Plans for a project to explore the historic connections between Kendal Museum and the Nandi community of western Kenya have been approved.
A grant from the Esmée Fairbairn Communities & Collections Fund will support a two-year partnership project entitled "From Kenya to Kendal and back again: reconnecting communities through Kendal Museum's natural and social history collection".
The project will be delivered by Cumbria Development Education Centre (CDEC) and the Nandi-Kendal Association, in partnership with Westmorland and Furness Council, bringing together communities in Cumbria and Kenya to research and interpret the collections connected to their intertwined histories.
The project developed from research undertaken by Dr Joe Rigby, Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Chester, which identified links between objects in Kendal Museum's collection and the Nandi people of western Kenya. Colonel Edgar Garston Harrison, a British Army officer who served in Kenya for a decade from 1895, later funded an extension to Kendal Museum to house his collection.
Dr Rigby grew up in Kendal:
“I have many fond memories of visiting Kendal Museum as a child. In 2023 I volunteered to help with a reinterpretation project focused on the 'World Wildlife Gallery' collection. I decided to focus on the many ‘hunting trophies' in the gallery, donated by Colonel Harrison, from Staveley. My research uncovered links between Harrison's collection and an ongoing campaign for reparations by the Nandi community of western Kenya. Today, I am working collaboratively with Kendal Museum and Nandi community members in both the UK and Kenya to retell the story of this collection, and to explore the shared history of Kendal and Nandi.”
The project will create opportunities for local communities and members of the Nandi community to work alongside Kendal Museum to explore the stories behind the collections and help shape how they are understood and presented in the future.
The Nandi-Kendal Association Chairman in Kenya Noah Biamah has welcomed the project:
“Nandi and Kendal could be miles apart but share common historical ties, not just from the colonial days when we shared the Union Jack as our flag, a common educational and examination system during Kenya's formative years and the use of English as official language with a strong Anglican Church tradition. Now we are members of the Commonwealth Nations, with a shared interest in agriculture and food production, sports, tourism, environmental conservation and climate change. Our diverse cultures, academia, museums, and pursuit of economic development could be interesting areas of co-operation between Nandi and Westmorland and Furness.”
Kinyango Seroney, a member of the Nandi community living in Coventry and coordinator of the Nandi-Kendal Association added:
“For the best part of a century Harrison’s ‘hunting trophies’ have been on display to the people of Kendal, but without mention of Harrison’s actions against the Nandi. After the operation led by Harrison, the Nandi were pushed out of their homelands and suffered great loss and pain. Now we are working together to retell the story of Harrison’s collection, and to further understanding of Kendal and Nandi’s connected histories.”
Councillor Helen Chaffey, Cabinet Member for Communities, Customer Services, Culture and Communications at Westmorland and Furness Council, said:
"This is an exciting opportunity to uncover and share an important story that has largely remained hidden within Kendal Museum's collections.
"The project is about bringing people together to explore history, build new relationships and ensure that a wider range of voices help shape how our collections are understood and interpreted.
"By working in partnership with the Nandi community and our project partners, we can develop a deeper understanding of our shared heritage while helping Kendal Museum continue to evolve as an inclusive and relevant cultural resource for future generations."
The project is not designed around any predetermined outcome for the collection. Instead, it will create opportunities for conversation, research and relationship-building, enabling future decisions about interpretation and the collections themselves to be informed by those most closely connected to them.
Alongside research and interpretation work, the project is expected to support cultural exchange opportunities between communities in Cumbria and Kenya, creating lasting connections beyond the museum collections themselves: one idea being mooted is a Cumbrian fell race attended by members of the Nandi community, some of whom are keen runners.
The council has approved acting as accountable body for the £100,000 grant awarded through the Esmée Fairbairn Communities and Collections Fund. Other than some officer time, there is no financial contribution to the project from Westmorland and Furness Council.
Ethical collections practice is a central theme of the project, which focuses on working with communities connected to museum collections, ensuring they play a meaningful role in research, interpretation and decision-making about how their histories and heritage are represented.
The story of the ongoing collaboration between Kendal and the Nandi community is told on the project website: https://nandi-kendal.com'