Royal Academy’s exhibition celebrates human connections
Asian artists feature in summer show which also marks Windrush milestone
By Amit RoyJun 08, 2023
Eastern Eye readers who missed out on the Chelsea Flower Show have a chance of catching up on something else that heralds the start of summer (although we haven’t exactly had a heat wave in the past few days).
This is the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition.
Out of 15,000 submissions, 1,602 art works were selected for display by the hanging committee. That is a lot to take in, if you proceed room by room. My method is to do a brisk tour of the entire exhibition, make a mental note of the ones I want to look at more closely and then go back and spend a bit of time with my chosen art works.
However, before I do that, I glance through the names in the Summer Exhibition List of Works and pick out the Asian names to check for diversity.
First stop. Are there any Patels? There is a Patelli, Lidia, but there’s no Patel. Perhaps, next year.
I next check to see if my friend Shanti Panchal has an entry. Sure enough, he has one – a watercolour, Easing Lockdown. I find his distinctive water colour high up on a wall. Then, I go slowly room by room looking at the submissions I have selected.
They include Munisha Gupta’s oil painting, Anxious Fingers; Satwant Singh’s oil on board, We are one; Angela Braven’s acrylic, Wedding Procession; Village Cricket, oil and spray paint on board by Archie Franks; and Ben Johnson’s acrylic, I’timad-ud-Daulah, a Mughal mausoleum in Agra, built between 1622 and 1628 and called the “Bachcha Taj” (Baby Taj).
'We are one' by Satwant Singh
Since 2023 marks the 75th anniversary of Windrush, it is fitting the Summer Exhibition has paid tribute to black struggle. There are three evocative black and white photographs from Sir Horace Ové, the Trinidad and Tobago-born British filmmaker who is now 84. One shows the late Darcus Howe, a central figure in the black response to high handed police behaviour at the Mangrove restaurant in Notting Hill in 1970. Royal Academician Anthony Eyton, who normally paints the ghats in Varanasi in India, has an oil, Protest and Survive, featuring a “Black Lives Matter” banner in the crowd.
In the room devoted to architecture, I was intrigued by Angus Taylor’s ink and pencil map of Korail Bosti, the biggest slum in the Bangladesh capital, Dhaka. As in Dharavi, Mumbai’s biggest slum, there is a structure to bosti (Bengali for slum) life.
The room also shows the model used for building community housing in Ahmedabad in Gujarat in India, with construction work done in temperatures reaching 48°Celsius.
In the final gallery, Richard Malone has created a “spectacular, immersive mobile entitled, poem in the dark about sadness, filiocht faoi bhron, as an dorchadas. This is described as “sculpture in hand bent metal bar, primer, high tension wire, hand sewn recycled jersey, polyamide, lycra, recycled silk, cotton thread”.
Personally, I incline towards landscapes and favoured the corner depicting trees, an allotment, and greenhouses. If I had the choice of one painting to take away and put above my desk at home, it would be Royal Academician Diana Armfield’s oil, Ash Trees over the Nanthir, a scene in rural wales. Art must be good for her. She will turn 103 on June 11.
Building a home at 48°C: models used in the construction process of a community housing, Ahmedabad, India by SEALAB; We are one by Satwant Singh
This year’s Summer Exhibition, the 255th since the show began in 1769, is being “coordinated” by the 80-year-old British artist David Remfry, a Royal Academician, who has explored the theme of “Only Connect”, inspired by a quote from the 1910 novel HowardsEnd by EM Forster. The famous phrase comes at the moment when the protagonist Margaret Schlegel resolves to replenish the soul of the conservative, complacent Henry Wilcox (a man “afraid of emotion”), whom she has settled to marry. “Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer.”
Remfry has been helped by a committee that includes other Royal Academicians – Eileen Cooper, Bill Jacklin, Katherine Jones, Tim Shaw and Clare Woods. Peter Barber is curator of the Architecture Room. The committee is chaired by the president of the Royal Academy, Rebecca Salter.
Linked to the Summer Exhibition, but separate from it, colourful flags are being put up as part of “Art in Mayfair”.
One which will line Piccadilly has been designed by the Royal Academician Rana Begum.
The Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition is open to the public from next Tuesday (13) until
Banu Mushtaq has made literary history by becoming the first Kannada writer to win the International Booker Prize. The 2025 award was given for her short story collection Heart Lamp, a collaboration with translator Deepa Bhasthi, who rendered the work into English. The pair will share the £50,000 prize, which was presented at a ceremony at London’s Tate Modern on 20 May.
Published by Penguin Random House India, Heart Lamp is a collection of twelve short stories written between 1990 and 2023. It explores the lives of women in southern India, particularly in Karnataka, portraying their struggles and strength within patriarchal communities. The stories are grounded in regional oral storytelling traditions and have been praised for their wit, vividness and emotional depth.
Chair of the judging panel, Max Porter, called the book “a radical translation which ruffles language, to create new textures in a plurality of Englishes,” adding that the result is “genuinely new for English readers.”
Mushtaq, who is also known for her work as a lawyer and activist, reflected on the significance of the award during her acceptance speech. “This book was born from the belief that no story is ever small,” she said. “In a world that often tries to divide us, literature remains one of the lost sacred spaces where we can live inside each other's minds, if only for a few pages.”
Bhasthi’s translation has been praised for preserving the multilingual and musical essence of the original Kannada text. She chose to retain Kannada, Urdu and Arabic words in the English version, aiming to reflect the region’s everyday speech patterns. Speaking at a recent event at Champaca Bookstore in Bengaluru, she said, “None of us speaks ‘proper English’ in Karnataka… I wanted Indian readers to hear the deliberate Kannada hum behind it.”
In an earlier interview with The New Indian Express, Mushtaq addressed the personal dimensions of her writing. “I was asked to write about my contexts, and so I did. But at the same time, I didn’t want to be confined within the identity of the ‘Muslim woman’,” she said.
Heart Lamp is the first short story collection to win the International Booker Prize and only the second Indian title overall, following Geetanjali Shree’s Tomb of Sand, which won in 2022.
Fiammetta Rocco, Administrator of the prize, described the book as “a testament to the enduring fight for women's rights, translated with sympathy and ingenuity,” encouraging readers of all backgrounds to engage with its themes.
The 2025 shortlist featured works translated from Danish, French, Japanese and Italian. Each shortlisted book received £5,000, divided between the author and translator.
A NEW dance-theatre production explores how women enforce patriarchal rules upon their daughters and the consequent impact on family and societal structures, its artistic director said.
Choreographer Amina Khayyam uses Kathak, the classical Indian dance in her new production – Bibi Rukiya’s Reckless Daughter – to raise awareness about gender prejudice in ethnic communities.
In an interview with Eastern Eye, Khayyam also stressed the importance of mutual support among women during challenging situations.
Loosely based on Federico García Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba, the 70-minute show is set in modern, inner-city migrant communities.
The story centres on widow Bibi Rukiya, who restricts her three daughters’ freedom to maintain family honour and secure marriages. One daughter challenges her mother’s authority and questions her role as a woman.
Khayyam said, “I have a fondness for Lorca and the subjects he covers, particularly because they still resonate in our communities and culture. I work with women’s groups across the UK, particularly those who have difficult backgrounds like domestic violence or mental health issues, and I find those stories from Lorca really resonate with these communities,”
Bibi Rukiya was created over 18 months through workshops with women’s community groups across Britain. Participants collaborated with professional artists from the Amina Khayyam Dance Company to explore mother-daughter relationships.
Khayyam said these shaped the content and ensured the production reflects genuine experiences.
“I take the subject to them and then explore it through movement and storytelling, hearing their perspectives. When these women come back to see the performance, they see themselves and can relate to the stories,” the artist said.
Workshops were conducted in London, Luton and Birmingham for the production and more than 250 women took part.
Khayyam said, “Our show examines how women impose patriarchal rules on their daughters and the consequences thereof. We investigate why women perpetuate these structures and whom they serve by doing so, facilitating self-discovery, rather than providing answers.
“Centuries of conditioning have established clear, hierarchical gender roles in our society. Women who’ve experienced lifelong suffering often expect their daughters and daughters-in-law to endure similar hardships, following the principle, ‘I suffered, so you suffer now’, rather than breaking this cycle.
“We express these revelations through dance, movement and storytelling, bringing professional dancers and female musicians to the stage. Participants are encouraged to articulate their experiences in their native languages – Punjabi, Gujarati, Bengali, Hindi and English – which we then develop into poetry or narrative.”
She added, “We teach Kathak basics and mudras, providing theatrical elements that combine movement and text. While some participants initially resist dancing due to cultural taboos, most ultimately embrace it upon discovering its emotional benefits. We maintain women-only environments to ensure participants feel safe to express themselves freely.”
Khayyam, who is British Bangladeshi, began her Kathak dance training with Alpana Sengupta and progressed to professional level with Sushmita Ghosh at The Bhavan in London.
She then made her professional debut at the Southbank Centre.
Describing the use of Kathak to express complex emotions in the show, she said, “Kathak comes from katha, which means storyteller. We explore many different emotions within our form, and as we are storytellers, it lends itself to tell those stories. “In Kathak, we have many different tools – like spins with rhythmic footwork – as well as storytelling mudras, head gestures; all of this can come into play when we’re creating stories.”
Khayyam said the show uses music, movement and footwork to depict complex themes.
“In one scene there’s a conflict between the mother and the three daughters. We’re adapting it to three daughters as opposed to the five daughters originally in the book. There’s something called sawal jawab – question and answer.
“Through the footwork, the daughters are having a huge head-to-head with each other, and one of the best ways to bring that positively and impactfully is through sawal jawab – asking questions and giving answers – only through footwork.”
Set up in 2013 and based in Slough, the Amina Khayyam Dance Company has 15 pieces of work to its credit, with 160 shows in 40 venues in the UK and abroad.
Khayyam said her hope was for audiences to “go away and think about what they just saw”.
She added, “Sometimes we’re quite blinkered; we just carry on with life without questioning things, and I would like people to be able to question.
“Second, I’d like those south Asian women, both those we’ve worked with and those we haven’t, to be able to stop and think, ‘This is something we have in our community. How do we deal with this? How do we change it? How do we evolve this situation and empower these women who are trapped in it?’ With every show we’ve done in the past, we like to leave a question with the audience.
“It’s also about awareness. Sometimes we walk down the street and there’s a huge tree, but we never notice it – we take it for granted. Then suddenly we look up and think, “Wow, this tree is amazing.” We want to bring this kind of awareness into their lives, to recognise what’s happening and how we can help each other.
“In the workshops with women, I stressed that they need to support each other, because often that support isn’t there. We’re judging a lot, gossiping, and we need to support each other when we see difficult situations. That’s what I would like the show to bring about.”
Bibi Rukiya’sReckless Daughter will have its premiere at the Birmingham Hippodrome next Thursday (22) and Friday (23), followed by a national tour starting in autumn 2025
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Deepa Paul explores non-monogamy, commitment and romance in her new book
It began as a 1,200-words essay, sort of a frequently asked questions (FAQ) explainer of being in an open marriage, before culminating in a bidding war involving multiple major publishing houses.
Her new book 'Ask Me How It Works'Instagram/ storiesbydeepa
Deepa Paul’s Ask Me How It Works does what it says on the tin. It’s her story of being in a committed marriage with her husband of 17 years, while the couple also date other people, with each other’s knowledge.
However, seven or eight years ago, no one was interested in publishing it, said Paul. When a writing coach suggested it was more than an essay, she wrote the draft and that led to a publishing deal.
“It’s basically almost unchanged from where I began. There was no grand vision. It was – what have I experienced, what have I learned from it, and what can I share?” Paul said.
She recalled a writing habit “to process my own experiences and to understand what’s going on in my life”.
Paul added, “Initially I started writing mainly for myself. There was a point at which I was receiving so many questions from men who I was open with on dating apps, and I remember thinking as a joke, almost like, ‘What if I could just send them something that would make my life easier.’”
“In the beginning it was called Ask Me How It Works:frequently asked questions about my open marriage. And this essay just got longer and longer.”
Paul, a half-Indian, half-Filipina writer, lives with her husband, Marcus, in Amsterdam, having moved there from Manila, where they both grew up. The couple have a young daughter, and Paul also has a boyfriend of five years in the city.
She was polyamorous at the time of writing the book, but said she is currently not dating anyone else.
Each chapter in her book dwells on the many questions raised by Paul’s curious dates – from how it started to the rules the couple follow, feelings, love and therapy.
“It’s always been about self discovery,” Paul said. “My preferred method of growth is to put myself in new situations and see how I adapt.
“It sounds very chaotic and maybe stressful for a lot of people, but I value adaptability and flexibility and being able to find out about myself through the mirror of relationships.
“I believe that an encounter with somebody – whether it’s for one night or for months or years or a lifetime – can mirror back to you things about yourself that you’ve never saw before.”
Paul was raised in the Philippines (the country is predominantly Catholic and divorce is banned), but when she moved to the Netherlands, realised there were opportunities to explore relationships outside her marriage. Over the course of more than a dozen chapters, she charts her journey as she and her husband seek encounters outside their marriage. Both are certain, however, that they want to be in the marriage and are committed to raising a family together.
Paul explained how her idea of marriage has transformed over time.
“What I learned from my parents, seeing their picture of love and commitment, was that we would build a life together, that we had shared goals and we would achieve them together,” she said.
“A family was definitely part of it. It felt like a big adventure we could go on together. Me moving to Singapore to be with him, (it) felt like I was giving a lot, but it also felt adventurous. Then moving to Amsterdam was another adventure. I saw marriage as a series of adventures for which I had found a partner.
“Now, I would say that’s changed in the sense that there’s much less ‘adventuring’. It’s more realistic that we are building a life together. We have shared goals, and those evolve over time.
“But now I believe our commitment is much more fluid and flexible, because it accommodates the versions of ourselves we can become as life changes. Motherhood was a big change, migration was a massive change, cancer was a huge change (Paul was diagnosed last year, underwent treatment and is now cancer-free).
“So, now we get to check in with each other and say, ‘okay, what does commitment look like for us, for the people we are now? It’s a lot more familiar, but it’s also flexible.”
Life in Amsterdam could not be more in contrast to Manila. In fact, in one of the final chapters, Paul explains what the book is about to her pre-teen daughter and waits tentatively for her response.
Her reaction? Paul and Marcus are not the only ones in their daughter’s class to have an open marriage.
“Welcome to Amsterdam!” she writes. “If I stayed in Manila, I don’t think I would have ever realised that non-monogamy is an option. I came to Amsterdam and I was almost shocked at how accepted it is – that it is an option available for us as a relationship style.”
Paul explores the many facets of relationships – established, committed or casual – as she and Marcus ‘open up’ their marriage. Having dating rules, establishing boundaries, testing them, adapting, building trust, maintaining faith in each other, therapy, co-parenting, pursuing careers and Covid lockdowns – Ask Me How It Works answers all the questions readers could possibly be curious about.
She said the effort was worth it. “I find working on relationships fulfilling. I think I’m a relationship nerd. I love talking about attachment styles and I believe the greatest fulfilment I derive from life is from relationships. It’s not from possessions or experiences. I love figuring out relationships – how somebody wants to be loved, what makes them feel special, feel safe.
“And then, when I realised I can also give that to them, I found myself expanding. I thought, ‘Oh, I didn’t think I could love this way, I didn’t think I could care for someone in this specific manner.’ And, somehow, I managed to keep track of all of them.”
Paul added, “I’m also very into the idea of experiencing pleasure in different ways, and I learned so much about my desires, but also my body. I have a really good relationship with my body – through the mirror of other people, and I do love that I have an identity.
“I’m encouraged and allowed to build an identity for myself that doesn’t revolve around being a wife and a mother. I can be 100 per cent a good wife and mother, but also be 100 per cent myself.
“And it’s not a trade-off. So, for me, that’s worth the extra effort, of what people think is so tiring.”
Although Paul is not dating anyone else apart from her boyfriend, she has seen a shift in the approach to monogamous and non-monogamous relationships, saying that while the latter are more accepted now, it’s not yet mainstream.
She has also observed how women in some conservative societies feel about desire. “In terms of attraction and desire, we’re taught that it’s a very destructive force, but it is also a force of great power – it can make people look and feel and come alive and be really present in their senses,” Paul said.
“I take a lot of inspiration, for example, from Audre Lorde’s essay The uses of erotic where she says, ‘once you’ve tapped into something that really gives you joy and aliveness, it’s like you can’t turn it off.’ It feeds so much into our lives and women are sort of stopped from doing that.”
She added, “But then, when we are at our most fully expressed and alive and just enjoying the deliciousness of life, who immediately benefits? Family and society, as well.”
Paul revealed she considered writing the book under a pseudonym.
However, she said, “If I cannot stand by my choices, my ups and my downs and my mistakes, and I can’t put my name and my face on it, then shame still has power over me.
“For me, it’s a powerful exercise to say, ‘Yeah, I did all of this and I made these mistakes, I cleaned them up, and I somehow turned them into a life that I love, with all the people I love along with me for the ride.
“If I had kept hiding that, I would not really have been freed,” she said.
“Regardless of whether you are monogamous or non-monogamous, people are messy.
“Life is unpredictable, emotions are messy. So we just do the best we can with the tools we have.”
Ask Me How It Works: Love in an Open Marriage by Deepa Paul, published by Viking, is out now
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Young participants have also been involved in backstage roles
The National Theatre’s annual Connections Festival will return this June, celebrating its 30th anniversary with a week-long programme of youth theatre performances from across the UK.
Running from 24 to 28 June, the festival will also mark the reopening of the Dorfman Theatre, which has been closed since November 2024 for government-funded refurbishment works.
Over the past three months, more than 5,000 young people from over 270 schools and youth theatre groups have performed in venues across 33 professional stages nationwide. From this wide participation, ten theatre groups have been selected to perform at the National Theatre in London.
Each group will stage one of ten newly commissioned plays, offering young performers the opportunity to explore contemporary themes including identity, climate change, and community.
The selected groups and their plays are:
Fresh Air by Vickie Donoghue – Central Foundation Boys’ School, London
Ravers by Rikki Beadle-Blair – HOME Young Company, Manchester
Mia and the Fish by Satinder Chohan – Abbey Grange Academy, Leeds
The Company of Trees by Jane Bodie – Hamilton District Youth Theatre, Lanarkshire
Their Name is Joy by May Sumbwanyambe – Nottingham Girls Academy Theatre Company
Saba’s Swim by Danusia Samal – Central Youth Theatre, Wolverhampton
Normalised by Amanda Verlaque – Brassneck Youth, Belfast
No Regrets by Gary McNair – Glasgow Acting Academy
Brain Play by Chloë Lawrence-Taylor and Paul Sirett – Chatham and Clarendon Grammar School, Ramsgate
YOU 2.0 by Alys Metcalf – Everyman Youth Theatre, Cardiff
Young participants have also been involved in backstage roles, including lighting, costume design, directing and composing, helping to realise their productions from start to finish.
Indhu Rubasingham, Director and Co-Chief Executive of the National Theatre, said: “I am really pleased to welcome ten youth groups from all corners of the UK to the NT for this landmark anniversary festival of Connections. Everyone should have the opportunity to experience the power of theatre-making.”
Since launching, the festival has engaged over 125,000 young people, with former participants including actors Keira Knightley, David Oyelowo, Rose Ayling-Ellis, and Callum Scott Howells.
Each year, ten new plays are commissioned for Connections, contributing to a growing archive of over 235 scripts written specifically for young performers.
Tickets are available for £5 per show, or £8 for two performances in one evening. All shows will feature captioning for accessibility.
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Crossed creative horizons and collaborated with global talent
Whether it is her cool songs like Checka, Piya Piya Calling and Siste Dans, cutting-edgeEP Running Deep, or acclaimed 2024 debut album Shahrazad, Delara has consistently crossed creative horizons and collaborated with global talent.
The award-winning Norwegian singer has lit up the live scene, clocked millions of streams, and connected with diverse cultures through her eclectic music. The fabulously forward-thinking talent has added to her impressive achievements with the newly released Kalash Reimagined, a bold collaboration with Indian singer Charan, Pakistani producer Talal Qureshi and Jamaican-American rapper BEAM.
Eastern Eye caught up with Delara to discuss her music, inspirations, future hopes and unique new single.
Her new track, Kalash ReimaginedInstagram/ amandadelara
What first connected you to music?
I think music was always part of my life before I even knew what it meant to me. I grew up in a household where my parents would talk about life and politics around the dinner table. That energy of emotion, reflection and curiosity somehow found its way into the songs I started writing. Music became my space for understanding myself and the world around me.
How do you reflect on your music journey so far?
I’m proud of how much I’ve dared to evolve. From the start, I didn’t take the easiest route. I sang about politics and personal struggles when people told me not to. But I’ve always trusted that staying true to myself would lead me to where I’m meant to go. That has shaped me into the artist I am today – a mix of experimentation, boldness and vulnerability.
Which of your songs is closest to your heart?
That’s a hard one, but Unbound will always be very close to me. I wrote it during a time when I was thinking a lot about the impermanence of life, and how nothing and no one lasts forever. The relationship I have with my mother, who means everything to me, inspired much of that song. Having her in the music video made it even more emotional and personal.
How much did the acclaim your debut album received mean to you?
Of course, I’m grateful for the recognition, but I try not to get too caught up in critical acclaim. What means the most to me is the feedback I get from listeners – people who send me messages or come up to me after shows saying a song helped them through something. That’s what gives me confidence and keeps me creating.
Tell us about Kalash Reimagined.
Kalash Reimagined takes the original track to new heights by merging powerful voices and sounds from different parts of the world. After working on Piya Piya with Coke Studio last year, it felt natural to expand on this fusion of cultures. The remix blends south Asian sounds, Jamaican energy and Norwegian–Iranian influences to create something bold and deeply emotional. It is a celebration of what can grow when different worlds collide.
What was it like collaborating with Charan, Talal Qureshi and BEAM?
Collaborating with Charan, Talal and BEAM was an amazing experience. Charan brought his unique perspective and fresh energy to the track. Talal’s creativity and musical vision really helped elevate the sound, while BEAM’s raw intensity added something special. It felt like a real meeting of different worlds, with voices that had something real to say. The collaboration was a true exchange of energy and ideas, and it came together beautifully.
How would you describe this track?
It’s a powerful fusion of sounds and emotions. Kalash Reimagined is bold, raw and unapologetic – yet playful and full of energy. The track exists in the spaces between cultures, not trying to represent everything but highlighting what can grow when worlds collide. It celebrates shared experiences and the beautiful complexity that emerges from blending different backgrounds.
Who are you hoping this song connects with?
I hope this track resonates with anyone who feels caught between cultures or identities. It is for those who do not fit neatly into one box. Whether you are from south Asia, the diaspora, the Caribbean or anywhere in between, I want the song to speak to those who feel empowered by blending different worlds – and who are open to the beauty that comes from that fusion.
What can we expect next from you?
There is a lot on the horizon. I’m about to announce my biggest headliner show yet, which I’m incredibly excited about. I’m also working on new music and visual projects that will push boundaries, along with more cross-cultural collaborations like Kalash Reimagined. The goal is always to connect sounds and stories in unexpected ways. I’m exploring fresh creative paths, keeping things organic and letting ideas flow freely.
Who would you love to collaborate with? There are so many, but right now I would love to work with artists who challenge genres and tell strong stories – people like Bad Bunny, Rosalía, Frank Ocean or even Raveena. Artists who are not afraid to blend cultures and sounds.
What kind of music dominates your personal playlist?
It’s a mix of many things. But with summer approaching, there is a lot of Afro, reggaeton, salsa, r’n’b and hip hop. I’ve actually created a personal playlist that I share with my listeners.
What inspires you as an artist?
Life itself – my family, friends, conversations with strangers, travelling, latenight thoughts, missing home, or wondering what home even means. I get inspired by contradictions, and those quiet moments of reflection when I’m not even trying to create.
Why do you love music?
When I’m creating music, I feel the most free. It is a space where only your mind, creativity and ideas matter – not how you look or how others see you. Music was the first place where I felt truly seen and heard. It’s a powerful force of connection, the closest thing we have to real magic – a universal language that everyone understands. In just seconds, music can make us feel a little less alone. How can you not love that?
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