LONDON-BASED multidisciplinary artist Liaqat Rasul has returned to Wrexham for homecoming exhibition NAU, NAU, DOH, CHAAR, at the celebrated Tŷ Pawb gallery.
Curated by Lewis Dalton Gilbert, the retrospective takes visitors through a cultural exploration using layered pieces in textile, paper and cloth, on a collection of works.
The candid reflection of life is a self-portrait for a creative talent, who went from being a young window dresser to becoming an acclaimed artist.
The works show how his identity as a Pakistani, Muslim, Indian, Welsh, and now an east London-based artist have been shaped.
Eastern Eye caught up with Rasul to discuss his journey, exhibition and future plans.
What first connected you to creativity?
In my early childhood, being both Welsh and Pakistani, taking trips to the village in Punjab, and window dressing in my parents’ shop aged 12 in Wrexham.
What drew you towards art, in particular?
I liquidated my fashion business in 2009, followed by several years working at a pub. It was during this period that I started creating collages. My first work, Memory, took two years to create.
'Bloom' by Liaqat Rasul (Photo: Liaqat Rasul Studio)
Tell us about your new exhibition.
NAU, NAU, DOH, CHAAR is about mental health stories, struggling with life at times, geopolitics, the positive impact of immigration and being creative in two different disciplines - fashion and art.
How did you select the work for this exhibition?
I shipped the archive from my fashion brand, Ghulam Sakina, over from Delhi, as part of the process. The final selection came together through lots of meetings with Tŷ Pawb and the curator, Lewis Dalton Gilbert. Together, we had a clear focus and chose the works for this project that represented my 25 year career arc.
What inspired the unique title?
NAU, NAU, DOH, CHAAR is Urdu for 9924. This alludes to the years 1999 to 2024, a 25-year retrospective of my fashion brand, Ghulam Sakina, and my artistic practice. Lewis Dalton Gilbert helped shape the concept for my first ever solo show.
What is the key message you want to convey with the work in this exhibition?
In a time and a world where we find ourselves questioning the politics and systems at play, art offers something to believe in, and increasingly becomes a place for the whole family - a place to meet, for discussion, a space to unpack tough topics and experiences. I would like to think you can pick and mix what you want from this show. I want everyone to feel welcome and welcomed within it.
'Envelop' by Liaqat Rasul (Photo: Liaqat Rasul Studio)
What does it mean to have this exhibition in your hometown of Wrexham?
It's a privilege to have been asked by Jo Marsh, the creative director of Tŷ Pawb, to exhibit my first solo exhibition in Wrexham. It feels magical to have her and the whole gallery team believe in me and my work. I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity.
What can we expect next from you?
A new exhibition in Margate at the Kavel Rafferty Gallery, commissioned by Margate Pride. This project reflects on the fashion industry’s effect on the global south and labour inequalities, exemplified by the 2013 Rana Plaza collapse in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which killed 1,134 people and injured approximately 2,500. This tragic event, linked to some UK high street brands, underscores the urgent need for ethical reforms.
What inspires you?
My parents, friendships, people watching, Kylie Minogue, wonderful teachers and mentors who took the time to educate me on trying new directions. Everyone has the right to express themselves, no matter their sexuality, race, gender or ability. Patience and kindness.
NAU, NAU, DOH, CHAAR at Tŷ Pawb gallery in Wrexham until November 2, 2024.
www.typawb.wales and Instagram: @liaqatrasulart
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A seated Jain enlightened teacherAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Ganesha from JavaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Chinese silk painting depicting the BuddhaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
ArdhanarishvaraAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Head of a grimacing yakshaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
NagaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Bimaran casketAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Hunia Chawla
A still from rehearsal
Them performing liveNajmuddin Saifuddin Qawwal Group
The cast of Marriage Material in key moments from the play, including Avita Jay, Kiran Landa, Omar Malik, Irfan Shamji and Anoushka Deshmukh
Sathnam Sanghera’s 'Marriage Material' adapted into bold new play on conformity
The play Marriage Material at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre is Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s adaptation of Sathnam Sanghera’s novel of the same name, which first came out in 2013.
She is lucky to have Iqbal Khan direct Marriage Material. The play, a co-production with the Birmingham Rep, is set in the late 1960s. Mr and Mrs Bains (played by Jaz Singh Deol and Avita Jay) run a corner shop in Wolverhampton. Their younger daughter, Surinder (Anoushka Deshmukh), is 16, her sister Kamaljit (Kiran Landa) is just a bit older.
They have a neighbour, Patwant Dhanda (Irfan Shamji), who, as we shall soon see, is not a very pleasant man. In fact, he comes across just as racist as Enoch Powell, who represented Wolverhampton South West for the Tories from 1950 to 1974.
It will be recalled this was a time when Sikhs working on the buses were told they couldn’t wear a turban. That was a hard-fought battle that had to be won.
The Bains, meanwhile, simply want to get their girls married off.
Nothing new here, I thought.
What makes the tale different is that the plot twists and turns down the generations. Mr Dhanda, who has the makings of a paedophile, makes a pitch for one of the girls when Mr Bains dies early in the play. “A life with no man in the house is no life,” he informs the newly widowed Mrs Bains.
Mr Dhanda has a wife but she has returned to India so he considers himself to be a free man.
Surinder’s English teacher from school, Miss Flanagan (Celeste Dodwell), who is also head of the fifth form, tells Mrs Bains about her daughter: “I don’t want to embarrass you, but she is bright. Ridiculously bright.”
She adds: “Mrs Bains, I think it would be a pity if Surinder didn’t stay on at school.” The initial response from Mrs Bains is not encouraging: “Too much education makes people’s brains get mixed up, they don’t sleep at night…”
But she is finally persuaded that Surinder should be allowed to stay on for a while longer before being married off.
Mr Bains was very old school. When Surinder confides she would one day like to be “a somebody”, he is amused that “my daughter wants to be a somebody”.
“Like you,” she tells her father.
Mr Bains consoles his daughter: “We will find a somebody for you to marry.”
At the point of a possible marriage, however, Surinder is sweet-talked by chocolate salesman Jim Wilson (Tommy Belshaw) into running away with him. They share a love of literature, and he calls her “Sue Bains”. But the relationship does not end well.
Once she has left, Surinder is written off as “dead” by her family. The story that is circulated is that she was only 16 when she was killed in a car crash. That’s better than to let on that she ran off with a white man.
By the time she is reconciled with her sister towards the end of the play, a great deal has changed. Kamaljit married Tanvir Banga (Omar Malik), a young man who helped out in the Bains’ corner shop. When the two sisters meet again, Tanvir has also died. But he and Kamaljit had a son, Arjan Banga (Jaz Singh Deol doubles up for this role after the death of Mr Bains). He has come home after his father’s death to help his mother who is still running the family corner shop.
Meanwhile, Mr Dhanda’s business has prospered. He now has a son, Ranjit Dhanda (the role is taken by Omar Malik after Tanvir’s death), and he is nearly as unpleasant as his father.
Arjan has an English fiancée, Claire (Celeste Dodwell). In London, Arjan worked as a creative director. But after deciding to stay in Wolverhampton to help his mother, he decides he cannot marry Claire because she is white. In other words, Asians are not free of racism, either. Happily, at the end, the couple are reconciled.
As for Surinder, she parted company with Jim Wilson after realising he was all talk, depended on her for money and had failed to earn a penny from his literary pretensions. She had prospered, though, as a hotel owner and had been transformed in time into a well-groomed businesswoman. After being tracked down by Arjan, she decides to return to her roots in Wolverhampton and help Kamaljit run the family corner shop. Perhaps 50 years had passed during the passage of the play.
Being subjected to racism turned some Asians into racists themselves. The word goreh (white person) is repeatedly spat out with venom. Maybe it is worth remembering the play’s audience isn’t exclusively Asian – white folk are watching as well. And maybe some of the toilet humour ridiculing white people, which always makes me cringe, could be cut out.
In Sanghera’s novel, there is a quote from Enoch Powell’s speech in November 1968: “The West Indian or Asian does not, by being born in England, become an Englishman. In law he becomes a United Kingdom citizen by birth; in fact, he is a west Indian or an Asian still... he will by the very nature of things have lost one country without gaining another, lost one nationality without acquiring a new one. Time is running out against us and them. With the lapse of a generation or so we shall at last have succeeded – to the benefit of nobody – in reproducing ‘in England’s green and pleasant land’ the haunting tragedy of the US.”
In Marriage Material, where the acting is marvellous (apart from Mr Dhanda’s Indian mannerisms and accent being overdone) we do travel across a couple of generations.
There is a scene when Tanvir rejects Mr Dhanda’s vision of creating a little Punjab in Wolverhampton.
Mr Dhanda wants to take over the Bains’ corner shop and is putting pressure on Tanvir to sign the papers. He says: “In this country, money is the path to freedom.”
“Sign, please,” he instructs Tanvir. “We must make sure our children learn to behave nicely, according to our rules.”
He insists: “We maintain our identity so we can be ourselves.”
Tanvir disagrees: “We can be us here. With the goreh.”
Dhanda warns him: “Then we will be inviting chaos.”
Tanvir’s comment is telling: “You sound like Enoch.”
Kamaljit, who is expecting a baby with her husband Tanvir, says: “I would like my child to grow up knowing the history of the Gurus and to read the Granth Sahib. And to love their culture.”
Tanvir tells his wife: “I would like my child to go to the finest schools, to cheer for England in the World Cup and eat Yorkshire pudding on a Sunday.”
Kamaljit sets out a dream that has perhaps come to pass with many third and fourth generation British Asians: “Maybe our child can do both.” Much, much later, in a throwback to the past, we learn of Surinder’s O-level results: “Biology A, Chemistry A, English Language A, English Literature A, French A, History B, Latin A, Mathematics A, Physics A…”
Kamaljit tells her younger sister: “Never mind about the B.”
And that is quintessentially Asian. Their acting is outstanding.
Marriage Material is at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre until June 21, and at the Birmingham Rep from June 25-July 5