An online open day hosted by ‘collaborative project’ By The Cut Of Their Cloth will invite Brent residents to engage with their family history.

Anyone who lives in the borough with a multiracial background is welcome to the event this Saturday, January 15.

Inspired by television programmers Antiques Roadshow and Fake or Fortune, the open day encourages people to delve into their attics, cupboards and family photo albums.

They can share any images and personal possessions that illustrate their mixed race and multicultural family histories.

Brent-based artist and creative director Warren Reilly set up the project in collaboration with The Mixed Museum, contributing to widening knowledge about black and ethic minority British history. The project is funded by the 'Being Brent' Heritage Wellbeing Fund 2021.

Reilly said: “Our project aims to explore and preserve Brent’s rich multicultural and mixed race history, and we are particularly interested in how fashion can help us understand and display hidden or overlooked histories.”

“By inviting Brent residents to participate in sharing family histories and creative workshops, we hope that the stories uncovered by and created for the project will contribute to existing archival collections – such as that held by The Mixed Museum and Brent Museum and Archives – for future generations to study and enjoy.”

The artist will also organise three creative workshops on visual research, photography and illustration/image making. The workshop will take place on February 14, 15 and 19 at The Library at Willesden Green.

A digital exhibition, showcasing the journey and outputs of the project, will be put on display by The Mixed Museum next March.

On the open day, residents will be invited to share their memories on a one-to-one basis with the organisers.The organisers had to change the event at The Library to an online format via Zoom due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Some of the narratives and images shared with the By The Cut Of Their Cloth project team will be curated at the digital exhibition hosted by The Mixed Museum, for educational and non-profit use only.

Those interested in the event can register here.