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Slide presents An immersive untold story of indentured labour
When disinformation was rife, when a fingerprint offered access to an unknown world and freedom was lost in translation, welcome to the word of ‘Girmit’
 
Explore and experience the complex narrative of indentured labour through different lenses on Girmit World. Discover immersive artworks, interactive stories, multi-dimensional heirlooms, sounds of sugarcane, educational plug & play activities and more.

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that The Girmit Experience won a 2021 Lovie Award! In more ways than one this project has been about people coming together, supporting each other through hope and light. We are delighted to share this award with you and hope our storytelling of the Girmitya continues to shine a light to guide future generations. The 11th Annual Lovie Awards: Reshape Possible took place on November 17th at 2pm and honoured the best of the European Internet. You can watch online at http://watch.lovieawards.com

The Girmit 360° Immersive Experience

The Girmit Experience is best screened on a smartphone device.

  • Launch the YouTube app and rotate your device for a complete 360° experience.
  • For the best experience, we recommend you wear headphones.
  • If you have the Girmit cardboard headset you can watch the movie and move your head to see everything around you.

Also screens on PC, TV & other YouTube Apps

For more information about our Girmit cardboard and educational toolkits, please get in touch with our Education Manager Ellie Newland on ellie@nutkhut.co.uk

Girmit At Mozilla Festival

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Girmit is evocative storytelling at its best, blending different digital art forms to immerse the viewer in the important historical and cultural story of Fijian indentured labour.
Sarah Allen, Director MozFest

The Making of Girmit

This short film explains how Girmit came to be. Watch to discover how Girmit went from initial concept into a multi-dimensional motion arts project, encompassing an immersive 360° film featuring multi-sensory elements.

What Is "Girmit"?

'Girmit' is derived from the English word 'agreement'. It refers to the contract between people, mainly from South Asia, who signed an agreement written in a language they didn't understand, to undertake 'indentured labour' in the 19th and 20th century. The people who took on these contracts came to be known as 'Girmityas'.

Most people have heard of slavery. But the term ‘indentured labour’ is widely unknown. When slavery was abolished in 1833, the indentured labour system was created by the British and other European powers as a way to source cheap labour. Between 1828 and 1917 the indentured labour system facilitated the movement of 1.2 million Indians from their homes to Fiji and other colonies, thousands of miles away. Here they cultivated sugar, cocoa, rubber and other products. This was a legitimate but enforced mass migration of people to work on behalf of others.

Surprisingly, the word 'Girmit' does not exist in the Dictionary. The story of the Girmityas has become an untold story, one that despite affecting tens of thousands of people over the 90 years it was enforced, is not commonly known.

The Tale of Laali

'The Tale of Lali' is the true story of a 14-year-old boy who signed a 'Girmit' (agreement) without knowing the ramifications.

His story is presented as a graphic novel, created by Fijian graphic artist, Tui Ledua. The graphic novel will be available online as a flipbook or to buy as book to keep for yourself.

COMING JUNE 2021

The Sound of Sugar

Nutkhut partnered with PlayLa.bZ & SubPac to create an original 'Feel It' soundtrack for Girmit with a selection of experimental soundscape artists.

The bio-sonic sound waves of sugarcane, recorded at Kew Gardens, were woven into a Girmit theme tune & 360 immersive soundscape to bring multi-dimensional audio experience to the project.

If you own a SubPac we suggest putting it on to hear music specially composed for the device. Feel the haptic bass and imagine working in a sugar cane field with Lali.

Multi-dimensional Heirlooms

A series of multi-dimensional objects were created to support the Girmit project. These objects can be placed into 3D immersive worlds enabling people to see and interact with them to give further insight into the Girmit experience.

Plug And Play Resource

We have created an interactive resource for schools so that teachers can engage students with this hidden history. This resource is available as a free PDF download.

We invite anyone intending to teach students about Girmit to contact us for additional guidance.

Girmit Project Partners

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