The first partnership in our cultural programme is an installation by critically acclaimed British visual artist, rapper and producer, GAIKA, whose work fuses black club music culture with architecture, engineering, graphic design and political theory to create multi- dimensional works that defy conventional categorisation. It aims to address the House of St Barnabas’ links to slavery – like many cultural institutions in London, House of St Barnabas has a colonial past, owned in the 18th Century by Jamaican slave owner Richard Beckford. GAIKA’s family were enslaved by Beckford in Jamaica.

Robert Beckford’s father Alderman William Beckford was the Lord Mayor of London and the Beckford family wealth came directly from slavery. There are countless monuments to these slavers, and several London institutions built with their profits yet little critical assessment of this reality.

With this installation, newly appointed Director of Engagement Gillian Jackson, aims to open a dialogue around black identity in what she calls the ‘Era of Reclamation’ – a time for conversations around ownership, ‘not only of ourselves and our identities but of our streets, and the public buildings that should belong to all of us.’

In joining the House, and delving deep into its history, she has come to realise that Richard Beckford also enslaved her family.

Gillian says ‘We cannot deny the country’s role in slavery and the extent to which the nation’s wealth is built on the foundations of these horrific crimes. Like a number of the cultural institutions that make up the fabric of this great city, House of St Barnabas has a colonial past.’

‘I have a personal connection to this story. As a Black Woman and Director of Engagement of House of St Barnabas, I plan to openly explore the House’s relationship with slavery. I hope to understand how we as a society can learn and grow from such histories and to open a radical forum for debate around one of the most vital issues facing museums and cultural spaces in the UK and globally.’

The installation is an exploration of black survival and the institutions that have profited heavily from that survival. It is a visceral reclaiming of physical space and a representative calculation and recording of the wealth that slavery has given to the United Kingdom, and London in particular. This is not a record of the horrors of slavery or an ode to black victimhood, it is a discussion and thought provoking piece about power.

GAIKA PRESENTS: FLIGHT RECORDER, Installation in the Bazalgette Room

GAIKA’s installation is based on the internal recorders from a highly advanced  aircraft named  Bohemia. It is named after the district in rural Jamaica, where his father was born and is now buried. Bohemia is in Westmoreland where his grandfather was from and where the Beckford plantations were.

GAIKA refers to the motion from slavery to freedom, across mountains oceans and time itself – Flight. And the flight recorder is a black box which holds all of the memories of his past. This craft, now crashed, is the ephemeral physical body that burns with black power.

By creating a mystery object within one room of the House and a series of transmissions around that object, GAIKA hopes to create directed discourse around the role of slavery, and power within institutions. More generally this work will  form a critique of the racist foundation of capitalism, right here in the city of London.

—

Watch this space for details about the accompanying event series.

Alongside that in a voluntary capacity I run the LGBTQ+ charity It Gets Better UK which aims to inspire, empower and uplift LGBTQ+ youth in order to combat the scarily high levels of self-harm and suicide in our community.

I’ve been spending lock down at home in Chesham with my husband Hefin, and our dog Yoshi.

How’s lock down been for you?
Lock down has been very busy!

Over the last few months as the pandemic took its grip we’ve had to look at how we could support nursing and midwifery students to complete their studies, whilst also helping alleviate pressure on the NHS. We therefore made changes to degree programmes which has resulted in over 35,000 students moving into clinical placements over the last few months to help out as part of their degrees – it’s been no mean feat, and the work the students have done has inevitably saved lives, they’re amazing.

From the It Gets Better UK perspective we know that a lot of LGBTQ+ youth will be in lock down with people they perhaps aren’t out to yet, or who don’t accept them for who they are. We’ve therefore been working hard to try and provide as many positive and reassuring messages as we can to those who might be struggling or feeling isolated.

What’s something you’ve learned about yourself (or the world) over the last few months?
On a personal level I’ve definitely come to accept myself as an ambivert. As much as I love me-time and space away from other people I miss talking to people. Whilst video conferences are great, I miss that spontaneous chat you have with friends or colleagues.

That being said, I’ve genuinely been impressed at how people have come together. I work in an amazing profession who have been at the heart of the response to the pandemic. Seeing some of the personal sacrifices individual nurses and midwives have made to help out has been staggering, and I continue to be left in awe.

What have you missed most about the House? What do you look forward to getting back to?
The House is my go-to oasis in London – from ringing the bell and walking through the door you get hit by that welcome energy I’ve yet to experience anywhere else.

I’ve really missed being able to sit out in the garden catching-up with friends, and really looking forward to being able to do that again as soon as possible.

If you could have a drink with one person (real or imaginary) at our bar, who would it be?
This one was really tough. I think with everything going on at the moment I’d have to pick Joseph Lister who was the pioneer of antiseptic surgery – as well as coming from a Quaker family.

Getting his insight on everything that’s going on would be fascinating.

Say hello to me to talk… e.g. marketing, the offside rule, the history of the brioche bun
I like to think I’m a friendly and approachable person, so if you see me in the house then please do come and say hello. I love learning about new people and hearing their experiences. I look forward to meeting you when we’re back in the house…

Want to be featured member? Let us know!

Bernardine Evaristo is having a moment. Or it more accurately, she’s having a year. Since she became the first black woman to win the Booker Prize for her novel Girl. Woman. Other in 2019, she’s gone on to guest edit the Sunday Times, become the first black British writer to top the UK paperback fiction charts and been shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction. On this podcast, she talks to author Elizabeth Day about the power of positive manifestation, radical feminism and how she once failed to drive from England to Australia. Listen here.

This week, the Guardian has launched a new content series. Young, British and Black: The Voices behind the UK’s anti-racism protests, profiles 50 young activists as they talk about their experiences of racism growing up, their hopes for the future and why they couldn’t stay silent. Eye opening and inspiring. Read the profiles here.

Have any Be More Barnabas tips? Let us know.

Initially, we’ll be opening from Wednesday – Friday between 9am until 9pm. We’re aiming to extend those hours from September.

Over the next few weeks we’ll be giving you more information about how we’re keeping the House covid-secure (and what we need you to do to help with that), what member events are going to look like in a socially-distanced world and some exciting changes to our food and drinks menu. You’ll have everything that you need to know at your fingers tips and ready for your first visit back.

We’ll also be able to tell you more about our next Employment Preparation Programme, which we plan to run in October 2020. We want to make sure that everyone who joins our programme is given the tools for a world of work that is very different from the one we all knew at the beginning of the year. We’re making sure we’ve rebuilt a programme that people can come to in ways that feel safe and accessible, without losing the blend of challenging, fun and impactful work that happens at the House.

We can’t wait to tell you about what we’ve been working on, and we really can’t wait to welcome you back and show you.

How’s lock down been for you?
During lockdown, I’ve been quite fortunate that I was able to spend it back in Essex in my family home. At first it was a little weird coming back to your roots and to your family base, 14 years later, but I eventually settled in and I’ve found myself spending most of my days in my Father’s library. It’s amazing to be reading and finding books in my Father’s collection, some of which he read before I was born. In fact, it’s this experience of bonding with my Father through the books we’ve both read, which is at the heart of a new artist commission I am working on, for Autograph at Rivington Place. I’ve been chosen alongside nine amazing artists to respond to the wider context of the Covid-19 crisis in Care | Contagion | Community — Self & Other and working on the piece is exciting but at the same time quite emotional, as one connects with the thinking of my Father through the annotated marks he’s made in the books.

What’s something you’ve learned about yourself (or the world) over the last few months?
I’ve learnt that it’s a special skill to bring people together, especially when everyone is facing varying troubles and challenges. However, like many people, I’ve taken to joining and hosting online video sessions and in them, you can see sometimes the real and wonderful parts of humanity. It seems that everyone wants to feel recognised, supported, and part of something other than themselves and I’ve been fortunate to have seen people who have come together and bonded regardless of any of our characteristics.

What have you missed most about the House? What do you look forward to getting back to?
I’ll tell you something, never have the words of Joni Mitchell’s song Big Yellow Taxi, resonated with me, as they have when thinking about what I’ve missed about the House. “Don’t it always seem to go. That you don’t know what you’ve got. Til it’s gone”, is the absolute truth. Right from the moment you knock the door, everyone is so nice and accommodating and I really feel at home. I’ve missed that effortless hospitality.

If you could have a drink with one person (real or imaginary) at our bar, who would it be?
Firstly, the drink would have to be a Porn Star Martini. I love that drink and anything to do with Passion Fruit. My guest would definitely be Eckhart Tolle, the Spiritual Teacher and author of many important books that I’ve read, such as his iconic ‘The Power of Now’. I love watching his recorded talks and I find him really intriguing in the way that he comes across with his words and his mannerisms. It’s effortless and authentic and you can see it. I’m not sure what his choice of drink would be, but let me meditate on that and get back to you.

Say hello to me to talk… e.g. marketing, the offside rule, the history of the brioche bun
Say hello to me to talk about anything you want too, within reason of course. I’m a curious mind and love connecting with people and finding out just about themselves. If all fails, you could always say “well done Liverpool, your team deserved to win the Premiership after 30 long years!”

Want to be featured member? Let us know!

Did you know that the CIA *might* have a song writing department? Nor us. Apparently, they just might have. Podcast “Wind Of Change” explores the history of the Scorpions’ infamous power ballad, its association with the fall of the iron curtain, and how the song might be more propaganda than pop hit. Listen for free on Spotify, here.

Zadie Smith has authored a timely reflection on life in lock down. Getting in early on what is guaranteed to be a huge theme in literature and non-fiction, she explores ideas and questions prompted by these unprecedented times, like; what does it mean to submit to a new reality, or resist it? What is the relationship between time and work? When an unfamiliar world arrives, what does it reveal about the world that came before it? Intimations is published on August 6^th, expect to see it on bestseller lists soon after. Pre-order your copy here.

This year, one of the biggest movements against racism coincided with a moment when we were told to stay at home. Black Lives Matter protests happened across the globe, but lots of people who wanted to protest, couldn’t. Partly in response to this, and partly due to mainstream social media platforms increased censorship, Chloë Cheyenne Rogers set up CommunityX – a platform to connect communities with causes. Read more about her story, and the future for CommunityX, via Fast Company here.

We probably get a bit too obsessed with things a bit too often. Turns out, we’re not the only ones. BBC podcast “Obsessed with…” is a TV companion podcast that deep dives into each episode of its favourite TV shows. This series the podcast is obsessing over Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy you, guests include Candice Carty-Williams, 2 Dope Queens and some of the shows stars. Tune in, here.

And finally, we’ve found ourselves dreaming of nature and open spaces a lot over the last few months. We’ll spare you the explanation why. This photo-essay from The Atlantic provides a glimpse of the small village of Castelluccio which sits atop a hill overlooking the Piano Grande in Central Italy. Here, the poppies and lentils are in full, technicolour bloom. Beautiful. We recommend viewing the images in full screen, here.

Before lock down began, Hels had been working at The Wolseley as part of its front of house team – a role that had been advertised by Only A Pavement Away UK. Following a successful trial shift, Hels secured the job. She became the first female door person on Piccadilly (a title she is, rightly, very proud of!) and a highly valued and respected member of the team.

When lock down started Hels was placed on furlough. Her pay was topped up to 100% via a grant from Only A Pavement Away but losing the structure and purpose of working life was really tough. During lock down, the Employment Academy team set up weekly calls, and kept in regular touch to offer emotional support and practical guidance around coronavirus. With lock down starting to ease, Hels was invited back to work. She had her first shift back on the door at The Wolseley on Saturday night, and couldn’t be happier about it. So happy, in fact, that her smile caught the eye of this Times food critic!

Without the support of our members, we wouldn’t be able to run our Employment Academy or provide the support that many of graduates have relied during the coronavirus crisis. Thank you. We are working on plans to run our next Employment Preparation Programme in a way that is both safe and effective later this year, we’ll share more about this over the coming weeks. We continue to support graduates in getting back to work as lock down eases.  We know this is a challenging time for us all, but if you can make a donation to help our work continue, you can here.

Want to find out more? We’d also recommend the “You’re Wrong About”  podcast series, which has rereleased its episode on the Stonewall Uprising. In the episode, the podcast explores how one of the turning points in the gay rights movement became an immediate controversy, a lasting inspiration and a never-ending debate. Make sure you check out the podcast’s back catalogue for episodes debunking everything from Exorcism, to whether Yoko Ono really broke up The Beatles, to the ice-skater Tonya Harding.

We’ve been reading Raven Smith’s memoir, Trivial Pursuits. In it, he writes about his single-parent upbringing, his struggles as a lonely teenager and his personal experience of coming out. But also, Ikea meatballs, minibreaks and how many slices of bread are in a bagel. We definitely recommend.

But we aren’t in a hurry. We want to be certain that when we do open, we can provide complete confidence to members and guests that we are a safe place to be. We are taking our time to get this right – we are learning from best practice on how the hospitality sector is evolving, and factoring in the feedback we’ve been getting from you. As soon as we have a firm date, you will be the first to know.

Whilst times have changed, we have too. We’ve used the past months to properly look at what makes the House of St Barnabas special, what our members want from us and how we can best put our mission at the centre of all we do. Here’s a little bit about the changes we’re making:

A community-focused membership:

The first half of 2020 has shown us just how important community is – we want to make sure that ours is one that knows us, and each other, better

We’re making plans to better connect all the parts of our community. That’s you, us and our Employment Academy participants and graduates

Getting here:

We know that lots of you are nervous about using public transport and travelling to central London. We’ll be installing bike racks to give members the option to cycle and store their bikes safely, if they want to

The club:

We’re redesigning our spaces to respect social distancing rules and will ask that all members pre-book their visit using a booking system

You will be allocated a table for the duration of your visit, we’ll ask that members do not move to new tables so that we can minimise contact

We will maximise the use of technology to ensure minimal physical contact between our team members and guests

We’ll be moving away from sharing style food and drinks, and will have a new, refined menu

The Employment Academy:

We’re preparing to run our next Employment Preparation Programme later this year – in a way that’s both safe and effective for participants

We are redesigning our programmes for a post-covid world. We know that the way people are working is changing, we’ll be making sure our graduates are ready for this

————————————————————————————————————————

The Team is going all-out to get the House ready to welcome you back. We can’t say exactly when yet. But we can’t wait.