A borough as diverse as Croydon is symbolised by the plurality of its culture. South Asians form a large population of the borough. As part of the This is Croydon, The Mayor’s London Borough of Culture 2023 celebration, Subrang Arts initiated ‘Kalasetu’ – Kala means ‘Art’; ‘Setu’ means bridge – building cultural bridges with communities through arts.
In collaboration with renowned arts-organisation Kinetika and their team of specialist silk artists, Team Subrang worked with pupils from Norbury High Girls School, Croydon to create a set of 25 silk scarves and 25 silk flags that reflect the diversity of the Indian diaspora. The team also created ‘Rani Vividhataa’ – a vibrant and colourful 4.5m tall Queen of Diversity wrapped in unique, eye-catching, hand-painted silks depicting aspects of the heritage and arts of the Indian diaspora in Croydon, and what it means to the local community there.
Pupils researched cultural expressions like arts, crafts, music, dance, festivals, places / maps of the Indian diaspora in the borough through the lens of UNESCO-recognised intangible heritage of Batik silk painting. The themes reflect the communities of Croydon. These include Punjabi / Sikhs, Tamil, Malayalee, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi and people from Central India. Each flag depicts individual communities.
This research inspired the design and content of the silks and the scarves, ‘Rani Vividhataa’ and flags were displayed and used as part of a performance at This is Croydon’s flagship programmes – Croydon Mela, Croydon Carnival, Diwali Festival of Lights in Trafalgar Square, and further events this year.
See the Kalasetu scarves, flags and Rani Vividhataa in action at the Croydon Mela in this short video: https://youtu.be/tpw5rCrg7is
Hear the story of Kalasetu, in this audio piece: https://on.soundcloud.com/HrPcB
And see images of the scarves, flags and Rani, below:
‘I am the unlucky one’ I said to the Consultant. I was sobbing away on my own with nobody to hold my hand or support me. Where did I go wrong? What had I done? I always helped everyone – young old, needy and desperate. So why did it have to be ME? I didn’t understand.
Research studies have validated that trauma experienced by our Ancestors can live on in our DNA thanks to epigenetic inheritance. Read my account of carrying intergenerational trauma from the partition of India and Pakistan here.
I am pleased to share my podcast with you. Expulsion@50 is an oral history project, created to raise awareness of the expulsion over 80,000 Asians
The first of the Trust’s projects is the South Asian Heritage Month (SAHM), which first took place in 2020 and runs from the 18th of July to the 17th of August each year.
SAHM seeks to commemorate, mark and celebrate South Asian cultures, histories, and communities.
It seeks to understand the diverse heritage and cultures that continue to link the UK with South Asia.
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