There are many walking tours of Coventry; they are always partial and in process.

This audio-visual map layers the history of the city by plotting stories not ordinarily imagined in the heritage of the city. It focuses on a mapping of Coventry through the mobilisation and every day struggles of diasporic South Asian women from the late 1980s and 1990s. This map too is a partial story; providing an opening to further stories of initiatives and actions across the UK.

Method

The mapping started with a series of workshops and discussion with and about the early 'pioneers' of activist initiatives. It has also involved doing place-based memory work, where together we visited the sites of activism, some of which still remain today whilst others have been replaced by warehouses and petrol stations. Revisiting the archives of the past has generated emotions and reflections, especially about how much has changed, as well as the many issues which remain, structurally, organisationally and individually for many women who occupy the city.

This map/ walking trail focuses on key places/ nodes in the city that mark the history of South Asian women's mobilisation. It is a co-produced project involving: Mouli Banerjee, Preet Grewal, Vera Hyare, Nirmal Puwar, Inderjit Sahota, Jitey Samra and Ravi Thiara.

Giddha played a significant role in social gatherings women created. Uniquely, in this project we converted some of the stories we heard into Boliyan, a sample of which can be heard through Coventry Creates.

Illustration by Peter O’Toole for the TOWNSOUNDS project, courtesy Let’s Go Yorkshire.

To find out more, please contact Nirmal Puwar (N.Puwar@gold.ac.uk) or Ravi Thiara (R.K.Thiara@warwick.ac.uk)

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Organisations Foleshill Womens Training Nav Yug, Barr’s Hill School Shanti Bhavan Ladies Group/Ekta-Unity Voluntary Organisation Sahil Project– Cornerstone Family Centre Coventry Asian Women’s Network (CAWN) Panahghar

Meeting Places Koco Community Resource Centre Frank Walsh House St. Barnabus Church and Family Centre Elm Bank St. Peters Church, Hillfields St. Pauls Community Centre Berry St (the 1st Panagarh Adminstrative Office) Samra Fashions, Clothing Shop Clothing Centre/ Homeworking