The project explored links between The Postal Museum’s collections and transatlantic slavery. We worked collaboratively to address traditional power imbalances, deepen our understanding and enrich our practice. Through researching mail carried between Britain and the Caribbean, our focus shifted to St. Thomas. Here, postal steamships stopped and enslaved people were forced to re-coal ships. We partnered with St. Thomas-based community group Dollar fo’ Dollar, who commemorate Virgin Islands coal workers. They co-curated significant parts of the exhibition including selecting objects, text writing, and creating AV assets. We worked with two African, Caribbean and Black diaspora community groups in London to co-produce creative responses.

The exhibition and community projects inspired a rich programme of co-produced activity. We commissioned artworks responding to the display themes and created a resource to support families’ discussion of sensitive content. A postcard exchange between St. Thomas and London garnered over 2500 responses and has been introduced into the Virgin Islands school system. A group of young people were also invited to the space and produced a film in response.