"I think the idea of being next to water is transformative" ~ Ella Barrett

Right to Thrive explores local people's connections to the River Don through a collection of generative interviews. In this series we encourage people to question extractive, human-centred views of nature in favour of recognising and celebrating its right to thrive.

We spoke to archivist and curator at the Bantu Archive Programme Ella Barrett about the connections between Sheffield's Yemeni community, the River Don and the Sheffield & Tinsley Canal, and how being near water can offer a radical act of healing.

Ella Barrett is an archivist and curator at the Bantu Archive Programme, a project based at SADACCA which celebrates the journeys and heritage of African and Caribbean people in Sheffield. Since it was founded in 2020, this has taken the form of photography, archive work, artistic responses, film-making, events and even a combined club night and audio-visual exhibition.

Most recently, Ella was invited to take part in Writing the Water, a floating poetry workshop that asked both children and adults to think about how they relate to the River Don and its place within Sheffield. We asked Ella about her contribution to the event, and how she relates to the river herself.

Could you tell us a little bit about your work and how it relates to the River Don?

I work freelance as a community creative, and at the Bantu Archive Programme which is at SADACCA on The Wicker. My work in relation to the River Don was a project where I was employed as a community curator for Writing the Water, looking at how to involve community groups along the river or in relation to the river. For that role I did a photo essay and spoke to a lot of people and businesses along The Wicker, from the arches all the way up to Spital Hill. Then I visited community groups as well, from an allotment in Darnall to the residents on the lock near Meadowhall.

I asked them how life was living next to the river, and then from that I've done more work with people in the community. It's been a nice introduction for me, looking at life on the river but from more of a reality perspective. How are people in and around Sheffield working and living? In quite hard circumstances a lot of the time. It’s a reality check, talking to people on the north-east side of the city.

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