From 1952-1960, it is estimated that over 100 detention camps were constructed across Kenya by the British-colonial administration to detain and ‘rehabilitate’ suspected insurgent fighters during the Mau Mau Emergency. Many were temporary and quickly dismantled at the end of the conflict, but those constructed with concrete, brick, and iron still stand, and have been widely re-used as prisons, hospitals, and schools. In this process of transformation, confinement cells have been repurposed as classrooms and storage rooms, guards’ quarters as offices, and trenches as banana plantations.
This talk with Hannah McLean, PhD candidate, will explore the material remnants of the camps that still survive, the memories that are held by former detainees, and the nature (and future) of their re-use and memorialisation in Kenya.
Annually Learning and Programmes in Museums & Galleries Edinburgh works in partnership with CRER (The Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights) to host Edinburgh-based lectures to mark Black History Month.
CRER has co-ordinated a uniquely Scottish Black History Month during October since 2001. This encompasses the history of African, Caribbean and Asian people in this country; people who often have a direct link with Scotland through slavery, colonialism and migration. Black History Month focuses on people whose sacrifices, contributions and achievements against a backdrop of racism, inequality and injustice are often forgotten about.
CRER strive to work with a range of partners from across the community, voluntary and public sectors and has helped to collaboratively create a Black History Month Programme that includes an exciting range of events from talks, concerts, workshops, film screenings, exhibitions and more.
Memory, materiality, and the afterlives of British-colonial detention camps in Kenya