“Tiny Traces: African & Asian Children at London’s Foundling Hospital” will open at the Foundling Museum tomorrow 30 September 2022, running to 19 February 2023.
Discover a richer history of London life in the eighteenth century, through newly uncovered stories of African and Asian children in the care of the Foundling Hospital.
“Tiny Traces: African & Asian Children at London’s Foundling Hospital” will run 30 September 2022 – 19 February 2023.
This exhibition sheds important light on untold stories, including those of more than a dozen children from the African and Asian diasporas who were taken into the care of the Foundling Hospital, from its foundation in 1739 to 1820.
During this period, there were an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 African people living in Britain, as well as a growing Asian population including servants brought to Britain by returning East India Company officials. Some of the women amongst them, as well as white women engaged in relationships with the men, sought help from the Foundling Hospital.
Until recently, researchers have made accidental discoveries of references to African and Asian children in the Hospital. Now, after three years of methodical research into the Foundling Hospital archive by exhibition curator, Hannah Dennett, a much broader and richer set of stories have been uncovered.
Through personal letters, employment notes, court reports and Hospital records, we can follow the lives of children such as Christopher Rowland, Jane Friend and Miles Cooke – who provide us with new perspectives on both the world of the eighteenth century and of today.
The children whose stories are featured have been discovered through brief, fleeting, yet insightful references in the archive. Yet their faces will never be known to us. To enable visitors to explore the less tangible human realities and emotions which arise from the archive expansively, the exhibition includes works by leading contemporary artists, such as Zarina Bhimji, Deborah Roberts and Hew Locke.
Running as a parallel thread throughout the exhibition, these contemporary works form a dialogue with the historic narratives, asking questions about the past, present and future.
Visitor information
Foundling Museum, 40 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AZ
+44 (0)20 7841 3600
foundlingmuseum.org.uk
Admission: Adults £10.50 with donation, Concessions £8.25 with donation
Free for 21 & under, Foundling Friends & National Art Pass holders
