Sotheby's is holding an auction of contemporary art, but what makes this sale different is 11 of the works have been picked by Amita Suman, 25, the British Asian actress who is making quite a name for herself.
Adrian Ghenie, 'Study for Collector I'
Suman was born in Nepal and came to Brighton, England, with her family when she was seven. She has attracted favourable global attention after being cast in the prominent role of Inej Ghafa in the Netflix series Shadow and Bone, an adaptation of the fantasy books, The Grisha Trilogy and The Six of Crows Duology, by Leigh Bardugo.
Tatler put Suman on its cover for its April issue.
Her TV debut came with a small role in Casualty. Eastern Eye readers might recall that in 2018, Suman made an appearance in the Dr Who episode, Demons of the Punjab, when the Tardis lands in India in the throes of violence over the partition of the country in 1947.
Andy Warhol, 'Campbell's Soup Box Chicken Rice'
In the same year, the actress played Sameera in Channel 4’s comedy-drama series Ackley Bridge.
Suman was born on July 19, 1997, in the remote village of Bhedihari in the Parsa district of southern Nepal to a Bhojpuri family of modest means. She came to Britain and settled in Brighton because her father had met and married an Englishwoman who happened to be visiting the Himalayan country.
She attended Varndean Secondary School and Sussex Downs College (now East Sussex College Lewes) before training at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts in London and graduating in 2018.
Suman said, “I auditioned for drama school and with a full scholarship, I did a three-year course in acting, and my career began.
“London is one of the major art metropolises in the world. Whether it’s a memorial, a painting, a statue, or even graffiti or a hidden political message, it’s an integral element of the city’s identity.”
Danica Lundy, 'Arena'
In picking Suman for its “contemporary curated auction” this week, Sotheby’s discovered her love of art was planted in her subconscious when she was growing up as a little girl in Nepal.
She said she was transfixed by the murals and sculptures of Hindu deities: “I think my earliest impression of art was beautiful, hand-painted pictures of the many Hindu gods. They’re visually striking. The story of Rama and Sita and all the depictions of Ganesha and Hanumanji were my first experience of art, because that’s the only thing people owned in the village.
Robert Longo, 'Untitled Black Sky'
“I think this is why I have a very specific taste in relation to art. I’ve always been fascinated by colours. If you go to Asia, the colours are vibrant, from multicoloured flowers to glowing sunsets and the deep blue haze of the night sky and the grand presence of a full moon not dimmed by pollution. Even the food would always have so much colour.”
Suman added: “I would not consider myself an art expert. I just see myself as someone who loves art and appreciates it in all its different forms. In my craft, I create through my body, my mind and my soul to tell a story for an audience. I suppose art is very similar but to me, it feels more personal and the narrative is more free. An artist may have intended to portray one thing, but the viewer might interpret it in a completely different way – and that’s the beauty of it.”
Sotheby’s appears pleased with the art works she has recommended for inclusion in the auction. The 11 works cover more than three decades of artistic practice, from two Andy Warhol canvases created in 1986, including Moujik, a portrait of the late designer Yves Saint Laurent’s pet bulldog, to a 2022 petite oil paint study by Flora Yukhnovich.
Banksy, 'Exclamation Rat'
Her selection also features a sensorial figurative canvas by Brooklyn-based artist Danica Lundy. Upon first seeing this work, she said she was drawn to its vibrant palette: “Whether a painting is an abstract, impressionist or even a still life, the colours within have the power to evoke feelings: visually, internally and emotionally.”
Suman also chose an Untitled work on linen by Secundino Hernández, which comes from the esteemed collection of Ingvild Goetz. One of the most dynamic collectors in Germany, she launched her own private museum in 1993.
Growing up in Brighton, the “arbitrary, raw and humorous” street art made a particular impression on Suman. She described the city as “a hub of creativity which has one of the best art scenes in the UK and a space for all manner of self-expression”. Fittingly, her selection includes a work by Banksy, a figure synonymous with the city’s street art scene following his iconic (now removed) Kissing Coppers mural on Brighton’s Prince Albert pub. Banksy’s Exclamation Rat has come to market for the first time, having originally been acquired from the artist at his December 2003 exhibition Santa’s Ghetto at Pictures on Walls Gallery, London.
Asked whether she had any favourite pieces in the auction, Suman replied: “I have a few, in fact – the Andy Warhol is this incredible pop art version of fast food. It’s a great symbol of addiction and mass production, that sickly satisfaction from the colours.
George Condo, 'Untitled'
“The Secundino speaks to me because the sense of time feels infinite. The harshness of the lines clashing against the muted patches feels like two higher political powers at war. And the George Condo reminds me how the obscurity of life is something we all experience.”
And about her favourite artists, Suman said: “My answer to this question changes often. I just visited a museum in Paris and saw works from Odilon Redon. I was completely and utterly transported. I also really liked Paul Gauguin’s work from his early days in Tahiti. It was really beautiful, and actually quite refreshing seeing 19th century portraits of people who were of a completely different part of the world. It was reviving to see other representations of ethnicity. I relate to him moving to a completely different country and immersing himself and giving himself up to it. We would have a lot to talk about.”
On artists from her native Nepal, she said: “In terms of Nepalese artists, Krishna Manandhar captures colour so well.There is a beautiful mistiness in his abstract view of the mountain ranges. I love that his artistic expression is enriched by the study of natural forms and rhythms. He even manages to capture the soundscape of village serenity compared to Kathmandu. He conveys the vibrations of transcendental values of Nepalese life. I’m not in touch with that any more, so when I see it in a painting, it is a beautiful reminder.
The actor’s evolving style from youth to maturity getty images
Aamir Khan embracing vintage looks with classic charmgetty images
Bold and dramatic changes defining Aamir Khan’s careergetty images
From rugged to refined Aamir Khan’s versatile appearancesgetty images
Memorable film moments showcasing Aamir Khan’s unique stylegetty images
Aamir Khan’s blend of classic and contemporary fashiongetty images
Aamir Khan’s dedication to authentic character portrayals getty images
Cinematic milestones reflected in Aamir Khan’s on-screen imagegetty images
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