The feature explores the wider context of Punjabi migration to the Black Country at a time of racial tension in the region, alongside the research and collection methods behind the archive itself. It also reflects on the impact of bringing photographs from personal and family environments into public space through a digital archive, where they can be understood not only as private keepsakes, but also as socially and culturally important historical sources.
This recognition highlights the significance of the Apna Heritage Archive both as a community-led body of work and as an important contribution to wider conversations around photography, heritage, migration, and digital cultural memory.
Here is a short video introducing our feature in the journal.
Special thanks go to Professor Gil Pasternak, who has become an encouraging and valued supporter of the archive here in the UK.
A BCVA project achieved through Arts Council England funding