Literature & Spoken Word Community | Southbank Centre

I first arrived at the Royal Festival Hall unaware of what Alchemy at the Southbank centre was really all about. I had seen it’s slogan illustrated on posters on the underground describing it as an event with ‘innovative classical and contemporary Indian, UK and south Asian acts” but as for what I was going to witness and take from it as and observer looking in was another story.

I arrived just after 3:30pm into the Royal Festival Hall a bit lost, a bit confused, looking at my Alchemy booklet to take me to these intriguing events that were described.When I entered the foyer I was greeted by an incredible loud wave of classical Indian music that made you stop and listen, gathering where you were again.  Huh, the Royal Festival Hall oh yea! Not something you hear everyday when entering a Hall located on the Southbank. I eagerly followed the sound to come across the Southall story live based in the spirit level of the hall. Gurinder Chadha  (director of the popular feature length film bend it like Beckham) was hosting an hour live music session with international Bhangra artist Mohinder Kaur Bhamra, Kulhit Bhamra and other guests.  The music was elegant and every beat and every word seemed like it came at the right time and at the right place. Not understanding the Panjabi language I was drawn in by the graceful and delicate nature of the music. No this wasn’t music I was used to listening to, but I understood from outside perspective that these songs relayed a deeper story, and tugged at the heartstrings of those who understood the language. Gurinder later informed us that some of these songs called Madaneya were songs about woman. Women are what the Southall culture seems to be all about, pillars of the community. Some may even go further to say woman in the Asian community are the translators of culture from the way they dress to their exotic cooking and many other factors. These songs old and updated were songs Gurinder associated with the Southall story. The evolution of being Panjabi and British. That these Panjabi songs could now be sung in a place like the Royal Festival Hall without boundaries between Indians or Pakistani’s but could be shared and witnessed for all to enjoy. Listening to her talk so enthusiastically about this and watching everyone around me thoroughly finding the music entertaining I believe those boundaries for that moment were broken, you didn’t have to be Panjabi or even Asian to appreciate the vibe of the music. Music can be a great way of inviting people in, telling a story, understanding a culture and that clearly was the case here.

After the music went down and the session had finished we were all told to follow these traditional Punjab dancers. Not knowing what to expect again I eagerly followed and cleverly the dancers lead us to the main exhibition space of the Southall story.  This was an exhibition describing at the most basic level the evolution of the Asian culture in Britain since the 60’s.  Being of a half Asian origin my mother being Pakistani and my father being Sudanese. I found the exhibition fascinating. It actually really touched me, my grandfather came to help during the Second World War and essentially I am a second generation British born Asian after my mother. But being linked to all this heritage and history I knew coming to London for my grandparents wasn’t easy. Yes it was an opening but a struggle at the same time. They worked for values we have seemed to have lost today working as a community to better England and they had to struggle with building something from nothing. The exhibition had many different dimensions and showed photographs of a stereotypical Asian households in the 60’s. My favourite part was a reconstructed British Asian sitting room. Later I showed my mum and she went yep! “Our sitting room looked like that”, “we had that same table” and “oooh we had that kind of sofa”. Amazing how most Asian households had the same generic look. But maybe everyone in the community took comfort in the fact that yea all our interiors look the same but at the basic level this is what it means to be British and Asian with the tacky plastic furniture, and the mutli- coloured rug, and Asian wall hangings. Maybe women in the community would compare their multicolored rugs or floral sofas, but still pop to the chippy and also buy their cheddar cheese. Whatever it was there was clearly some pride in it. It screamed we are Asian, British and proud. I walked through the exhibition seeing different elements, from traditional Asian clothing, to the progression of Asian music from the 60’s to today and its influence in modern day mainstream music, to the sad racial discrimination from parties like the National Front towards local Asian communities located around the UK. This exhibition showcased a lot of things, and didn’t sugar coat the hard evolution of Asians brought up in the 60’s to a hostile and racist environment at the time.  It demonstrated the progression of the British Asian culture it celebrated everything old and new and told a story of culture, colours, art, industry and family life. I would really recommend seeing the exhibition space on the Southall story, it demonstrates how communities like the Asian one brought many different dimensions to the British culture and keeps evolving to make Britain a more balanced and multi-cultural society.

The highlight for me was witnessing the Daandiya Raas stick dancing, which took place in the Clore Ballroom later on. It started off with a demonstration of the traditional dance and then became more interactive with members of the audience joining in. Until the whole floor was covered with people imitating the dance, the were no airs or graces, everyone was captivated by its energetic music, entertaining choreography and explicit swirls of vibrant colours all around. No one was embarrassed and by the end no one was sitting down either. For that moment we were all one, connected by the vibe and energy of the Daandiya Raas. Well done to the Southbank for a truly fantastic day and wonderful eye opening events, being highly educational, entertaining and all together inspiring for all to enjoy.

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Friday saw the start of the Alchemy Market in the Southbank Centre Square. Tented stalls bursting with delights from the east presented food, accessories and mehndi.

Friendly faces smiled and offered Chai (spiced tea), snacks and a story or two. As I wandered round the market, my senses were blown away by the flood of vibrant colurs, exotic smells and textural compositions on show, ever more magnificent in the golden afternoon sun.

After prising myself from the enchantment of the market – Chai and Pani Puri in hand – I wandered up a yellow stairwell to the top of the Hayward gallery, and was overwhelmed by the scene. The bright light earlier on had made the jewel-like hues of the market pop, and then gentle breeze carried the scents of the east so subtly that I wandered where I might be, but I was brought back to England and to the rich glow of the sun setting over London and the Thames.

It’s not that I’m a stranger to India or the east by any means – indeed part of my family hail from the neighbouring areas – but the juxtaposition of it with the Sounthbank beautifully emphasised it’s cultural abundance. It’s wonderful to see a celebration of diversity.

And boy, does the food taste good

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The Alchemy Festival of Indian, UK and South Asian arts came to an end on Sunday evening. However, the Southall Story exhibition remains in the Spirit Level until the first week of May. Here’s a snippet of an interview with Freddie Cooper, a fruit and veg stall owner who features in the exhbition.

The Southall Story Live from Yemisi Blake on Vimeo.

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Jayachandran Palazhy on a sense of Indian Nationhood:

“It need not be geographical or national. It’s subscribing to an idea of a particular existence”.

Alchemy was launched last night with a blessing from Southbank Centre Artist in Residence Gauri Sharma-Tripathi. It was a fitting opening to a festival that has spirituality at it’s heart. And spirituality is a subject that came up in the first of the British Council debates that are featured the festival. India: Global Powerhouse? was the question. A panel of artists and commentators discussed whether India was the new America, what India’s position in the world is given it’s growing economic influence, rising levels of education and a growing middle class.

One of the most interesting talking points for me was identity. Jude Kelly introduced the question of how does Indian nationhood work, how is it sustained? The panelists debated whether a country with such a large and diverse population of age, language and religions, feels national identity as a reality, or whether their is existence based more on a local, state identity.

I think it’s a question that speaks particularly strongly to Britain today. With the parilamentary election annouced for May 6th, no doubt the political campaigning of large and smaller parties will make much of our British identity, values of respect, decency and hard-work. These are big, powerhouse type messages used to bring a sense of unity, they are broad brush strokes to capture imagination. However, they often lack a day to day translation that people can understand. So the question remains strong as ever. What is British identity? How does it work? The diversity of India and the UK are very different and unique cases. And the two nations need to be asking the same questions that require complex responses rather than fixed answers. Fingers crossed, festivals like Alchemy give space and context for those conversations to be had.

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The Alchemy festival starts tomorrow and the excitement is growing for what will be five days of great events. During the week, there will be a team of bloggers reviewing, responding to and sharing their experiences of music, dance, poetry, visual art and conversation. Our team of bloggers come from backgrounds of theatre, literature, architecture, fashion, education and music. Here’s an introduction to them all.

Aminah Islam is a photographer and student of footwear at the London College of Fashion. Her art and photography have been published in several albums and magazines. She lives with her brother and cat.

Yemisi Blake is a London-based writer and creative. He is currently Creative Mentor for young people’s projects at the Southbank Centre, where he develops and delivers participation projects for the London Literature Festival and other events.

Alex Rowse is a 2nd year English Literature student who practices journalism when she’s not reading and enjoys art, poetry, traveling and food.

Joseph Coelho is a Performance Poet and Playwright. His poetry has been published by The Southbank Centre and Macmillan books. His plays have received special note from The Verity Bargate Award 2007 and The Bruntwood Playwriting Competition 2008. His play ‘How Long is a Piece of String’ co-written with Tim Webb of Oily Cart enjoyed a sell-out run at the Unicorn theatre 2008 and similar success on a national tour in early 2009. His latest show, an adaptation of ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’ co-written with Jonathon Lloyd just completed a four month sell-out run at Polka Theatre.

Abdul Shayek is a theatre director. He creates performances which fuse various art forms and enable collaboration. He is currently the Director of Youth of Creative Arts (YOCA), a youth arts company based in Newham – www.youthofcreativearts.co.uk

Camelia Muldermans is a London-based writer and creative facilitator, with a particular interest in informal education, poetry and responsible journalism. She is intent on promoting a positive image of youth in the media, giving young people a voice and raising their aspirations. Published work can be seen online and in print, including: The Big Issue, The Independent, Positive News, and Cent Magazine. At present Camelia is based at the youth forum in residence at Southbank Centre: SE1 United, and youth publication Live Magazine.

Aminah Babikir just graduated from Architecture from the Bartlett school of Architecture University College London. She is now currently working as a part one Architectural assistant in a firm called Studiodare, helping to design and masterplan the new Battersea site and Northern line extension. Aminah’s passion is oil paintings, rotring pens, moleskines, photography and travel. Also further exploring and focusing on Islamic art and Architecture. In her spare time she helps charities working in developing countries designing prefabricated structures and local community housing.

Joe Stevens is a visual artist, musician and currently works with young people in Brighton and the sea.  Once travelled in India and was excitedly overwhelmed by the beauty the smells and the tempo of life there. Welcomes all things creative.
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