Young Archivists Alumni
The Young Archivists programme, delivered by Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage, is an innovative training initiative that interrogates the power dynamics of heritage, memory, and representation. It foregrounds the lived experiences and contributions of young people from African, Caribbean, Asian, Latine, and diasporic backgrounds, offering a critical framework for engaging with archives, museums, and cultural institutions.
Over the course of five intensive days, participants gain not only technical proficiency in areas such as archiving practice, copyright law, marketing, and leadership, but also the critical tools to question dominant narratives and advocate for more inclusive and representative approaches to cultural preservation. The programme is delivered through workshops and interactions with professionals who are actively working to decolonise heritage spaces, participants are equipped to recognise the value of underrepresented histories and to contribute meaningfully to the cultural sector.
This programme is interdisciplinary in nature and inclusive in ethos designed for those interested in visual arts, performance, history, media, or community engagement. It welcomes individuals who are passionate about whose histories are recorded, how they are interpreted, and who gets to tell them.
Participants also engage in study visits to national institutions such as the British Museum and Autograph in London, and exhibitions in Leicester, fostering a critical understanding of the role of public institutions in shaping historical consciousness. These reflective experiences encourage dialogue around representation, accountability, and transformation within heritage contexts.
Graduates of the programme join a growing and dynamic network of Young Archivist alumni researchers, artists, curators, podcasters, and cultural leaders who are actively shaping the future of arts and heritage. This alumni community reflects the ongoing impact of the programme and its commitment to cultivating new voices and leadership within the sector.
The Young Archivists initiative is more than a training programme; it is a platform for developing critical inquiry, fostering cultural agency, and affirming that all stories especially those historically marginalised deserve to be heard, preserved, and celebrated.
We are delighted to welcome you to the Young Archivist Alumni Network.
Tosin Adeosun is a curator, researcher, and consultant focused on African and Diasporic fashion histories.
Alumni
Tosin Adeosun
Cohort year: 2024
Tosin Adeosun is a curator, researcher, and consultant focused on African and Diasporic fashion histories. Founder of African Style Archive, Tosin uses archival material—photographs, ephemera, and footage—to reframe narratives of African style. With degrees in Media and Communications and Art History and Museum Curating, she collaborates with communities, brands, and institutions to spotlight marginalised voices. Tosin’s work spans TV research, exhibition curation, and consultancy, with contributions to projects at Byredo, International Curators Forum, Modern Art Oxford, and Google. She is committed to educational outreach and decolonial storytelling.
Image credit: Krystal Neuvill
Jessica Amoako-Acheampong is a PhD student and Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Leicester.
Alumni
Jessica Amoako-Acheampong
Cohort year: 2024
Jessica Amoako-Acheampong is a PhD student and Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Leicester. She is also co-investigator on the AHRC-funded Migrant Dress Archive, a project exploring how migrant communities express identity through clothing. Jessica’s academic focus includes African Diaspora style histories and the role of dress in articulating belonging. She is especially passionate about digital and audio archiving, particularly in preserving physical photography and oral histories. Her work blends heritage research with lived experiences to reshape archival narratives.
Image credit: Jessica Amoako-Acheampong
Charlotte Askew is pursuing an MA in Art History and Curating at the University of Birmingham, following a history degree at the University ...
Alumni
Charlotte Askew
Cohort year: 2025
Charlotte Askew is pursuing an MA in Art History and Curating at the University of Birmingham, following a history degree at the University of Oxford. Her work spans curatorial roles in country houses and with international art dealers, and she currently researches Old Master paintings. Charlotte also serves as a youth board member at Highbury Hall. She is passionate about heritage policy and engaging younger audiences in historic narratives.
Image credit: Charlotte Askew
Amanda Carneiro is a researcher and cultural worker in contemporary art and museum studies.
Alumni
Amanda Carneiro
Cohort year: 2025
Amanda Carneiro is a researcher and cultural worker in contemporary art and museum studies. She holds an MA in Museum Studies from UCL, where her work won the Institute of Archaeology and Museum Studies prizes. Amanda has held curatorial and programming roles at the ICA, Science Museum, Japan House, and Venice Biennale. She is currently Collections Archivist at Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage.
Image credit: Amanda Carneiro
Christian Noelle Charles is a Glasgow-based visual artist working across screen printing, video, and performance.
Christian Noelle Charles
Cohort year: 2025
Christian Noelle Charles is a Glasgow-based visual artist working across screen printing, video, and performance. Her practice celebrates Black joy, self-love, and community through immersive, multimedia storytelling. She has exhibited widely, including WAIT A MINUTE?!! And WHAT A FEELING, and received awards such as the Jerwood New Work Fund. A key part of her work involves activating archives. She is currently collaborating with The Work Room on Scotland’s National Dance Archive, honouring Rosina Bonsu. Christian has also curated responses to the Sandra George Archive and led panel discussions for Glasgow International.
Image credit: Courtesy of Christian Noelle Charles
Cassia Clarke is an independent community archivist and artist educator whose work bridges archival research with creative facilitation.
Alumni
Cassia Clarke
Cohort year: 2023
Cassia Clarke is an independent community archivist and artist educator whose work bridges archival research with creative facilitation. Her practice centres on reconstructing and sharing knowledge through compassionate conservation and person-centred methodologies. With a deep belief in learning as a form of liberation and joy, Cassia nurtures inclusive spaces where heritage is actively explored, not passively consumed. Drawing from lived experience and community dialogue, she reshapes archival practices to reflect care, criticality, and cultural responsibility. Cassia works across disciplines—history, art, and education—to engage communities in conversations about memory, visibility, and justice.
Image credit: Ben Turner
Hadeel Elshak works across environmental and women’s health sectors in community engagement, with a deep interest in oral histories and coll...
Alumni
Hadeel Elshak
Cohort year: 2024
Hadeel Elshak works across environmental and women’s health sectors in community engagement, with a deep interest in oral histories and collective memory. Her work explores the role of social infrastructure in sustaining cultural ties. Sentimental about her home community in West London, Hadeel is currently developing a living archive centred on places, people, and practices in her area. Her approach to archiving is rooted in care, representation, and grassroots storytelling, offering alternative ways of recording and preserving memory.
Image credit: @tibyanelfateh
Haja Fanta is a curator, researcher, and writer working between London and Dakar.
Alumni
Haja Fanta
Cohort year: 2023
Haja Fanta is a curator, researcher, and writer working between London and Dakar. She is Assistant Curator at RAW Material Company and founder of Studio Marrah, a research-led curatorial platform. Her work focuses on West African and diasporic cultural production, exploring art’s relationship with society and the archive. Her recent projects include an investigation into post-independence Senegalese art policy and preserving Sierra Leonean histories. Haja has collaborated with the Southbank Centre, The Africa Centre, HOME by Ronan Mckenzie, and the National Portrait Gallery. She has written for Black Embodiments Studio, BYREDO, Contemporary&, and Texte zur Kunst. Through her Substack A Loose Thread, she shares insights into art, memory, and identity.
Image credit: Marta Camarada @martymarts
ysabel hannam is a museum professional with a background in Social Anthropology.
Alumni
ysabel hannam
Cohort year: 2024
ysabel hannam is a museum professional with a background in Social Anthropology. Growing up mixed-race in East London shaped her interest in identity, storytelling, and community. She has volunteered with national archives and taken part in projects exploring global majority presence in portraiture. ysabel is currently Collections Access Officer at the V&A East Storehouse. Her work focuses on accessibility, representation, and ensuring diverse narratives are embedded in the museum landscape.
Image credit: ysabel hannam
Gigi Leung is an art historian from Hong Kong who completed her BA in Art History and English Literature at the University of Hong Kong and ...
Alumni
Gigi Leung
Cohort year: 2025
Gigi Leung is an art historian from Hong Kong who completed her BA in Art History and English Literature at the University of Hong Kong and her MA in History of Art in London. Now working at the V&A, she has given public talks on colonial histories linked to Hong Kong export silver. Her research and practice explore imperial legacies and global trade networks. Outside of work, she volunteers with the National Trust and enjoys tabletop roleplaying games.
Image credit: Gigi
Deanna Lyncook is a PhD History student at Queen Mary University of London.
Alumni
Deanna Lyncook
Cohort year: 2023
Deanna Lyncook is a PhD History student at Queen Mary University of London. Her research explores the experiences of Caribbean children in the British education system and across Caribbean colonies in the 20th century, using oral history to centre personal narratives of migration and identity. Deanna is the founder and host of The History Hotline, a podcast platforming untold Black histories. She has worked across heritage and public history, curating exhibitions at the Museum of Methodism and conducting research for institutions like SOAS, BBC Radio London, and the University of Leeds. She also co-organised the Black British History Conference The Issue of Truth.
Image credit: Deanna Lyncook
Eavie is currently studying an undergraduate History degree at the University of Leicester.
Alumni
Eavie Neal
Cohort year: 2024
Eavie is currently studying an undergraduate History degree at the University of Leicester. She is in her final year and hopes to be graduating in the summer. Whilst being at university, Eavie has developed a strong passion for Black British history. Her dissertation explored the causes of the 1985 Handsworth riot in Birmingham, assessing how the causes were reflective of the issues impacting Britain's Black community. Originally from Birmingham, Eavie enjoys conducting family research to learn more about her Caribbean heritage.
Image credit: Eavie Neal
April-Louise Pennant is a scholar-activist and Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellow at Cardiff University.
Dr April-Louise Pennant
Cohort year: 2023
April-Louise Pennant is a scholar-activist and Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellow at Cardiff University. Her work bridges sociology, education, and history, with a focus on reparative justice. Her current project, The Source of the Stream, traces the legacy of enslaved Africans connected to Penrhyn Castle from Wales to Jamaica and Ghana. She is the author of Babygirl, You’ve Got This! (Bloomsbury, 2024), which examines the challenges faced by Black girls and women in education. April-Louise co-authored Wales’s award-winning Running Against the Wind report and helped develop the Anti-racist Wales Action Plan.
Quote: “I am the vessel through which God and my ancestors work.”
Image credit: Fatima Halidou
Milan Wright is a Black British-Jamaican philosophy graduate and cultural organiser with a passion for storytelling through design.
Milan Wright
Cohort year: 2023
Milan Wright is a Black British-Jamaican philosophy graduate and cultural organiser with a passion for storytelling through design. She currently works in project management and events at the University of Leicester Students’ Union and seeks to transition into heritage through curatorial practice and surface pattern design. Her interests lie in the dining table as a site of cultural memory and resistance, using domestic aesthetics to question identity and belonging. Milan’s work explores the nuances of British-Caribbean life, using creativity as a tool for navigating intersectional narratives.
Quote: “To be kreole is to invent... to be British-Caribbean is to do both.”
Image credit: Milan Wright
