Gunnersbury Park Museum Marks 50 years of Bogle-L’Ouverture Bookshop
Pop-up exhibition on the legacy of Jessica and Eric Huntley
Eric & Jessica Huntley c2000. Picture: Mervyn Weir
November 11, 2025
Gunnersbury Park and Museum has opened a temporary exhibition to mark the 50th anniversary of the Bogle-L’Ouverture Bookshop and to celebrate the legacy of its founders Jessica and Eric Huntley. The pop-up runs from 11–23 November and culminates in a free community celebration on 22 November from 11:00–16:00.
The exhibition, co-curated by Gunnersbury’s Young Curators in partnership with the Friends of the Huntley Archives at LMA Foundation (FHALMA) and Ealing Council, traces the bookshop’s role as a centre for political education, cultural resistance and community organising. Named after Haitian revolutionary Toussaint L’Ouverture and Jamaican freedom fighter Paul Bogle, the Bogle-L’Ouverture Bookshop first opened in West Ealing on 20 November 1975 and quickly became a vital hub for Black British intellectual and cultural life.
Radical Roots: the Huntley’s Story features rare archival material from the Huntley Archives alongside artwork by the Young Curators and pieces created as part of the Ealing/Bradford Cultural Exchange. Visitors can browse themed bookstalls, view historic documents and enjoy a programme of intergenerational conversations during the final weekend event.
The 22 November event offers panel conversations, access to the pop-up exhibition and a community cultural close that invites reflection on the Huntleys’ impact and the continuing importance of archives and memory. The pop-up also coincides with the closing weeks of People’s Unite, an exhibition exploring solidarity and activism in Southall during the 1970s and 1980s, linking past struggles with today’s movements for justice.
Displays at the exhibition in Gunnersbury Park Museum
Corinne Wan, Head of Museum Services at Gunnersbury, said the museum was honoured to host the milestone exhibition and that the Huntleys’ legacy formed an important chapter in both local and national history. Beverley Mason FRSA, Chief Executive of FHALMA, described the anniversary as celebrating “more than a bookshop — it celebrates a movement,” and praised the power of archives to shape future generations.
Through Bogle-L’Ouverture Publications, Jessica and Eric Huntley published and promoted groundbreaking writers including Walter Rodney, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Beryl Gilroy and others, helping to establish Black British publishing and widening access to radical ideas and cultural pride. The Huntley Archives, now housed at the London Metropolitan Archives, are recognised as one of the UK’s most significant African-Caribbean collections.
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