At the heart of the Postal Museum’s Voices of Resistance exhibition are stories of strength, resilience, and untold histories - and bringing these stories to life is Sharondeep Jawanda, the museum’s Community Programmes Producer. 

As the founder of La Basketry, I was fortunate to be invited by Sharondeep to lead a series of basket-weaving workshops with the community group Caribbean Social Forum, celebrating traditional craft and storytelling.
Participants created baskets inspired by those used by coal workers in 19th-century St. Thomas, while also designing their own personal pieces in vibrant colours inspired by the region.

In this interview, Sharondeep shares the journey of the exhibition, the collaborative process behind it and her own fresh appreciation for traditional basket-making. 

1) Can you tell us about your role as the Community Programmes Producer at The Postal Museum and how you became involved with the museum? 

It has been an exciting time to start at the museum, jumping straight into a community project linked to the Voices of Resistance exhibition. When I heard about the women of St. Thomas carrying baskets of coal onto ships, I was astounded by their strength and resilience working in such difficult and dangerous conditions for little or no pay. I wanted to find a way to honour and share their story, which led to the basket weaving project. 

2) I'm always fascinated by behind the scenes behind a project, especially on an exhibition like 'Voices of Resistance' - when did you start working on it? Can you share a quick timeline and talk us through the process? 

 

The journey to the exhibition started back in 2019 with the team studying links between the collection and transatlantic slavery. We knew we had letters which had been carried on mail ships from Jamaica to Britain. We unexpectedly uncovered the experiences of enslaved people in these letters.

 

We were motivated by an ambition to be more accountable as an organisation, by delivering a project which balanced our traditional narrative of the post as a benevolent service with its more complex and challenging histories. To achieve this, we worked collaboratively with researchers, consultants and community partners in both the UK and St. Thomas who live with the legacy of this history or have cultural connections to the Caribbean.

 

We discovered that traditional archives don’t always hold all of the answers, for example the story of Queen Coziah, leader of the 1892 St. Thomas coal workers’ strike. Queen Coziah has been celebrated and remembered through the oral tradition in the Virgin Islands, but her existence was until recently questioned, as she could not be identified in traditional archives.

 

One of our key partners, Dollar fo’ Dollar shaped and enriched the presentation of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, St. Thomas and the lives and legacies of the coal workers. The St. Thomas based cultural organisation co-curated significant parts of the exhibition through informing themes and narratives, selecting objects for display, loaning items, text writing and AV development. 

 

3) I really enjoyed how you structured the workshops with activities like bingo, mapping our origins, and a food tasting - could you tell us more about how these activities came together and why they were important?

 

It was important to us to create a comfortable, welcoming environment and to build relationships with and between the participants, especially as we didn't all know each other. We saw the group play bingo on one of our early visits to the group, so I adapted an activity they already know and enjoy, helping us to find out more about everyone. Food always brings people together; it's an important part of every culture and a shared experience. These icebreaker activities helped us build connections and create lasting memories. 

 

4) What are some highlights that people should look forward to in the exhibition?

 

A lot of the historic material on display is text heavy, and we wanted to ensure there were ways for everyone to engage with the stories. Contemporary artwork, community-led creative responses, AV and interactives feature at key moments throughout the display help to facilitate understanding of dense, challenging content and to encourage moments of reflection and celebration. The voices of the communities come through in every part of the exhibition which is refreshing.

 

The baskets are of course a highlight for me. There is also a special film which captures Dollar fo' Dollar's annual heritage walk honouring the coal women and interviews with Virgin Islands culture bearers which demonstrates to visitors the importance of preserving the legacies of their ancestors.

 

I love that it’s women’s stories we are telling, specifically the stories of African Caribbean women. We worked with a group of African, Caribbean and diaspora women who work at the Royal Mail Mount Pleasant Mail Centre to explore the stories of some of the women represented in the exhibition. Through conversations around resistance, food, culture and freedom, the women helped to create an artwork which is displayed in the exhibition. 

 

My favourite object is a striking painting of a coal woman by St. Thomas artist Ama Dennis which embodies the strength and resilience of the women.

 

5) Now that you’ve made your first basket, do you think you’ve developed a new appreciation for the craft, and would you consider making more in the future? No pressure!

Absolutely. It is a very mindful activity. Tabara is a very patient and supportive teacher. I look at my basket and I feel proud of what I have made. It's important to keep learning new things and to keep these traditional crafts alive.

The exhibition runs until 5th January at the Postal Museum in Clerkenwell, London. 

*Photo credit: ‘Backbone: Strong’ by Ama Dennis, 2024