A £100,000 grant will fund a two-year project examining the historic links between Kendal Museum and the Nandi community of western Kenya, including the story behind objects that have been displayed in Kendal for almost a century.
The project, titled From Kenya to Kendal and back again: reconnecting communities through Kendal Museum's natural and social history collection, has been approved after funding was awarded through the Esmée Fairbairn Communities & Collections Fund.
It will be delivered by Cumbria Development Education Centre and the Nandi-Kendal Association, working with Westmorland and Furness Council. Communities in Cumbria and Kenya will research and interpret collections connected to their shared and intertwined histories.
Research into Kendal Museum’s collection
The project grew from research by Dr Joe Rigby, a University of Chester sociology lecturer who grew up in Kendal. His work identified connections between objects in the museum’s collection and the Nandi people of western Kenya.
Dr Rigby began investigating the issue after volunteering on a 2023 reinterpretation project focused on the museum’s World Wildlife Gallery. He concentrated on hunting trophies donated by Colonel Edgar Garston Harrison, a British Army officer from Staveley who served in Kenya for a decade from 1895 and later funded an extension to Kendal Museum to house his collection.
According to the project partners, the research uncovered links between Harrison’s collection and an ongoing Nandi campaign for reparations. The partnership will examine the stories behind the objects and consider how they should be understood and presented in the future.
“For the best part of a century Harrison’s ‘hunting trophies’ have been on display to the people of Kendal, but without mention of Harrison’s actions against the Nandi.”
Kinyango Seroney, a Nandi community member living in Coventry and coordinator of the Nandi-Kendal Association, said the project would help retell that history. He said that after an operation led by Harrison, the Nandi were pushed out of their homelands and suffered “great loss and pain”.
No predetermined outcome for the collection
The council said the project is not based on a predetermined decision about the collection. Instead, it will create opportunities for conversation, research and relationship-building, with future decisions about interpretation and the collections informed by people most closely connected to them.
Ethical collections practice is a central theme. The project will involve communities connected to the museum’s collections in research, interpretation and decision-making about how their histories and heritage are represented.
Councillor Helen Chaffey, Westmorland and Furness Council’s cabinet member for communities, customer services, culture and communications, described the project as an opportunity to bring a wider range of voices into the interpretation of Kendal Museum’s collections.
“This is an exciting opportunity to uncover and share an important story that has largely remained hidden within Kendal Museum's collections.”
She said the partnership could help develop a deeper understanding of shared heritage while supporting the museum as an inclusive and relevant cultural resource for future generations.
Cultural exchange between Kendal and Kenya
Alongside the museum research, the project is expected to support cultural exchange between communities in Cumbria and Kenya. One idea being considered is a Cumbrian fell race attended by members of the Nandi community, some of whom are keen runners.
Noah Biamah, chairman of the Nandi-Kendal Association in Kenya, said the two communities shared historical ties as well as potential areas for future cooperation, including agriculture and food production, sport, tourism, environmental conservation and climate change.
He also pointed to shared connections involving the Union Jack, education and examination systems, English as an official language, the Anglican Church and membership of the Commonwealth.
Westmorland and Furness Council has agreed to act as the accountable body for the grant. The council said it will make no financial contribution to the project apart from some officer time.
The collaboration’s story is being shared on the project website, nandi-kendal.com.
