Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Crossing all divides

by SUNDER KATWALA

BRITAIN feels deeply divided. The sense of a more fragmented, fractious society than any of us find comfortable has, ironically, become at least one thing we can all agree on. There is a public appetite for shared moments that can bring us together – and a concern that they seem few and far between.


The First World War centenary commemorations did succeed in transcending these divides. They took place across five years of unprecedented political volatility, yet broad public approval of the tone and content of the centenary, and significant public participation in it, spanned the nations of the UK.

The inclusion of a major arts programme for the centenary, the 14-18 NOW programme, helped the centenary to reach people who might engage less with traditional approaches to commemoration, bridging the cities and the towns, reaching across generations and ethnic groups.

A major conference this week, Now the Future, brought together leading policy-makers and artists to consider the legacy and future lessons from this programme. A new British Future report, Crossing Divides, published at the conference, made recommendations for the future that were informed by research with artists and cultural institutions in each of the four national capitals of the UK, and group discussions with the public across the country.

In Leicester, England’s most ethnically diverse city, we discussed work including Xenos, Akram Khan’s dance production about Indian soldiers. British Asian and white participants shared a view that cultural activity could play an important role in exploring identity today, also seeing this as a way to increase social contact and to discover common ground.

The enormous Commonwealth contribution to the First World War became not a minor tributary but a major theme of the centenary. This was the area in which public understanding grew most, in British Future’s broader research tracking public responses to the centenary. Seven out of ten people now know that Indian soliders fought in the First World War – while only four in ten had been aware of this before 2014.

This partly reflected a subtle shift of thinking, over the last five years, about who this story was relevant to. There was a strong initial focus on minority inclusion: engaging South Asian communities on this theme would help to ensure that they saw the centenary as relevant to them.

There has been enormous pride in the Sikh contribution among British Sikhs, while increased awareness of the 400,000 Muslims who fought for Britain a century ago can challenge prejudices today. There was an increasing understanding that the story of the Indian Army is not Indian history, relevant to south Asians in Britain, but one important chapter in the shared history of Britain, which should belong to us all.

That journey offers broader lessons for arts policy. Taking ethnic diversity seriously has become an increasing area of focus since the 1990s, though Arts Council England’s strategic vision for the 2020s acknowledges the challenges of achieving that vision,

reporting “although awareness of the issue is greater than it used to be, there remains a persistent and widespread lack of diversity across the creative industries and in publicly funded cultural institutions”.

That slow pace of change is a source of frustration among black British and Asian artists, but not the only one. There is a tension between seeking opportunities to tell ‘untold’ stories as the authentic ethnic minority voice of this missing perspective and only being asked to tell these stories. British Asian artists often speak of narrow expectations

from commissioners and producers, so that only the most established names getting the chance to take on more universal stories too.

A new 10-year Arts Council England strategy is a timely opportunity to rethink arts policy towards equality and diversity. Moving beyond the ‘deficit’ approach to diversity will require faster progress within the cultural workforce. Paying as much attention to leadership and governance as to visible diversity on stage and screen may help to square this circle of how to reflect Britain’s growing diversity without slotting it into pigeon-holes. Firmer, timetabled commitments to more diverse boards are needed unless the arts and heritage sectors would be content to have less ambitious strategies than the expectations now placed on

FTSE 100 boardrooms by recent governing reviews.

Strategies for equality can best respond to these polarised times by rejecting a ‘competing grievances’ frame which asks whether ethnic minority inclusion or the white working-class merit priority. Most ethnic minority Britons are in social grades C2DE, but ethnic diversity and social class outreach have mostly run on parallel tracks.

Major institutions should certainly be expected to reflect the growing diversity of British society today – alongside a new emphasis on showing how some of their work seeks to build common ground across ethnic, faith, class and other social divides.

  • Sunder Katwala is director of British Future. The new report Crossing Divides can be read at www.britishfuture.org

More For You

Eye Spy: Top stories from the world of entertainment

Vicky Kaushal in 'Chhaava'

Chhaava

Eye Spy: Top stories from the world of entertainment

UK SHOW IS A SHOCKER

THE recent Rewind Queens tour was an absolute shocker. The concerts had already been postponed from 2024 due to Alka Yagnik’s severe illness, yet organisers likely knew she wouldn’t be able to perform in the January shows in London and Birmingham – but only announced her absence days before.

Keep ReadingShow less
Column: How much longer will Rachel Reeves stay on as chancellor?

Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves

Column: How much longer will Rachel Reeves stay on as chancellor?

THERE are a few Labour MPs who think “Rachel from accounts will be gone sooner than you think”.

She has certainly outdone Liz Truss in trashing the economy, but the prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, will be loath to sack Rachel Reeves as chancellor because his own future is tied up with hers.

Keep ReadingShow less
​Himesh Reshammiya's silly quest for acting stardom

Himesh Reshammiya

​Himesh Reshammiya's silly quest for acting stardom

IN THE early 1950s, legendary music icon Mukesh was so desperate to become a leading man that he stopped singing for major movies to focus on making an acting breakthrough.

Decades later, Sonu Nigam also tried his hand at acting by starring in a few films. What these two singing stars had in common was that they both failed as actors and quickly realised when to stop. Both quit acting, concentrated on music, and went on to have incredible singing careers.

Keep ReadingShow less
Reeves set to revise non-doms tax rules

Rachel Reeves

Reeves set to revise non-doms tax rules

ANY day now Rachel Reeves will be sending a “cease and desist” letter to Liz Truss, demanding that the former prime minister stop saying she has “crashed the economy”.

Such “false and defamatory” allegations were harming her political reputation, the chancellor will probably add.

Keep ReadingShow less
Eye Spy: Top stories from the world of entertainment
Saif Ali Khan
Saif Ali Khan

Eye Spy: Top stories from the world of entertainment

COMIC SINGH IN UK

PUNJABI-language stand-up comedian Manpreet Singh will return to the UK in March for a series of shows at Midlands Arts Centre in Birmingham (21), The Urban Building in Slough (22), and Chutney Ivy in Leicester (23). Affectionately known as Comic Singh, the top Indian talent promises a performance powered by family-friendly humour. He will follow up the UK tour with his first-ever shows in Germany and Holland in April.

Keep ReadingShow less