event 08 Mar 2024
a photograph of a large audience gathered in the archives listening to the guest speaker

Travelling Ayahs in Britain: ordinary women in extraordinary circumstances

Date 08 Mar 2024
Time 17:30 – 19:30
Venue Sheffield City Archives

For International Women's Day (2024) Dig Where You Stand invited Dr Arunima Datta to lead an interactive workshop that focused on a largely forgotten group in the story of movement and migration: South Asian travelling ayahs (servants and nannies), who travelled between India and Britain.

Delving into the stories of individual ayahs from a wide range of sources, Dr Datta illuminated how to excavate histories of silenced actors of history. Weaving workshop segments into her talk, Dr Datta worked with the audience to show how even silenced histories can be made audible if we ask the right questions of the archival documents. The event wrapped up with a sensory journey into the past through some objects and recipes the ayahs brought over to Britain.

a photograph of a large audience gathered in the archives listening to the guest speaker
a photograph of five women standing close together and smiling at the camera
a wide shot photograph of five women standing close together in the archives main room which has been decorated with colourful cushions and cloth
a photograph of three women sitting close together in deep conversation
a photograph of an event speaker standing at the front of the room reading to an audience next to a projector screen
a photograph of two women sat together smiling as one signs a book