Positive Hair Day (PHD) was an oral history project which recorded the HAIRstories of Black and mixed heritage customers at Black hairdressers in Brighton. The stories captured the pain and joy of growing up with “different” hair and how this fed into people’s cultural identity and heritage as Black and mixed heritage people growing up in the UK from the 1960s to the present day.  

 The HAIRstories were turned into a travelling exhibition, educational booklet and coffee table book, which have delighted and enthralled thousands of people since the project’s  development in 2010-2011.

The project was supported by the Heritage Lottery fund and the HAIRstories archive formed the basis of a highly successful touring theatre production called Snakes and Ladders.

 

Final PHD exhibition launch at Brighton museum in 2012

Irene Mensah pictured here aged 8, contributed her HAIRstory to the PHD exhibition

Irene ‘s story (pictured centre) as featured in the mobile PHD exhibition