The exhibiton will run at the studios from the 12th November until the 12th December.
Marking the fiftieth anniversary of writer Naseem Khan’s groundbreaking report The Arts Britain Ignores, the new archival exhibition and events programme from Unfinished Histories, hosted by London Performance Studios, explores the trailblazing companies and individuals who defined the early years of Black and Asian theatre in the UK.
This exhibition Radical Rediscovery III: What Survives? 50 Years Since The Arts Britain Ignores will bring together original archival materials from the 1960s to 2000 including photography by Sheila Burnett, filmed oral history interviews, and historic carnival costumes that trace the enduring legacy and relevance of Khan’s work.
Meanwhile, A symposium on 27-28 November will bring together talks, panel discussions and a long table to explore the legacy of the report and ask what has changed, what has endured and where cultural power sits today. Speakers include Booker Prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo and Shreela Ghosh, an actor and creative leader with over four decades of experience in the arts, best known for playing Naima, the first South Asian character in BBC’s EastEnders, and for her leadership roles in cultural organisations. She worked closely with Naseem Khan throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, including at Aditi, a pioneering organisation supporting South Asian dance, and is now the founder and co-director of Culture In Flux. On 27 November, actor, playwright and theatre director Sudha Bhuchar, who co-founded the pioneering Tamasha Theatre Company in 1989, serving as Co-Artistic Director until 2015 before establishing Bhuchar Boulevard to develop and produce new creative work, will direct a special evening The Woman, the Writer, the Legacy which will feature a selection of readings and performances celebrating Naseem’s life and work.
Tyrone Huggins, Guest Curator said ‘’It is important that we bring to the surface the range and depth of work created by Black and Asian artists and practitioners, in order for British culture to understand itself and how its changed and develop a new canon of works that tell us of our past and informs our journeys into the future. It is an important privilege and responsibility to me to work with Unfinished Histories in that enterprise.”
To find out more visit: https://www.londonperformancestudios.com/fifty-years-of-the-fight-for-inclusion-iii-black-asian-theatre-in-britain