AN exhibition celebrating the lives of English speaking Caribbean has gone on display in Bradford City Park.

To celebrate Black History Month, Bradford Council has supported Caribbean Conversations, which has brought together local artist Tim Smith and local organisation Windrush Generations to create the exhibition, which runs until the end of November.

The exhibition displays a unique archive of photographs, taken over a sixty-five year period, celebrates the light, life and landscapes of the English-speaking Caribbean.

The photographs will be on display for all to see in the windows of the Theatre in the Mill, under the big screen in City Park until November 30

Over the past decade Bradford photographer Tim Smith has travelled back to his childhood home of Barbados, as well as many other islands in the region with close connections to Britain. Some of his photographs now make up a striking window display in Bradford’s City Park, together with pictures taken by his father Derek Smith on various islands during the 1950s and 1960s.

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Windrush Generations, a voluntary organisation of people of Caribbean heritage living in Bradford, described the display as providing “A window on the other part of who I am”.

Charles and Nigel Guy of Windrush Generations have also worked with Tim by organising a series of on-line workshops, called Caribbean Conversations, where the photos are used as a springboard for people to share their memories and reflections on life in the Caribbean region.

This display is a taster for a much bigger show planned for Bradford in 2021. Island to Island will use more photographs and people’s stories to explore how life in the Caribbean has changed over the last sixty-five years, showing how each island has its own special character and links to Britain.

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Healthy People and Places, said: “Supporting local talent and organisations to collaborate and create work like Caribbean Conversations is vital to educating and celebrating the rich black history we have here in Bradford.”

Tim Smith says: “I’m aiming to produce an exhibition which moves beyond the popular stereotypes of ‘Paradise Islands’ to show real people in real places leading real, everyday lives. It’s been a great pleasure to look through my father’s pictures and combine them with my own. These bring back lots of memories for me. Hopefully they will do the same for many visitors to the show who have lived in, or visited, the Caribbean.”

These workshops and the display are supported by Bradford Council and are a culmination of events which have been happening across the district as part of Black History Month.