Based on an entry in the Portico Library’s log book, named ‘The Strangers Book’ (1830-1850), by a ‘Will (illegible surname)’ from ‘Jamaica’, ‘Wilma Morgan’ is created.
She is a Jamaican woman, living in Manchester, Moss Side in 1983 and is an amalgamation of the wonderful stories and people of Moss Side and the greater Manchester and North-West Caribbean community.
This video is part of a project I did called the City Of Strangers: a modern, online reconstruction of the Portico Library’s log book ‘The Strangers Book’ (1830-1850) , exploring the lives of 4 imaginary ‘strangers’ we constructed, people who weren’t represented in the 1800s log book. A Woman, an Immigrant, the Working Class and the Youth.
View the website here.
There are ‘glitches’ throughout the profiles, which visually represent the repercussions of not representing more than one type of person (the white, middle class, straight, male) in the Portico’s collection. This is highlighted in the archives now, as they reflect the decisions made in the early 1800s, leaving gaps in history and lack cultural understanding which therefore perpetuate racist ideologies.
