“Before Them, We” is a multidisciplinary project birthed by Natalie Fiawoo, Ruth Sutoyé and Tobi Kyere. With all three artists boasting rich and full West African legacies, the exhibition demonstrates stories of adventure, discovery, authenticity and familial intimacy through the lens of four female elders and their loved ones. “Before Them, We” is available to visit at London, Brixton’s Black Cultural Archives, until 18th of September 2021. Get your ticket and find out what else is on here. 

AMAKA talks with Ghanaian-British curator, producer and oral historian Natalie Fiawoo, on the significance of matrilineal intergenerational relationships in shaping our understanding of West African presence in the UK.

What was the inspiration behind the curation of this exhibition?

Essentially, Ruth, who took all the photographs, we had lots of conversations about what the project meant to her. Things like intimacy and the importance of being connected to intergenerational families. And so, when I thought about how I wanted to use this space, I knew that I wanted to, first of all, create something quite regal on one side for the grandmas. And it made me think of the salon spaces that you see at the national portrait gallery, where you have these massive gold-framed images and then seating, so you can sit down and enjoy that space. If you look at the pictures, they're really strong and beautiful, and we're never in those spaces.I wanted to be able to pay homage to these amazing women in a way that made them feel really special and important.

And then [...] texture is really important to me. And so, that's why I wanted to have cloth that you could feel the weave in.

- Oh, is this cloth?

Yeah. So, I was thinking about how our stories are all interwoven.

Interwoven? That's a good one.

[Chuckles] I spent a long time feeling cloth, thinking about which cloth would print really well.

So, what material actually is this? 

It's actually denim. If you look closely, you can kind of see the pattern.

So these areas I informally refer to as the shrines. I wanted quite an intimate place for each family. So, each grandma is overlooking her family in each of the separate sections.

Ah, so they each connect?

Yeah. I just felt like I wanted something that was like a quiet place of reflection where we could spend time with the families. And here, if you scan it, you can listen to the grandmas telling you a portion of their story.

If someone tells me a story about somebody, I want to know what they look like, or I want to understand a bit more about them differently. And so, when I was thinking about putting the materials, I felt like I wanted something that the families were able to give that told a little bit of their story. So, I got them to tell me what they wanted and then for them to tell me the stories that connect to it and put in those individual cases.

Listen to Grandma Deborah here

Listen to Grandma Felicia here

Listen to Grandma Isatu here

Listen to Grandma Esther here

So these shrines all represent three generations within a family?

Yeah, it says it on the wall.

I noticed, both the secondary and tertiary generations are all wearing hair or head pieces. Was this intentional, or was this just how people showed up?

Yeah, I think when you're trying to get the best out of people in terms of photography, you want them to feel comfortable. So, Ruth had someone do their makeup, and she briefed them on what we would be doing. And then they came how they wanted to on the day, with their clothing. 

Do you have any comments on how they chose their own aesthetics and how that type of autonomy shows up on camera?

I wasn't present for the photographs, but based on my conversation with Ruth, she wanted a lot of colour. And I know when we were speaking about the exhibition, that was something that was important. Everything about what you see are things that are important to them, things that mean something. So, when they were choosing the clothes, you know, the brief was wear colour, but then they picked outfits that made them feel special or outfits that connected them to a life event. So, there's some cloth as well, in the archive boxes at the back.

So, for this one over here. This one belongs to Grandma Isatu, and this was the material that she travelled here from Sierra Leone in. This is the oldest item of clothing that she has basically - that she's allowed us to showcase.

How do you personally connect to the project? Tell me about your own personal roots?

I am mixed, Ghanaian-British and I... I'm just nosy, I suppose [chuckles]. Like I always want to know. I want to understand. And so the idea of spending time with my grandma and understanding what her life was like... So, my grandma, when you think about it, she'd already started her family when Ghana was still a colony.

What time period was this?

My grandma is now 101, and my dad was born in 1948, and Ghana didn't get its independence until 1957.

So, that meant that my dad was a child, but he was born when Ghana was still a colony. And so, speaking to them - I actually just did an oral history workshop earlier on today - and, I was talking to them about the idea that we have Black top line history, but when it comes to understanding what it was really like, about daily life, you realise how important it is to ask those questions and speak to your family, your elders, even to just understand more about the nuance that lives in your community or in your family, you know. My dad might be a certain way because of how his mum was, and I won't know that unless I have those conversations. And I feel quite passionate about the need for us to have those stories, to learn those stories, to tell those stories.

Yes, I suppose the transitory nature of these first-hand legacies means we must make an effort to appreciate them while they're still here.

Yeah. And also, when we consider most of the history that we receive is from a very Eurocentric Western lens, it invalidates, sometimes, the way that we naturally tell our stories. So, the community that I'm from in Ghana, We tell our stories through oral histories of storytelling, cloth, dance, and song, but in the Western world, those aren't considered valid sourceS of history. But I think that we have to remember that the oldest forms of history were done via oral history by us knowing stories from elders. And so those things sit for me because as we start losing our elders, we start losing our stories, our history.

What is your ethnic group? How do you spell that?

Eʋe (Pronounced Eh-weh and can be alternatively written as either Ewe or Evhe).

How do you personally connect to the project? Tell me about your own personal roots?

I am mixed, Ghanaian-British and I... I'm just nosy, I suppose [chuckles]. Like I always want to know. I want to understand. And so the idea of spending time with my grandma and understanding what her life was like... So, my grandma, when you think about it, she'd already started her family when Ghana was still a colony.

What time period was this?

My grandma is now 101, and my dad was born in 1948, and Ghana didn't get its independence until 1957.So, that meant that my dad was a child, but he was born when Ghana was still a colony. And so, speaking to them - I actually just did an oral history workshop earlier on today - and, I was talking to them about the idea that we have Black top line history, but when it comes to understanding what it was really like, about daily life, you realise how important it is to ask those questions and speak to your family, your elders, even to just understand more about the nuance that lives in your community or in your family, you know. My dad might be a certain way because of how his mum was, and I won't know that unless I have those conversations. And I feel quite passionate about the need for us to have those stories, to learn those stories, to tell those stories.

Yes, I suppose the transitory nature of these first-hand legacies means we must make an effort to appreciate them while they're still here.

Yeah. And also, when we consider most of the history that we receive is from a very Eurocentric Western lens, it invalidates, sometimes, the way that we naturally tell our stories. So, the community that I'm from in Ghana, We tell our stories through oral histories of storytelling, cloth, dance, and song, but in the Western world, those aren't considered valid sourceS of history. But I think that we have to remember that the oldest forms of history were done via oral history by us knowing stories from elders. And so those things sit for me because as we start losing our elders, we start losing our stories, our history.

What is your ethnic group?

Eʋe (Pronounced Eh-weh and can be alternatively written as either Ewe or Evhe).

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What is it you want people to take away from this exhibition?

I want them to, first of all, talk to their family - mum, grandparents, even siblings - to learn their journeys, to learn their histories, or, you know, whatever it is that connects us to us, our communities, to our families, those things. Intergenerational conversations are so important. They’re ones that we forget to have. A lot of the time, our elders just don't tell us about their lives. And we’re just living our lives, and we're not thinking to ask. And then you sit down, and you have a conversation, and they're just like, wow. I found out so much about my dad just by having conversations with him. You think you know your parents, and then suddenly you remember that they were people in their own right before they had children.

That's what you realise as you grow up as well. So, I feel like, because I'm Igbo, my parents don't really discuss the nuances of Nigerian history. They talk about Nigeria generally, but I wonder if there's some type of mental scar there in relation to the Biafra war. So, I feel quite detached from that history, even though that's still a part of me. For those who don't typically have those types of historically intimate conversations with their families, how would you recommend initiating that discourse?

I would say try, like, just try and chat. One of the things that I think is a good way to start asking questions is to ask about childhood. So, what was it like when you were a kid?

Yeah, my parents tell me a lot about my childhood, just not with that political context.

But then I think, once you've opened them up with the stories about their childhood, then you can start trying to lead them to use those kinds of conversations. Or, sometimes, ask a relative. Like, I might be able to ask an aunt about something to do with my dad that he's never told me, and then I can drop it into a conversation with them. It's really difficult because, I mean, it's natural, all of us, we withhold things, including things that are traumatic.

Yes, indeed. However, I think there's a real element of partition between generations in African societies. There's a real emphasis on deference, with stereotypical phrases like, "I'm not your mate', et cetera, et cetera. Would you say this ends up informing the way we process generational information and history?

Definitely, and also, there is secrecy and hiding in a lot of our histories and ways that we protected ourselves from outsiders, you know. But I've noticed, and maybe I'm just lucky, I don't know, that once they start talking and they keep talking. Like, there's so much, it's just that one ever asked, or they didn't think anyone ever cared. You know what I mean? Especially as they get older. It's almost like their inhibitions just disappear.

Speaking of historical contact with "outsiders", as you put it, how do you reconcile your African history's connection to that colonial history on your European side of the family?

I feel, in some ways, quite fortunate that I've come from a family - well, my immediate family, I'll say - that has always been very open to having certain conversations. With my extended family on my mom's side - my mum's the white one - some of them were just not nice people to be around, and we're just not around them anymore. But I think we have to be able to accept things on a very pragmatic level, like this is the reality of it. And so, there are sometimes conversations that I might have with my mum that can be tricky, but it's my mum at the end of the day; it makes it a bit easier to have those conversations. I think, also, from a perspective of me even being in certain spaces, I am just super aware of that.

Yes, the exhibition very much celebrates unapologetically and boldly Black West African phenotypes on Black women, lots of lovely dark and mid-brown tones.

In terms of the images, there was a public call-out. It wasn't curated as such. In terms of who the photographs would be for, and I wasn't involved in that portion of it. But, I think that when it came to how I curated it, I feel quite strongly that there are times when I have to step away when someone else has to decide or make the decision. But also, I wanted to just be very loving and careful when it came to how I told these stories.

Yeah. And I think those motivations are present in the way the images have been taken. There's a really strong emphasis on physical closeness and bonding, especially through the shrines.

Yeah, for me, I am super conscious of the spaces that I access, don't access. I will step out of spaces if I feel like I'll be a hindrance because, you know, no matter how enlightened people can be, I understand that there might be times where my presence can be divisive. And I understand the position that I have to play when it comes to the importance of telling certain stories. I know that in some instances, me pushing a story will mean that people will listen. As long as the story gets there, that can be useful. But then I have to know when I step aside, and someone else takes the lead.

What is your next project?

I'm co-producing "Africa Writes" festival this year. It's for African writers. So, it covers fiction, non-fiction, activism-writing, poetry, like everything. It's a mix of online and in-person. In-person is [sic] the 27th, 24th of October at the British Library; for the whole of October, there's [sic] various, different events or workshops online that are accessible.

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And finally, what would you say is the future for African presence in the UK?

That's a really good question [chuckles]. African presence in the UK? Hmm, I feel like, in many ways, the tide is, I wouldn't say turning, but maybe opening up. I think a lot of the history of the UK centres around Caribbean history. Even BCA (Black Cultural Archives) as a space, if it's meant to be a space that tells the story of African and Caribbean Britons, then we need to be able to tell all of those stories. It's making sure that we show all the different stories if we're supposed to be telling these stories of Black British people. And I think that now it does feel like, in a way, Britain is giving more space to 'Africanness".

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity