New funding for Paxton House
We are thrilled to have received support from Museums Galleries Scotland for the next phase of our Caribbean Connections project.
What the grant is for
Paxton House will receive funds as part of Museums and Galleries Scotland’s Delivering Change Sustainable Co-production Fund, made possible thanks to players of the National Lottery and People’s Postcode Lottery. The fund supports learning and co-operative curation with communities that have been systemically excluded from decision making. The objective is to find ways to create learning as a two-way process and to empower people to make decisions about their cultural lives.
Sheila Asante, Delivering Change Programme Manager, Museums Galleries Scotland said, “We’re delighted to support Caribbean Connections Creative Partnership at Paxton House. Their project focuses on working together with different groups and communities to create relationships that promote longevity, power sharing, and equity. Building these relationships will support more people to access and participate in heritage through Paxton House.”
What we plan to do
The grant will allow us, at Paxton House, to continue to develop our highly successful Caribbean Connections Creative Partnership with our partners, Descendants. Our project aims to inspire a sense of pride and accomplishment in the young people and older generations of the communities with whom we co-operate. We will build upon our award-winning work with Descendants and our local community in new sustainable ways to co-create long-term educational resources, new partnerships, and develop the skills of all involved through training, workshops, an exhibition, and events.
What to expect
We plan to bring together internationally-renowned Grenadian artist, Billy Gérard Frank, Edinburgh Caribbean Association, Grenadians, and local communities to make innovative artwork and heritage resources available for local and global audiences. It is a chance for us to explore the links between Paxton House, the Home family and Grenada from 1764, when Ninian Home first purchased a plantation in Grenada, to the present day. So far the programme has resulted in rich new research and resources and a new understanding of the place that Paxton House, as a gentleman’s country house in Britain, holds in the history of the slave trade. Our co-operation with Descendants has brought new understanding to the families that are part of the African Caribbean diaspora and new audiences to Paxton House.
Professor Louise Jackson, Chair of The Paxton Trust, said, ‘We are delighted to have received support for this ground-breaking project, which combines our curatorial, public engagement and education remits to diversify our audiences, and look forward to sharing the outcomes”
Find out more about our Caribbean Connections and about Descendants.
