Preserving Cultural Heritage with London Youth

Heritage is more than physical objects. It's all the immaterial things like oral stories that have been passed down, medicine rituals and practices, our connection to cloth, the values and principles imprinted into our bodies.

We recently held a craft workshops with London Youth to support young people to learn and connect with preserving craft and story-telling in their cultural heritage. We then created a mind map of how we connect to our cultural heritage through our senses, before stitching chooses motifs on to canvas fabric.

We explored the notion of cultural heritage beyond our appearances. There were many similarities between the young Black and South Asian folks in our sessions. There is a rich understanding of all the immaterial things, like the oral stories that have been passed down, medicine rituals and practices, our connection to cloth and craft, and the values imprinted into our bodies.

The young folks also shared their love and respect for their Elders, and the connection to spirituality through rituals, prayer and making time to pause.

Before guiding the group into stitching, I shared stories from my Sikh roots and Panjabi culture through preserved family heirlooms of textiles, jewellery, objects, stories and recipes.We then created a mind map of how we connect to our cultural heritage through our senses, before stitching chooses motifs on to canvas fabric.

The beauty of the day was when the young people were sharing the rich nuances from their diverse cultures and recognising the commonalities among communties that weave the fabric of humanity.

💗 Kind words from the young folks who joined us:

• "I enjoyed the craft session, it was really intuitive, and it made me realise how important preservation of culture is."

• "I enjoyed the crafts session, as it felt more intimate and more knowledgeable."

• "Crafts was the best! Inclusive and comforting! It gave me a lot to leave with."

“The young people's feedback showed that their biggest takeaway was the importance of preserving our heritage.

The craft workshop inspired young people to have conversations about heritage, think deeper into their own cultures and roots and allowed them to try something new, that was mindful and creative with freedom to explore and express.

Poonam uses rest as resistance to a world that tries to force us into noise and panic. Her workshops give permission to take stock, focus on the present moment, give an opportunity to see the bigger picture and care for ourselves. I would highly recommend working with Poonam!”

-Heritage Programme Manager, London Youth