UNT historian curates London exhibit celebrating 19th century Indian caregivers

Wednesday, September 11, 2024 - 09:47

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DENTON (UNT), Texas - A new permanent museum exhibition in London is bringing a University of North Texas professor's research on traveling Indian ayahs, or domestic caregivers, to life.

Arunima Datta, assistant professor in UNT's Department of History, curated the display in collaboration with the Museum of the Home, a museum that facilitates exhibitions, programming and research related to the concept of home in Britain. Titled "A Townhouse in 1878," the exhibition reflects the influence of an ayah on a typical late 19th century British household.

"Caregiving in a 19th century British home was not like a scene out of Mary Poppins. It was much more complex, shaped by diverse influences from the colonies," Datta said.

While researching the histories of Indian indentured laborers in British Malaya, Datta discovered the payroll record of a female plantation worker who was forcibly retired from manual labor and hired as a caregiver for the plantation manager's wife and children. The ayah traveled with the family from India to Great Britain just a few months later. Following this lead, Datta found there were thousands of similar cases of caregiversmaking the long journey between the two countries, bringing cultural influences with them as they traveled.

[Link]"A Townhouse in 1878," curated by Arunima Datta for the Museum of the Home, London (photo courtesy of Museum of the Home) "Ayahs sang traditional lullabies to British children, they brought new foods and recipes, they brought Indian jewelry to British women - all while caring for the precious cargo of the British Empire, that is, the children who were the future of the empire," Datta said.

In the 19th century, prior to the opening of the Suez Canal, a trip between Britain and India could take between six to seven months. Some ayahs made the trek over 50 times. They were frequently abandoned by their employers, stranded without money and left to wait for safe passage home. Those waiting periods inspired the title of Datta's book, Waiting on Empire: A History of Travelling Ayahs in Britain, published by Oxford University Press.

"During those periods of waiting, some ayahs developed small entrepreneurial ventures and showed great strength, while others found brave ways to negotiate the uncertain situations they found themselves in," she said. "It's a story of struggle, but also one of resilience."
[Link]Children's toys provided by an ayah (photo courtesy of Museum of the Home) The Museum of the Home invited Datta to curate an exhibition based on her research. The display - which is arranged and decorated to resemble a room within a typical 1878 British home - features artifacts like an ayah's play doll, toys and passport documents. Reproductions of common period items, such as a pashmina shawl and a ruby-studded earring from Datta's family collection, are present. The scene also includes sensory components: a sound recording of an ayah singing a lullaby, and the smell of Indian incense and perfumes from a custom-made scent diffuser.

Since its opening, the exhibition has sparked other learning opportunities and events in the United Kingdom, including an invitation for Datta to speak at the High Commission of India, a diplomatic mission based in London. Across the UK, she has participated in historical lectures, cooking demonstrations using recipes from ayahs and public art projects related to her research. These events often bring together attendees from various backgrounds - many with ancestors who employed ayahs - who share family letters, pictures and other archival materials. Datta said these living artifacts could influence the exhibition and help it evolve over time.

"As the British Empire expanded and established its presence in various regions, it absorbed and brought back elements of those places, including the people and their cultures," she said. "This research aims to decolonize British history by revealing the flows and counterflows of influence, presenting a more accessible view of Britain and its empire's past."