IPSWICH CARIBBEAN ASSOCIATION PROJECT
The Ipswich Caribbean Association building (ICA) on Woodbridge road had been a community centre and social club since the early 1970s, hosting fitness and martial arts classes, dominoes clubs, dance nights, elders’ luncheon clubs, and much more. It served traditional Caribbean cuisine, was the home of the Suffolk Samba Band, and provided supplementary school education to children and young people.
In 2010, the building was closed and no alternative space was found for the Caribbean communities who used the ICA.
John Ferguson
SPILL received funding from Historic England to commission a local artist to recognise and celebrate the historical and community significance of the former building.
Following our open call, our community project steering group is delighted to have commissioned celebrated local photographer John Ferguson to present a new collection of works in what he is describing as ‘a love letter to the ICA’. John will create new photographic portraits of Ipswich people instrumental to the ICA’s history as well as those who frequented its many events and activities.
These portraits will be presented alongside their recollections and freshly uncovered archival images in a forthcoming website and exhibition. The ICA Project will also generate a series of oral histories, to be preserved by archivists at Suffolk Archives in perpetuity, and a community public event to be announced later in 2024.
Why are we doing this?
One of the most significant projects of the 2023 SPILL Festival was Olivier Grossetête’s Monumental Constructions where we built a 16m tall replica of Ipswich’s historic Wolsey Gate (and an imagined college building around it) completely out of cardboard boxes and tape. When we asked the people of Ipswich for their suggestions for the building to be constructed, the large number of responses citing the ICA building told us that this was a much missed building which deserved a project which would not only highlight its great history, but the great loss borne by the communities who used it.
Our community steering group
Chris Cumberbatch
Robin Deacon
Marcus Harris-Noble
Franstine Jones
Imani Sorhaindo
The Ipswich Caribbean Association project is being funded by the Annie Tranmer Charitable Trust and by Historic England’s Everyday Heritage grant programme, celebrating working class histories.
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