Unapologetically British: that’s the subject of a new exhibition The Beauty of Being British Asian. Curated by Sharan Dhaliwal, editor-in-chief of Burnt Roti zine, the week-long exhibition aims to spotlight the intricacies of having a dual identity, from celebrating both Christmas and Diwali to being treated like an ‘outsider’ in your parents’ country while ‘looking’ like one in Britain.
Inspired by writer Nikita Marwaha’s essay "The Beauty of Being British Asian ", you can expect to see how 15 multimedia and five spoken word artists interpret both identities. Each has selected a line that best fits their take on juggling their south Asian values with their British upbringing, from photographer Dejah Naya McCombe’s "Punjabi Skinhead" portraits to visual artist Jasmin Sehra’s "BollyHood" series fusing her Punjabi heritage with her love of hip-hop. "A dual identity is not an issue but something to celebrate," Sharan tells me. "Sometimes you can get lost feeling there’s a ‘disconnect’ but to see that this ‘disconnect’ is shared by so many people is beautiful. 'Connecting through a disconnect'," she adds.
With 2017 marking 70 years since Partition – the creation in 1947 of two separate states of Pakistan and India – it’s a poignant time for the British south Asian community to celebrate what unites, rather than divides, us.
Ahead of the exhibition opening, we spoke to five of the artists about how they navigate their dual identities, how post-Brexit Britain has influenced their work, and why PoC having their own spaces in the art world is needed more than ever.
The Beauty of Being British Asian runs from 16th to 22nd August at Shop 11, The Old Truman Brewery, London, E1 6QL
Kumail Rizvi, illustrator and architecture student
What led you to becoming an artist?
My parents had spare pens and printer paper lying around the house when I was a kid. I’ve been drawing ever since. Studying and working in architecture, though, got me really interested in the process of making, craftsmanship and narrative. So that naturally led to comics.
How important is it for you for your work to reflect your ethnic/cultural identity
Important or not, I think some aspect of my work always will. I’m British Pakistani so on some level, my work is going to be British Pakistani, too.
Your work is relatable to a predominantly Desi audience – I think most of us from the [south Asian] diaspora can recall a time when we opened a tub of ice cream in the fridge and were faced with frozen daal (lentils). Is this intentional?
Absolutely. My feeling is that British people would have no clue why there’s daal in a tub of ice cream. Nor would my Pakistani family back in the homeland. So the idea of daal in an ice cream tub acts as a shibboleth for the British Asian community. It’s something they’d uniquely recognise and no one else. The contents of the fridge I also hoped would act like a miniature version of Where’s Wally, specifically for the fridges of the average British Asian Family.
Tell me about how you interpret the beauty in being British Asian.
I think growing up, being British Asian feels not British enough for Britain and definitely not Asian enough for, in my case, Pakistan. Recently, I’ve come around to the idea that perhaps it’s not a lack of identity but that I get the best of both. A broader range of cultures and ideas and music, food (thank God for the food) and art that informs who I am. I don’t work with one palette, I’m lucky enough that I get to paint with two.
What’s the biggest cultural conflicts that come with navigating both identities? And how much does that feed into your work?
I’m trying my best to make it one identity as opposed to switching between two. I think that idea comes from not fitting into either. Too British for Pakistan, too Pakistani for Britain – my Urdu is pretty terrible. Feeling like a strange person who never fit in.
What’s the biggest misconception of you as a British Asian?
I’m sure many people get this, but it’s where I’m from. 'No, where are you really from? No but I mean where were you born? Okay but where were your family born?'
Do you think PoC having their own spaces in the art world is needed more than ever?
100%. I think you can’t be understood in a place unless that place’s culture represents you. And if it doesn’t, you can change it. You make the art and tell the stories that you want to see and hear. If there’s only one type of life being represented – how useful is that? When there’s more PoC art being made, there’s a broader scope of life being represented. More types of art, told by more types of people, is only ever a good thing.
How much do you think your exhibition will change people’s existing assumptions of being a British Asian in the UK?
More than anything it will demonstrate the community isn’t a monolith. There may be shared customs, histories, foods (especially) but there’s many ways to express it. There isn’t one way to be British Asian, there’s three million.
Dejah Naya McCombe, photographer
What led you to become an artist?
My granddad was a photographer so I was always interested and intrigued with his love of photography. Only when attending uni in 2016 did I find my real passion for photography. And ever since then, I haven't wanted to do anything else.
What are the main themes in your art?
My photography is usually centred around women of colour. Using the creative outlet of fashion photography to represent them and their beauty. WoC are so strong and powerful and I'm grateful so many models have given me the opportunity to use them as my muse.
How important is it for you for your work to reflect your ethnic/cultural identity?
Extremely important. South Asian women are unrepresented in the media and in fashion. And if they are represented at all, it's usually fetishised. There are millions of people living in the UK with south Asian backgrounds so why is it when I open magazines, I don't see any of them? We need to be represented more in front of the camera as well as behind the scenes.
Tell me about how you interpret the beauty in being British Asian.
The beauty for me is the fact that we are two things: we are British and we are Asian. I do believe that there is beauty in struggle as well. We all struggle for people to understand us. Hopefully the next generation of British Asians won't have to struggle as much because of projects like BOBBA.
Have there been times when you’ve felt you’ve had to ‘pick’ between being British and Asian? And just how much has that influenced your work?
There have been times. I'm mixed race. So being mixed itself comes with a conflict of not really feeling like you belong to one community. I was racially abused in primary school and growing up as a teen and where I'm from [Liverpool], there is a history of skinhead culture. So a lot of people thought I wasn't British, even though my mum is white and I'm third generation British. It's influenced my work because I have solidarity with the women I photograph.
How much do you think your art challenges our pre-existing ideas of ‘Britishness’?
I think it challenges what is British beauty. We’re all British but we don't ‘look’ British. I really want to show though my work that representation really does matter and a lot of companies have to wake up to that.
Do you think PoC having their own spaces in the art world is needed more than ever?
Do we create our own platforms or do we fight to be represented in the platforms already built in our society? I think we, as PoC, have earned the right to do both: have our own space and be represented in the current art world.
Why do you think there's a need for an exhibition like BOBBA?
It not only showcases the work of talented south Asian artists but it also gives us a space to meet each other. We all have this magical beautiful thing that bonds us together and we need to celebrate that.
Jasmin Sehra, visual artist and designer
What are the main themes in your art?
I absolutely love the graphics and typography you find in old movie posters, cassettes and '80s/'90s fashion. My current "BollyHood" series hones in on portraiture, colour, pattern, lyricism and positive messages through typography. I give my paintings a Bollywood movie poster aesthetic while still maintaining my own visual language and fusing the two cultures I've grown up with.
What’s the inspiration behind your art?
I remember at uni, I discovered my parents’ old photo albums. Both had such awesome outfits on but it was my mum that inspired me by mixing western and traditional clothes and accessories together. The fusion style is what spoke to me. That moment sparked my interest in all things vintage and I started exploring their vintage cassette tape collection. It was a way for me to reconnect with my roots because I found it difficult to just be me at uni. My mum taught me that mixing two upbringings is a beautiful thing, that you can appreciate both while still maintaining your heritage. It definitely came at a stage in my life where I questioned my identity a lot but seeing her merging the two cultures together way back then, and now, makes me so proud. My artwork fuses the two cultures together in a way that’s unique to me.
Do you think people struggle to reconcile the idea that you can’t juggle both identities – British and Asian?
I think the struggle has more to do with balancing the two. When you're in a country foreign to your motherland, it's always a question of how to appreciate your heritage without diluting it. It's a tricky situation but one that many British Asians have managed to find a balance between in many forms that we see today, through things like clothing, food, radio and cinema.
Have there been times when you’ve felt you’ve had to ‘pick’ between being British and Asian?
In the past, I’ve had moments where I felt embarrassed to be Indian, [from] not taking in Indian food to university or work to not wearing my cultural clothing around the local high street. But now I fully embrace it all.
How much do you think your art challenges our pre-existing ideas of ‘Britishness’
Having grown up in a British Sikh household, it’s allowed me to explore and reconcile these two very different cultures and that’s the makeup of my identity. My artwork reflects the idea that there isn’t one definition of ‘Britishness’. Each person’s individuality is made up of diverse influences and lived experiences and that’s the beauty of being British: we're diverse in our influences. We're made up of so many different cultures and my art reflects that.
To what extent has the subject of your work shifted since anti-immigration rhetoric has intensified post-Brexit?
My artwork isn't specifically political but I've definitely become more conscious about the messages I portray in my pieces. I've realised how important it is that as creatives, we use our tools to communicate, especially to millennials, by shedding light on issues that we may not openly discuss in our day-to-day lives. A lot of my "BollyHood" pieces do just that. I touch base on body image, femininity and community in my Missy Elliott and Queen Latifah pieces, and issues such as African-American slavery and freedom of movement in my Kendrick and MIA paintings. It's not just 'dope' visuals but a story behind each piece too; bridging the gap between art and storytelling.
Why do you think there's a need for an exhibition like BOBBA?
It's important that we form bonds with other British Asians because there just isn't enough of it. That connection through stories and visuals is what's needed – a mutual interest. Being a PoC in the creative industry isn't easy and I learnt in university it can be an isolating experience. But an exhibit like this forms a special kind of unity. We’re building a new rhetoric.
Soofiya Andry, graphic designer, illustrator and activist
What are the main themes in your art?
My work mainly focuses on gender: breaking beyond binary notions of gender and deconstructing the oppressive narratives. Race – as a PoC, this informs a lot of my work and how I navigate often alienating white spaces within the design industry. [Anarchism and far-left politics.
How much does your own ethnic/cultural identity feed into the work you do?
It’s informed a lot of my writing and politics, which in turn go on to inform my work. I write about what it’s like to exist as PoC, as someone who is visibly gender non-confirming and also as a Muslim. This translates into the work I go on to create. For example, I did a mini zine about Auntie Fatima, the anti-fascist desi aunt who throws garam masala (spice mix) in the face of fascism. It’s funny, tongue in cheek but also celebrating the power of south Asian women.
Have there been times when you’ve felt you’ve had to ‘pick’ between being British and Asian?
I’ve always tried to forge my own path by doing things my way. Often for me, it was important to try to not assimilate into easily oppressive narratives at the expense of my culture and background. It’s something I’m still exploring through my work.
What’s the biggest misconception of you as a British Asian?
That we all have one homogeneous experience of being British Asian. But there are as many different experiences and identities within the umbrella of ‘British Asian’ as there are grains of sand.
Tell me about how you interpret the beauty in being British Asian.
For me, beauty isn’t about looks – as someone who is visibly gender non-conforming and doesn’t fit into Eurocentric beauty standards, the idea of ‘beauty’ is and always will be an inherently oppressive construct. I’m all about ugly, being politically ugly, and the subversion of normative dichotomies of ‘beauty’. Beauty in words, in work, in thought and solidarity is something that’s really resonated with me.
Do you think now is one of the most exciting times for British south Asians in the creative industries?
I think the creative industries have a long way to go before they are ‘exciting’ to PoC. They are overwhelmingly white, male and middle class, which is alienating to a lot of talented people who dare not to fit into that demographic. I think it only really gets exciting when PoC start calling out the industries, when we start organising and creating outside of their constraints.
Shaheen Kasmani, surface pattern designer and textile artist
How much do you think your art challenges our pre-existing ideas of ‘Britishness’?
In two pieces, I feel it challenges it directly. The map piece (previously entitled "Lie Back and Think of England" which addresses colonial history) challenges who we are, who we think we are, the history of this island… creating problems that means people need to flee, while rejecting and stirring up fear and hate about immigrants. The other, an installation piece "Fragments of Us", is about being racially profiled and how it makes me feel torn and fragmented. I asked friends on social media how it feels to have a British passport yet still be racially profiled at the airport. I've included their responses in the work.
What are the main themes in your work?
My art is based on traditional patterns and motifs found in the heritage of the Indian subcontinent, central Asia, the Middle East and parts of Africa. I aim for my work to be meaningful. Themes include history, heritage, culture, learning, conversation and I hope – even if it’s whispering – speaking truth to power.
Have there been times when you’ve felt you’ve had to ‘pick’ between being British and Asian?
Earlier on in life, yes – I think it comes with the territory of being Asian in the UK – but now, no. I'm finding myself becoming less defensive and more unapologetic and I hope this grows and shows in my work. I do feel like I often have to prove my Britishness, whatever that is, especially as a visible Muslim, but that is exhausting and pointless.
Why do you think there’s a need for an exhibition like BOBBA?
As far as I know, there is nothing else like it in the UK. We can knock on the doors of gatekeepers but I think what we're starting to realise is that seeing as we aren't afforded any platforms in the 'mainstream', we have to create them ourselves. There’s too much talent and creativity and potential to let it go to waste. There’s groups doing similar things, such as OOMK & DIY Cultures, Variant Space, FMC, gal-dem, etc. I think it’s important that we don't leave it at this, but work together to build and create and grow.
How much do you think your exhibition will change people’s existing assumptions of being a British Asian in the UK?
Personally, I'd be happy with a space created and curated for us to come together and share and celebrate our stories but one that is also open to all. Perhaps one thing I can l hope for, though, especially as a Muslim and given the rise in Islamophobia here and in India, is that we come together as Asians to produce something really beautiful and meaningful. It feels like even though it's 70 years since Partition, our minds are still colonised and pitted against each other, even though essentially we share history, heritage, culture, language, food, everything! Perhaps art is the way to challenge this.
Do you think PoC having their own spaces in the art world is needed more than ever?
Yes! For us, by us, our voices telling our stories and on our terms. We need spaces that are safe and offer the opportunity to be cathartic and help each other heal, but also to build together and progress forward. Tokenistic diversity drives are tiring and insulting. Unless we start to see some genuine systematic and cultural changes, I think this is the way forward. We need to invest in each other.
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