Ras Prince is a horticulturist of Jamaican heritage and a participant of The Garden Museum’s recent Sowing Roots project and exhibition, which explored the gardening cultures and traditions that Caribbean people have brought with them to the UK since the Windrush generation. In this free film, we visited Ras in his garden at home and the community garden he tends to at Lewisham Sports Consortium. Discover how he uses gardening to connect to his roots – from Rock River, Jamaica to south east London.
Sankofa is a word in the Twi language of Ghana meaning “to retrieve” (literally “go back and get”; san – to return; ko – to go; fa – to fetch, to seek and take) and also refers to the Bono Adinkra symbol represented either with a stylized heart shape or by a bird with its head turned backwards while its feet face forward carrying a precious egg in its mouth. Sankofa is often associated with the proverb, “Se wo were fi na wosankofa a yenkyi,” which translates as: “It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten.”
Sowing Roots was made possible thanks to funding from the National Heritage Lottery Fund. Film (21 minutes) by Elijah Grant. Access Vimeo at https://gardenmuseum.org.uk/film-library/sowing-roots-ras-prince-sankofa/
