Art and Culture

Art & Culture

Memorial to 'long forgotten' soldiers

A Labour member of the London Assembly has added his voice to the campaign for a memorial to the 140,000-strong Chinese Labour Corps recruited by Britain and France in World War One. His reminder of the "long forgotten but tremendous contribution to the allies’ cause on the Western Front" came ahead of the 100th anniversary of the 11 November Armistice Day that ended fighting in the war between the Allies and their opponent, Germany. Addressing the London Assembly in early November Andrew Dismore said the conditions in which the Chinese…

A Labour member of the London Assembly has added his voice to the campaign for a memorial to the 140,000-strong Chinese Labour Corps recruited by Britain and France in World…

A review: The grandparents' adventure

Vinay Patel calls his play about his grandparents’ life An Adventure, and it’s an adventure for the audience, too, as the story moves from 1950s India, to Kenya and then Britain. The mood, the couple’s relationship and the story-telling changes with the geography. The opening scene as Rasik in borrowed suit courts the young Jyoti – even younger than her suitors realise – is a delight: witty, sharp, sexy. He lures her, and us, with his openness, sense of adventure and the promise of a foreign land. But when Jyoti joins…

Vinay Patel calls his play about his grandparents’ life An Adventure, and it’s an adventure for the audience, too, as the story moves from 1950s India, to Kenya and then Britain.…

The uprooted Tibetan who showcases artists

Baiqu Gonkar remembers being “just another migrant” when her artist father and doctor mother brought her from Tibet to Britain at the age of 10. “People do not see you as an individual, or recognise your multi-layered identity,” she observes. It was a struggle: she missed her extended family and couldn’t talk to her schoolfriends, and “had to ignore countless people calling me ‘ching chong’ while stretching out the side of their eyes with their finger. I had to explain that No, I am not Chinese, and that Yes there…

Baiqu Gonkar remembers being “just another migrant” when her artist father and doctor mother brought her from Tibet to Britain at the age of 10. “People do not see you…

Nefes: Bridging cultures

In 2009, Gonul Ekmekci set up Nefes, a traditional Turkish folk music group that aims to keep a strong connection with Turkish culture while integrating the music into British society. Nefes means ‘breath, soul and self,’ connecting with the group’s strong desire to keep this particular traditional aspect of Turkey’s culture alive. Gonul’s primary reason for starting this group is her love of folk music. She feels that Turkey has changed significantly as a country, particularly in regards to migration onto the main continent of Europe. ‘Being a migrant is…

In 2009, Gonul Ekmekci set up Nefes, a traditional Turkish folk music group that aims to keep a strong connection with Turkish culture while integrating the music into British society.…

Story in a Poem

A Story in a Poem is an innovative project that has brought young migrants and non-migrants together to tell their stories in poetic form, and is presented here as an open-access multimedia education resource. Migrant Voice has organised this project in Glasgow over several months, and has encouraged people to use the medium of poetry to discuss their own journeys and lives. Training and mentoring sessions gave participants skills in storytelling, creative writing, and public speaking while exploring themes of migration, integration, diversity, community and their hopes for the future — while…

A Story in a Poem is an innovative project that has brought young migrants and non-migrants together to tell their stories in poetic form, and is presented here as an…

Confronting prejudice with teabags and tents

You want a British passport? Ok – just throw these teabags into a pot. Or perhaps you’re an immigrant scrounger trying to get money out of the state? Try your luck on the “Wheel of Benefits”: just spin it for a handout. The provocations are typical of the work of Romanian-born Dana Olărescu and Serbian native Bojana Janković, who came to London to do MA’s in performance and stayed to set up a two-person theatre company, There There. Their chosen subject: immigration, based on personal experience. All their performances raise…

You want a British passport? Ok – just throw these teabags into a pot. Or perhaps you’re an immigrant scrounger trying to get money out of the state? Try your…

Migrant poets shortlisted for prize

On Monday the 13th of June, writer Malika Booker announced the shortlist for the £15,000 Forward Prize for best poetry collection. Amongst those shortlisted were Kurdish writer Choman Hardi and Trinidadian writer Vahni Capildeo. In 1993, Hardi arrived in the UK seeking asylum. Now, Hardi uses her poetry to discuss survivors of genocide, drawing from her post-doctoral research in the area. Her work centers around the stories of survivors of the Anfal campaign in the 1980’s. “You do not die! Not when you want to,” she writes in her poem Dibs Camp, the Women’s…

On Monday the 13th of June, writer Malika Booker announced the shortlist for the £15,000 Forward Prize for best poetry collection. Amongst those shortlisted were Kurdish writer Choman Hardi and Trinidadian…

Mare Nostrum - a poem

Mare Nostrum Sunshine and riviera Restaurants, sun beds and gelato Topless and bikini Sunscreen and waterproof mascara. Mare Nostrum Boats, small boats, big boats Packed with people with brown skin Who are they? Immigrati its their label Greedy creatures who want to steal wealth Mare Nostrum The Mediterranean diet, to live longer Olive oil, pasta and fresh salad To keep the heart pumping a glass of vintage red wine Mare Nostrum Giant hungry beast That feeds on human flesh What’s on the menu makes no difference Young men, children pregnant…

Mare Nostrum Sunshine and riviera Restaurants, sun beds and gelato Topless and bikini Sunscreen and waterproof mascara. Mare Nostrum Boats, small boats, big boats Packed with people with brown skin Who…

Real stories brought to the stage

Whenever members of the amateur Ukrainian group Molodyi Teatr London (Young Theatre) talk about their experiences as migrants, colleagues will exclaim “That’s incredible!” If they tell people outside the group, the response is often: “You should write that down”. So they did. The result is Bloody East Europeans, an English-language play that offers an irreverent and satirical take on the lives of East Europeans in the UK. One of the writers, Uillem Blacker, a lecturer in East European culture at University College London, says there are few positive voices on…

Whenever members of the amateur Ukrainian group Molodyi Teatr London (Young Theatre) talk about their experiences as migrants, colleagues will exclaim “That’s incredible!” If they tell people outside the group,…

Humour born from ‘anger and frustration’

Sajeela Kershi is a comedian, but her show, Immigrant Diaries, “was born out of anger and frustration. “I got exasperated at reading and watching the same old negative dialogue about immigrants,” she says. “I’m an immigrant myself who is very ‘home counties’, well-spoken, and I’m probably the only Asian woman who runs a successful award-winning comedy club in the heart of Surrey - Comedy Cottage Redhill – very, very British in many ways, yet it’s never enough. “I’m constantly made to feel like I don’t belong here, I’m the outsider…

Sajeela Kershi is a comedian, but her show, Immigrant Diaries, “was born out of anger and frustration. “I got exasperated at reading and watching the same old negative dialogue about…