The British Asian Week 2006

The British Asian Week included the Asian Women Talk Back Festival held at the Soho Theatre, London. This event promoted the diversity of new writing by South Asian women; the festival saw productions of Deadeye by Amber Lone, Behna by Sonia Likhari and Zameen by Satinder Kaur Chohan

The Birmingham International Festival of Contemporary Jewellery and the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter presented Bombay to Birmingham, an exhibition of traditional Asian pieces, from Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, displayed alongside contemporary jewellery by designer makers; including Vaishali Morjaria, Rita Patel and Kirti Patel.

A theatrical dance spectacular charting the history of the world’s largest and most prolific film industry The Merchants of Bollywood ran for the duration of the week at Tyne Theatre in Newcastle, whilst Kaahini by Maya Chowdhry, a play set in contemporary Britain revealing the dreams, aspirations and frustrations of adolescence, dealing with questions of identity and gender, was shown at The Drum, Plymouth Theatre Royal.

To celebrate the significant contribution made to Business by British Asians, organisations ranging from Enterprise Week (13 – 19 November) to regional business associations hosted events to offer inspiration and advice to those looking to launch, or already running, businesses.

In addition, the Opportunities Theatre presented by Lloyds TSB / ICICI Bank India Banking Service, at Mela ’06 saw many of the UK’s leading lights from the world of sport, media, music and commerce offer advice and inspiration about careers within their chosen fields. Actors Nitin Ganatra, Raza Jaffrey and Ameet Chana explained how to get into film and television. Preethi Nair and Gautam Malkani offered a look at the world of publishing, whilst ITV’s Arti Halai, Eastern Eye’s entertainment editor Asjad Nazir, Desi DNA producer Phil Basi and Sumerah Ahmed, Club Asia’s Chief executive, opened the doors on the media.

On Saturday 18 November the Mac Cinema in Birmingham hosted Cinema of Prayoga - a programme of revelatory and rare films sourced from Indian archives. Featuring avant garde Indian artists from the beginnings of Indian cinema to the latest examples of Indian video art, the programme included: The Secret History of Indian Cinema, including work by D.G. Phalke - the father of Indian Cinema; a collection of subversive work from the 60s and 70s; Unseen India - a recent work exploring unknown aspects of contemporary India; and Indian Video Art - Between Myth and History.

The week culminated in the UK’s largest ever Asian lifestyle event at the Mela’06. Featuring the very best of Asian culture, from fashion, beauty and shopping, to business, music and entertainment, Mela ’06 saw performances by British Asian talents such as Rishi Rich, Juggy D, Jay Sean and Hunterz, along with appearances from top Bollywood stars Saif Ali Khan, Kajol and Ajay Devgan.

With high profile supporters, from British Asian celebrities, business people and politicians, the week long activities brought together all areas of the community in a far reaching and multi faceted celebration.