetoAdwa and #Fairfieldhouse On Tuesday March 2nd will be our grand totalling and an Adwa Victory Celebration featuring an interview with special guest Ethiopian runner Birhan Dagne live on the day amongst special offerings of Interesting talks and Ethiopian Music. For this Online fundraising event we recommend a donation of £5 or whatever you would like to give, proceeds in support of Fairfield House Bath If you would like to get friends and family to sponsor your running/walking you can easily set up your own fundraising page connected to Fairfield House via localgiving.org/charity/fairfieldhouse Or you can join our team page via localgiving.org/race-to-adwa For the Runners specifically we have made our own STRAVA running club for this event : Search Race To Adwa using the App or join using this link |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/racetoadwa-for-fairfield-house-bath-tickets-138581822963?aff=eand# |
| Description | Rastafari and Reggae |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Rastafari and Reggae Rastafari and music Saturday 2nd October, 6 - 8pm Rastafari's relationship with Reggae music, perfectly captures the way the mediums of language and symbolism can be used to convey an alternate worldview in Jamaican language - patwa. This directly challenges standard English as the only vehicle to represent truth, justice and intelligence, because Rastafari has from the outset sought to usher in a more equitable human experience, primarily but not exclusively, for peoples of African ancestry. It is crucial that we recognise this fact because a dread perspective is designed to challenge the status quo, in myriad ways, and as such cannot be reduced to word games or puerile semantics; some of the charges I have heard levelled against Rasta. For instance, the oppressor becomes 'downpressor' as one cannot be 'pressed' up, only down in this Babylonian system. Likewise, a term like education becomes 'head-decay-shun' as what happens to Africans in a racist Eurocentric world is decadent; it decays your head. Therefore, enlightened ones should shun it and avoid their lie-burys (libraries) where the historical truth of the black/African presence is buried under white lies. Consequently, this event will take you on a reggaematical journey through the world of Rastafari, using the medium of Reggae music as the seminal, outernational voice for those who are often rendered voiceless. Speakers - Professor Lez Henry This event also relates to the previous 'Ethiopian Echoes on the British Landscape' project as it was broadcast live in Imperial Voice Radio, which was founded for that project. Feedback comments include; " Blessed to know this roots reality presentation and reasoning is now archived for all who are willing to learn from it.... Can't wait for part 2...but Jah know the reasoning itinue until such time! Truly, the I is a vessel." "Thank you for taking the time out. I am very inspired to study further." |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.crowdcast.io/e/rastafari-and-music/register |
| Description | Re-Interpreting Knowledge: Rastafari and the Academy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Re-Interpreting Knowledge: Rastafari and the Academy Re-interpreting Knowledge is an interdisciplinary symposium bringing together early career researchers exploring Rastafari heritage, philosophy and culture. The Rastafari have been at the forefront of questions concerning identity, resistance and liberation in the African and Caribbean diaspora. Since their emergence in Jamaica, they have re-invented themselves and re-defined their position in various ways; from the messianic Ethiopianism in the 1930s, to roots-rock-reggae in the 1980s. However, regardless of their popular cultural appeal, Rastafari remains a largely misunderstood and under-researched phenomenon within academic spheres. Forming part of 'Freedom in the City: Festival of Learning', this symposium seeks to forge greater links with and among researchers documenting Rastafari and drawing on Rastafari knowledge to interrupt traditional academic approaches. Focusing particularly on emerging work within the field, it explores the pedagogical implications of the movement, the historiographical gaps, and the broader intellectual continuities and discontinuities. It calls into question what it means to 'know' within academic discourses whilst foregrounding future works within Rastafari studies in Britain and beyond. Speakers: Aleema Gray, Yentyl Williams, Malcolm Richards, Ras Benji, Hilde Capparella and Joseph Powell. Chaired by Dr Shawn Sobers and Professor Robbie Shilliam Feedback includes; "Blessed love to all, it is indeed a beautiful feeling knowing now after years of rejection. Victimization, strategically deprived of opportunities the Rastafari peoples globally is finally recognized where now we can meet on such a platform to discuss and reason...acknowledging we as a people have contributed much to our respective countries serving in all sectors." This event also relates to the previous 'Ethiopian Echoes on the British Landscape' project as it was broadcast live in Imperial Voice Radio, which was founded for that project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.crowdcast.io/e/re-interpreting/register |
| Description | Representations of Saint George in Ethiopian art and culture |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | PUBLICITY INFO: 7pm 23rd April 2021 Representations of Saint George in Ethiopian art and culture. On this Saint George's Day, we recognise how he is also the patron saint of Ethiopia, and look at the depiction of this important figure in historical Ethiopian art. A journey into the fascinating Ethiopian manuscripts in the British Library collection. A talk by Eyob Derrillo - Curator of Ethiopian collections at the British Library, department of Asia and Africa Studies Hosted by Bath Abbey - Revd Canon Nigel Rawlinson - Bath University Chaplain Some of the feedback includes; "Very interesting and informative" "Beautiful history" "Thank you very much so fascinating and interesting !!" Much of the comments were like that, and from informal conversations afterwards, people said that had no idea about any of this history, and were still processing the information. This event also relates to the previous 'Ethiopian Echoes on the British Landscape' project as it was broadcast live in Imperial Voice Radio, which was founded for that project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.crowdcast.io/e/representations-of-saint |
| Description | Round table of civic leaders |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | On March 22nd we held a roundtable event with local organisations and civic leaders to build upon previous conversations, hear updates, and to plan ahead with securing the legacy of the Ethiopian connection with the city. In attendance were Councillors, CEOs of local heritage organisations, lawyers, educationalists, entrepreneurs, business people, and the Fairfield House committee and supporters. Lots was discussed, and strategies were noted to be taken forward of how to discuss and embed the narrative the Ethiopian story in the city. One of the recommendations (which has been also suggested in other forums) was to get a Blue Plaque installed one the house. That action has now been taken forward to be arranged. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Sankofa dialogues: Making things to make sense of colonial saturated embodied landscape - ECHOES project workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Event - European colonial heritage in entangled cities (ECHOES), Museum Mucem, Marseille, France, 19 - 20 December 2018. (Talk on 19th Dec) Academics from across Europe who are running the Echoes project, funded by European Research Council (ERC), were interested in academics and artists from the UK who were researching and working on the space of pre/post-colonial era European spaces with African context discourses. They heard about the work at Fairfield House and brought Shawn to Marseille to give a talk about his work and research. This has resulted in Shawn being invited to Cape Town in March 2019 to talk about his work at Fairfield House, and other projects, to South African artists, heritage workers and academics, and to hear about their approaches in return. There is now talk of the ECHOES academics and artists coming over to visit Bristol and Bath in 2020. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Supporting our Elders and Communities (The Emperor's Gift in Action) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Supporting our Elders and Communities (The Emperor's Gift in Action) 6th August 2021, 6.30pm - 8pm - online, register in link provided In 1958 Emperor Haile Selassie gave his former home of Fairfield House to the city of Bath, as a gift to be used by aged citizens. Today it continues to used for that purpose, being the base of the Bath Ethnic Minority Senior Citizens Association (Bemsca) for the past 27 years. In this talk, Bemsca's Director Pauline Swaby tells us of the journey towards securing the Emperor's legacy. We hear about the African-Caribbean and Asian communities in Bath, and how Fairfield House has become a safe haven for many, as it did in the Emperor's own time of need. We gain an insight into how the elders coped and adapted during the difficult periods of lockdown over the past year, and how Bemsca continues to adapt to honour the wishes of the Emperor, in a house that is internationally recognised of being a site of sacred pilgrimage for many. Talk by Pauline Swaby - Bemsca Manager Chaired by Pauline Spence-McCalla (aka Princess Black) - NHS Community Mental Health Services, and Imperial Voice Radio presenter. Impact - One of the main impacts from this event has been BEMSCA gaining new volunteers from audiences to this event. This event also relates to the previous 'Ethiopian Echoes on the British Landscape' project as it was broadcast live in Imperial Voice Radio, which was founded for that project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.crowdcast.io/e/the-emperors-gift-in/register |
| Description | Sylvia Pankhurst: Her Pan-African Circles and Ethiopia's Fight against Fascism |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Sylvia Pankhurst: Her Pan-African Circles and Ethiopia's Fight against Fascism Monday 2nd August, 6.30 - 8pm Talk by Dr Angela Raven-Roberts Chaired by Dr Penelope Wickson For most people in Britain Sylvia Pankhurst is better known for her campaign for votes for women and key role in the Suffragette movement. Less known perhaps is her long sympathies with anti-colonial and anti-racist struggles, her relationship with various socialist movements and in her later years, support to Emperor Haile Selassie and the war against Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia. This talk will bring together these strands of her life and activism. It will review her activities denouncing the failures of the League of Nations, her contacts with key leading figures of the anti-fascist movement in Europe, and Ethiopian resistance in London, the Emperor himself in Bath and work in later years in Ethiopia. Key topics included will be the launch of various solidarity groups such as the Abyssinia Society, letter writing to British newspapers, the BBC and parliamentarians to protest anti Ethiopian bias in the media, the launch of the newspaper "New Times and Ethiopian News' and collaboration and friendship with notable leaders of the emerging Pan-African movement such as W.E.B Du Bois, Cheikh, Anta Diop, Kwame Nkrumah, Amy Ashwood Garvey, T. Ras Makonnen (George Thomas Griffith) Peter Abrahams, and George Padmore then living or visiting Britain. The talk will be framed in the context of celebrating a history of international solidarity against all forms of racism and solidarity with the peoples of Ethiopia and to commemorate Fairfield House Bath to continue to enact this legacy. Feedback comments include; "Greetings good to hear the history of a progressive conscious white woman supporting pan afrikan movements give thanks" "great example of how to progress as a white ally of the current black lives matter movement - use your power to empower and give voice to downpression" "Thank you, fascinating history and so inspiring" This event also relates to the previous 'Ethiopian Echoes on the British Landscape' project as it was broadcast live in Imperial Voice Radio, which was founded for that project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.crowdcast.io/e/sylvia-pankhurst-her-pan/register |
| Description | TEDx` Bath talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This TEDx talk discussed how the history of the Ethiopian connection with the city of Bath can shed light on how we live today. The talk addressed three key lessons; 1) You can find sanctity in unexpected places 2) The need for calmness in times of crisis 3) History does not stay in the past The talk drew upon his previous research in this area from Sobers project 'Ethiopian Echoes on the British Landscape', as well as more recent related research as Research Fellow for Bristol+Bath Creative R+D Digital Placemaking Pathfinder. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_sobers_ethiopian_echoes_on_the_bath_landscape |
| Description | Talisman performance |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 23rd February 2019 To fundraise for Fairfield House and Imperial Voice Radio, we held a reggae concert at The Bell Inn, Bath, by local reggae band Talisman, supported by other local acts and DJs. The venue was at full capacity, of people who had mostly never heard of Fairfield House or knew Haile Selassie had lived in the city. Before the performances the crowd were told about the history and the ongoing activities at the house, and requests for volunteers were made. The events also served as a soft public launch of Imperial Voice Radio. Donations to the house reached over £600, and some volunteers were recruited, and inspires new advocates. Events such as this one, and the Last Poets performance in May 2018, were important strategic events to run. They engage a previously unreached demographic of Bath audiences in a way that no other event could. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.thebellinnbath.co.uk/what-s-on/541-saturday-fairfield-house-reggae-benefit |
| Description | Talk at HMP Ashfield |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In this wide-ranging talk to prisoners at HMP Ashfield in Bristol, Sobers discussed how he got to be where he is now with his career, shared some examples of his photography and films, and talked how Rastafari and Pan-Africanism has informed his creative practice and life choices. Sobers talked about how the stories of Fairfield House had continued to inspire his research and connections with the local community. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | The Emperor's closest friend - The Life and Work of Blattengeta Herouy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Emperor's closest friend - The Life and Work of Blattengeta Herouy Monday 20th September, 6 - 7.30pm Blattengeta Heruy Wolde Selassie was an acclaimed author, political philosopher, the Ethiopian Foreign Minister, and Emperor Haile Selassie'sclosest friend and ally during his years in exile. Hear about his life and work, and the way he is remembered in Bath, where he died in 1938 at Fairfield House. Speakers - Prince Dr Asfa-Wossen Asserate and Dr Shawn Sobers Chaired by Jennifer Sharratt Introduced by Liz Chege In partnership with Africa in Motion This event also relates to the previous 'Ethiopian Echoes on the British Landscape' project as it was broadcast live in Imperial Voice Radio, which was founded for that project. This event was in connection with the grave restoration in partnership with the family from 'Ethiopian Echoes on the British Landscape' |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.crowdcast.io/e/the-emperors-closest/register |
| Description | The life and work of Empress Menen Asfaw |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | SEPTEMBER Friday 3rd September, 6.30 - 8pm The life and work of Empress Menen Asfaw Empress Menen Asfaw is celebrated as the wife of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I, but who was she as a person? What was her life before meeting the Emperor, and what were her passions and approach to life. This event celebrates the life of one of the most fascinating female leaders in world history. Speaker - Natika Selassie - Rastafari campaigner, organiser, and environmentalist. Q&A joined by Askala Selassie - Founder of the Empress Menen Foundation Chair - Oluwatosin Onile-Ere-Rotimi - Imperial Voice presenter General feedback was in the style of - "Thank you very much Natika for such in depth presentation! This event also relates to the previous 'Ethiopian Echoes on the British Landscape' project as it was broadcast live in Imperial Voice Radio, which was founded for that project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.crowdcast.io/e/the-life-and-work-of/register |
| Description | Transatlantic slavery connections with Bath - public talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Transatlantic slavery connections with Bath. Museum of Bath at Work, Bath, 12 October 2018 The interest in 'alternative histories of Bath' agenda that Fairfield House inspired in the city, led to a request from a local council officer for a Black History Month talk about another aspect of African connections with the city. The council officer suggested that local people did not know what connections the city had with transatlantic slavery (if any), and asked if anybody could deliver a talk on the topic, and Shawn Sobers was requested. Although the main body of this talk was not directly about the research generated by the research networks project, the project at Fairfield House was talked about and described at the beginning of the talk. This submission is an example of the direct and indirect impacts that such community based projects can have. It was due to activities from the networks project that inspired the council officer to ask for a talk to take place on another very different 'untold' aspect of the city's connection with African history. TALK DESCRIPTION The predominant discourse relating to the South West's connections with the transatlantic slave trade tends to focus on Bristol, though Bath has got its story to tell. This public talk for Black History Month discusses the rise of Bath's economic fortunes in the 1700s, and how the early investment in Bath's infrastructure was inextricably linked with the exploitation happening in the Caribbean. Talk by Dr Shawn Sobers |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | UN/SETTLED MULTICULTURALISMS - Regional transnational Blackness |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Event description by De Montfort University UN/SETTLED MULTICULTURALISMS - Regional transnational Blackness In Un/Settled Multiculturalisms Hesse argues that, 'Black Britishness is profoundly and disparately regionalised. The national history of Black communities is lived primarily in terms of locality' (Hesse 2000). Rather than nationally formed Black Britishness can be understood through, 'city bounded histories and memories of London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Liverpool or Leeds (etc.). In appropriating Britishness through regional life-worlds and vernaculars, the cities inhabited by Black communities resemble a geography of disparate identities connected only by diverse investments in imagining a nationally expressive Black Britishness and the mobilization of diasporic affinities' (Hesse 2000). In our final episode we would like to think about 'transruption' through the ways in which localised communities imagine and (re)make themselves both through the intersection of regional, local and transnational life worlds as well as through and against the persistent pattern of their historical erasure from their regional locality. 5.30pm-7.00 pm Pat Noxolo -Introduction - Roiyah Saltus - Paul Campbell - Claire Heuchan - Mark Christian - Shawn Sobers |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.dmu.ac.uk/about-dmu/events/events-calendar/2021/february/un-settled-multiculturalisms-20... |
| Description | Unveiling of the restored grave |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | Sunday 15th April 2018 was the unveiling of the restored grave of Blattenguetta Herouy Wolde Selassie, who was the Ethiopian Foreign Minister, a writer and scholar, and Emperor Haile Selassie's closest advisor. He died in 1938 and buried in the city of Bath, not far from Fairfield House. We held fundraising events at Fairfield and now the grave has been restored. Five generations of the family were in attendance. Also in attendance was Prince Michael Mekonnen, Haile Selassie's grandson. Local filmmaker Adam Murray filmed the day and conducted interviews with key people on the day. (At present the video is currently being edited.) Plans are still being made for a Herouy Lecture Series in Bath, further arrangements being discussed. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | What is Rastafari? History, beliefs and philosophy of the Rastafari movement - public talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Fairfield House, Bath, 27 October 2018 This talk was aimed at the local Bath residents, to shed light on the core history and beliefs of the Rastafari faith. The common perception and misunderstanding that many people have about Fairfield House is that it is only for Rastafari, and there is generally fear or misconceptions about what Rastafari is all about. In this talk Sobers challenges some of those common misconceptions regarding the public perception of Rastafari culture, and answers local people's questions. Shawn was joined by members of the Rastafari faith to also answer questions and give their perspective. This talk also highlighted new areas of Research, including how Fairfield House in Bath had a role to play in how the seeds were sown with how the movement became energised in the USA and Caribbean in the 1930s. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |