Summer Exhibition makes space for British Asian artists
Director Tarsia emphasise Royal Academy’s commitment to diverse cultural programmes
By Amit RoyJun 22, 2024
THIS year’s Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy (RA) has showcased a number of works by British Asian artists but Eastern Eye first spoke to Andrea Tarsia, the RA’s director of exhibitions.
“The RA is for everyone,” he said. “It really is. I know that we have rather intimidating buildings. We are in the middle of Mayfair, which feels incredibly exclusive, but really we are for everyone, and we hope that people will find our programme reflecting also of the broader interests and cultures that make up London today.”
Tarsia represented the RA when it won the prize for community engagement at EasternEye’s Arts, Culture & Theatre Awards (ACTA) in May for its landmark exhibition, Entangled Pasts, 1768-now: Art, Colonialism and Change.
“The Eastern Eye award was really a major award for us to receive,” he said. “And I think it was very interesting that we received the community and outreach award, and it felt like a point of connection had been made. The (Entangled) exhibition, which is really important to us, is one step along the way in terms of our programme, in expanding the range of exhibitions that we have done to date, and being much more global in scope.”
Neera Sehgal with her work Meditate
This year’s Summer Exhibition, its 256th since 1769, has been “coordinated” by the Royal academician and sculptor Ann Christopher.
Tarsia said she “has come up with a wonderful theme, ‘Making Space’, which has been interpreted extremely broadly. There are a lot of very quietly beautiful works in the exhibition that reward spending time on them. But there are also some really fun works. The architectural presentation is in two galleries this year – normally we just have it in one. It is extremely rich and has given a platform to a lot of different kinds of practices, which is really exciting.”
Tarsia added that the Summer Exhibition is “a wonderful celebration of making, where you find the work of royal academicians and very well-established artists rubbing shoulders with artists who are less well known. The significance of creativity really and the importance of art making is at the core of who we are and what we do, and the Summer Exhibition exemplifies that.”
Andrea Tarsia
He wanted Eastern Eye readers to know that the RA has “a lot of free displays, though some of our exhibitions are paying.
“We are an independent institution. We do not receive any government funding, so box office helps us to present the exhibitions we do. But we also have a lot of free displays relating to our collection, related to architecture, and very contemporary work made by students of our schools. So there is a lot to see here beyond the paying exhibitions.”
Eastern Eye readers will enjoy picking out some of the British Asian entries this year. Out of nearly 16,500 submissions, 1,710 were accepted for display.
Kiran Chauhan’s Biomorphic Vessel
Akash Bhatt said: “This is my third attempt. I first tried 20 years ago and then last year. It was a bit overwhelming (getting in) but in a good way.”
His work, I must stop looking down, Acrylic on gesso panel, offered for £750 – most works in the Summer Exhibition are for sale – “has already been sold”.
He said: “This work stems from my daily window drawings which are my observations of people and bird life that pass by.”
Bhatt, who was born in Leicester in 1972, has been compared by one gallery owner to LS Lowry (1887-1976), “the English artist best known for his urban landscapes peopled with human figures often referred to as ‘matchstick men’”.
In 2016, Bhatt was nominated for the ACTA prize for art in its inaugural year.
Akash Bhatt’s I must stop looking down.
He spent lockdown in Leicester “doing 2,000 to 3,000 sketches of my mother”. Neerja Sehgal, who goes by the name Neera Sehgal, has a work called Meditate in the Summer Exhibition.
Offered for £350, it is a pattern made from Indian woodblock. She described getting into the exhibition as “an incredible honour and a significant milestone in my life, a dream come true”.
The artist, who comes from Ealing in west London, said she finds the process of making marks using the woodblocks “a meditative practice”.
She said: “Collaborating with Indian artisans is fundamental to my printmaking process. I begin by sketching designs, which are then intricately carved into woodblocks by skilled craftspeople in Jaipur. These artisans have honed their craft over generations.
“Growing up surrounded by block printed fabrics, I have a deep personal connection to this art form. The woodblocks evoke a sense of nostalgia and warmth, influencing my work and helping me stay connected to my heritage.
Rahul Rahanu’s Benjamin Zephaniah Cyborg
She added: “My piece for the Royal Academy, Meditate, delves into the theme of ‘making space’ for the Summer Exhibition. It reflects on my childhood home, ‘Round Coppice’ in Rickmansworth, which was a personal haven.
“After my parents passed away two years ago, we sold the home, and my work serves as a reflective pause to honour what this garden represented: love, family, nurturing, and growth. Each block in my work represents a flower my parents grew, and the banana tree symbolizes their garden in Goa, where they spent their winters.”
Poojan Gupta, who is based in London, is in the exhibition with a brass work, All Gone(Empty Blister Packs), offered for £2,500.
She says that her practice “builds on the existing importance of medicines in our lives and explores blister packs as an independent unit since 2019”.
Gupta adds that “the punctured surfaces of empty packs set her primary sculptural medium, and it is the sensation of touch” that inspires her work. She says: “I have explored different ways of making empty packaging feel aesthetically strange and visually striking through a process of defamiliarisation. Here my visual vocabulary mirrors the repetition of mass production.
Permindar Kaur’s Falling
“This involves practices such as casting – in aluminum, brass, resin, concrete, plaster and beeswax – printmaking, drawing, painting, and digitalised forms of reproduction. And, having accumulated a reserve of 30,000 discarded packs using informal networks in India and the UK, I have been able to create larger-scale sculptures using assemblage and installation techniques.
“In all these experiments the packaging becomes something it was never intended to be. It was meant to be landfill. Now it approximates minimalist art, and I have developed this idea as the key component of my practice. Ultimately, I see my practice as a demand for a change in sensibility.”
Kiran Chauhan’s Biomorphic Vessel (£350), raku fired stone, is both striking and beautiful.
She says: “I started experimenting with ceramics after doing a few short courses in 2022. I meander between hand-building and wheel throwing, and enjoy exploring the limits of what is possible with the clay and my skill level. I work in a shared ceramics space in North London.”
Poojan Gupta’s All Gone (Empty Blister Packs)
Rahul Rahanu has done a Benjamin Zephaniah Cyborg (£4,500) with cable ties, pencil on paper and wires. The front has an image of the late poet, while the reverse resembles a computer board. Rahanu, a 23-year-old postgraduate art student, says that growing up in “a Punjabi, lowly caste, working-class family, in Hayes, west London, as a second-generation British Indian”, he has grappled with “the complexities of navigating multiple identities”.
This year, the Summer Exhibition’s selection or hanging committee invited 10 artists. Among them were Permindar Kaur and Radhika Khimji.
Kaur submitted two works – Falling, using copper and fabric (£5,000) and Tall bed, using steel and fibric (edition of 10 at £1,500). Born in Nottingham in 196, she graduated in fine art from Sheffield City Polytechnic and then did an MA at the Glasgow School of Art.
According to Richard Hylton, a lecturer in contemporary art, “Permindar Kaur’s artistic practice extends over more than three decades during which time she has become one of Britain’s most innovative artists. Known as much for her deft manipulation of materials including glass, metal, and fabric, as for her evocative exploration of home, childhood, memory and cultural identity, Kaur’s practice defies easy categorisation.
“With its fastidious regard for scale and form, Kaur’s work is both alluring and contemplative.”
Khimji’s work, oil and gesso on photo transfer on birch plywood, is called Driftingon an axis (£13,400). She was born in Oman in 1979, studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and holds an MA in Art History from University College London, and now “lives and works between Muscat and London”.
Her work is described as “at once a painting, a drawing and a collage; it is also an embroidery and a sculpture. Because it is all of these things a place between many polarities emerges”.
NEARLY all iPhones exported by Foxconn from India between March and May were shipped to the United States, according to customs data reviewed by Reuters.
The data showed that 97 per cent of Foxconn’s iPhone exports during this period went to the US, significantly higher than the 2024 average of 50.3 per cent.
This marks a shift in Apple’s export strategy from India, which earlier supplied iPhones to several destinations including the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Britain. Now, India-made devices are being directed almost exclusively to the US market.
Between March and May, Foxconn exported iPhones worth 3.2 billion US dollars (around 2.35 billion pounds) from India, with most shipments heading to the United States. In May 2025 alone, shipments were valued at nearly 1 billion dollars (around 735 million pounds), the second-highest monthly figure after the record 1.3 billion dollars (around 955 million pounds) in March.
Apple declined to comment, and Foxconn did not respond to a Reuters request for a statement.
Tariff pressure
US president Donald Trump on Wednesday said China would face 55 per cent tariffs under a plan agreed in principle by both countries, subject to final approval. India, like many US trading partners, faces a baseline 10 per cent tariff and is negotiating to avoid a 26 per cent “reciprocal” levy that Trump announced and then paused in April.
In May, Trump criticised Apple’s increased production in India. “We are not interested in you building in India, India can take care of themselves, they are doing very well, we want you to build here,” he said, recalling a conversation with Apple CEO Tim Cook.
In the first five months of 2025, Foxconn exported iPhones worth 4.4 billion dollars (around 3.23 billion pounds) to the US from India. This already exceeds the 3.7 billion dollars (around 2.72 billion pounds) shipped in the whole of 2024.
Export push
Apple has been accelerating its iPhone shipments from India to reduce dependence on China amid rising tariffs. In March, the company chartered aircraft to move iPhone 13, 14, 16 and 16e models worth roughly 2 billion dollars (around 1.47 billion pounds) to the US.
Apple has also urged Indian airport authorities to reduce customs clearance time at Chennai airport, a key hub for iPhone exports in Tamil Nadu, from 30 hours to six hours, Reuters has reported.
“We expect made-in-India iPhones to account for 25 per cent to 30 per cent of global iPhone shipments in 2025, as compared to 18 per cent in 2024,” said Prachir Singh, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research.
Tata’s role
Tata Electronics, another Apple iPhone supplier in India, shipped nearly 86 per cent of its iPhones to the US during March and April, the customs data showed. Data for May was not available.
The Tata Group company began exporting iPhones in July 2024. During 2024, 52 per cent of its shipments went to the US, according to the data. Tata declined to comment.
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has promoted India as a smartphone manufacturing hub. However, high import duties on mobile phone components continue to make domestic production more expensive than in many other countries.
Apple has historically sold over 60 million iPhones annually in the US, with approximately 80 per cent made in China.
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The new trio cast as Harry, Hermione and Ron step into a world where childhood and fame rarely mix well
As HBO prepares to bring Harry Potter back to screens with a new television adaptation, excitement is high around the casting of Dominic McLaughlin, Arabella Stanton, and Alastair Stout as the iconic trio of Harry, Hermione, and Ron. But amid the buzz, a quiet voice of caution has emerged. Chris Watson, father of original Hermione actress Emma Watson, is urging parents and the industry to tread carefully when it comes to child stardom.
Chris Watson is not speaking as a critic or industry insider but as someone who watched his daughter grow up inside a global franchise. Emma was nine when she landed the role of Hermione Granger, and what followed was a decade of public attention that reshaped her life. Her father remembers the shift vividly. “Her homework would go back to school on motorbikes,” he once said, pointing to the surreal logistics fame forced on them.
Emma, who has since spoken openly about the emotional toll of growing up famous, has described feeling “terrified” and “inadequate,” and even envying her peers for being able to do ordinary things, like knowing their favourite colour or forming friendships without public scrutiny. It’s this experience that Chris is drawing from when he warns: “As a parent, you have to be scared.”
Fame at a young age comes with a price
The context this time is different. The casting process for the HBO reboot reportedly involved sifting through 30,000 applicants. The new trio are young and relatively unknown, just like their predecessors were in 2001. But the digital world they’re entering now is far more invasive. Every post, photo, or comment is dissected in real time, exposing young actors to criticism, trolling, and unwanted attention, far beyond the limited press tours of 2001.
Chris Watson, Emma’s father, and other insiders warn of the emotional toll facing today’s young starsGetty Images
Emma’s journey: Blueprint and cautionary tale
Emma Watson was nine when she won the part of Hermione. Almost overnight, their whole family life bent around filming schedules. Chris Watson deliberately downplayed Hollywood’s glamour at home. He “doesn’t actually watch films” to prevent Emma from believing the character defined her. He insisted Warner Bros. respect her schoolwork and spare time. Yet the pressure still mounted.
Emma later admitted she struggled with guilt in therapy and suffered “vertigo” from constant public attention. At 18, invasive paparazzi shots were published within hours of her birthday, while her co-stars faced parallel battles. Daniel Radcliffe used alcohol to cope, arriving on set "still drunk" and "dead behind the eyes," while Rupert Grint felt reduced: "I felt like I only knew how to do one thing: play Ron."
From online hate to AI threats, the rebooted Wizarding World may be more dangerous than magicalGetty Images
2025’s more perilous journey
The AI Boggart- Generative AI and deepfakes now make non-consensual, manipulated images or videos a real threat. These digital illusions can damage reputations and cause emotional harm in ways the original cast never encountered.
The Rowling Snare- With J.K. Rowling as executive producer, her polarising views on transgender rights hover over the series. Despite assurances they won’t influence the storyline, the new actors will be drawn into cultural debates and pressured to take sides.
Although he never offered a bullet-point plan, his comments cut straight to the heart of what matters:
"As a parent, you have to be scared" “While there are many upsides, nothing is perfect and you have to recognise there are going to be downsides you could not have imagined.” His frank admission underlines the need to stay vigilant and prepared for unexpected challenges.
Keep home life sacred “It certainly helped that I don’t actually watch films... the studio and everybody else knew that this was not Emma’s whole life, and that she had homework to do, she played a little bit of cricket as well.” Here, Watson shows how he maintained normal routines including school, family time and sports to prevent Emma’s identity from merging with Hermione Granger.
Reach out and share hard-won experience “If they want to talk to someone who’s been through this… I would be more than happy.” By offering mentorship to the new parents, Chris emphasises that open communication and shared support are vital tools in safeguarding young actors.
Unlike the early 2000s, today’s child stars face nonstop scrutiny, digital dangers and cultural controversyGetty Images
Alumni perspectives: Lessons from child stars past
Several former young actors have shared insights that accentuate Chris Watson’s warnings. Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood) recalls feeling “adored and trapped” when the cameras stopped but expectations didn’t. Jake Lloyd (young Anakin Skywalker) describes how relentless attention led to severe anxiety. Their stories make it clear that the hardest effects often come once filming wraps up.
Behind the excitement of the reboot lies a harsh reality many child stars never escapeGetty Images
The ethical dilemma: Joy versus risk
Prospect Magazine asks whether it is ethical to place children in an environment rife with digital threats and guaranteed controversy. Can the magic of Hogwarts justify this gamble? HBO’s Francesca Gardiner and Mark Mylod praise the trio’s “wonderful” talent, and Rowling herself endorses them. But raw talent alone offers no protection.
Hollywood’s history with child stars reads grimly: Judy Garland fed amphetamines, Macaulay Culkin abused, Star Wars' Jake Lloyd broken by bullying. Can this cycle end? Chris Watson offers more than warnings; he’s extending mentorship to the parents.
Hogwarts is calling but fame’s dangers are louder for Harry Potter’s new trioGetty Images
Real magic: Protecting childhood
The return of Harry Potter also raises broader questions about corporate priorities. With J.K. Rowling returning as executive producer, a figure who now carries both creative authority and controversy, the series enters a more complex media landscape. Will the focus stay on the storytelling, or will the new stars be caught in wider debates?
For now, Dominic, Arabella, and Alastair are at the start of a journey that will define their adolescence. Whether that journey is empowering or overwhelming will depend not just on their talent, but on how well they’re protected behind the scenes. Chris Watson’s voice may not be the loudest in the room, but it carries weight, built on lived experience, and a simple truth: children in the spotlight still deserve a childhood.
The Met Office has issued an amber weather warning for thunderstorms across parts of eastern and south-eastern England, in effect from 20:00 BST on Friday to 05:00 on Saturday. The affected area spans from Eastbourne in East Sussex to Cromer in north Norfolk.
The warning indicates a high risk of disruption, with flash flooding, power cuts, and hazardous travel conditions expected. The Met Office warns that flooding of homes and businesses is likely, and delays or cancellations to bus and rail services are possible due to surface water and lightning strikes.
Heavy rain and strong winds forecast
According to the forecast, some locations within the amber zone could see between 30mm and 50mm of rainfall, accompanied by wind gusts exceeding 40–50mph. There is a heightened risk of frequent lightning and intense downpours, leading to flash floods and dangerous driving conditions.
The affected area spans from Eastbourne in East Sussex to Cromer in north NorfolkGetty Images
The Met Office said fast-flowing or deep floodwater could pose a danger to life. People are advised to remain indoors during the worst of the weather and avoid unnecessary travel. Where travel is essential, extreme caution is urged.
Public urged to prepare
Residents in affected areas are being encouraged to check on vulnerable neighbours, especially those who may require assistance with food or medication. The Met Office recommends staying updated with local forecasts, charging electronic devices in advance, and securing outdoor furniture or loose items.
Yellow warnings cover wider region
Alongside the amber alert, several yellow thunderstorm warnings have also been issued:
South-west England and Wales: 14:00–23:59 on Friday
Eastern and south-eastern England: 19:00 on Friday to 06:00 on Saturday
Wales, western and northern England, and Scotland: 00:00–18:00 on Saturday
Heavy rain and thunderstorm warningBBC
Although yellow warnings indicate a lower risk than amber, the severity of thunderstorms could still be high in isolated areas. The warning for Saturday covers more of the UK as the storm system moves westward.
Heatwave peaks before storms arrive
The weather alert comes as Friday could become the hottest day of 2025 so far, with temperatures possibly hitting 30°C around the Norwich area. This would surpass the previous high of 29.3°C recorded at Kew, London, on 1 May.
Elsewhere across East Anglia and south-east England, temperatures are expected to reach the mid to high twenties, which is about 7–10°C above the seasonal average.
Cooler weekend ahead
With rising humidity and atmospheric instability, the thunderstorms are expected to mark the end of the hot spell. Saturday will bring cooler conditions, with temperatures dropping to the low to mid-twenties in the east and the high teens across other parts of the UK.
The Met Office continues to monitor the situation and has advised the public to follow the latest forecasts and travel updates.
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Shergill and his accomplices were arrested on different dates in 2020
THE head of an organised crime group who claimed he was a male escort while masterminding an international operation to import cocaine into the UK has been sentenced to 21 years and three months in jail.
Kulvir Shergill, 43, from the West Midlands, told National Crime Agency (NCA) investigators he made a living through male escort bookings, teaching martial arts and working as a personal trainer.
However, an NCA investigation showed Shergill’s crime group imported around 250kg of cocaine with a street value of £20 million between February 26 and April 24, 2020. The gang used the encrypted communications platform EncroChat in order to arrange the drugs deals.
Shergill and his accomplices are “directly responsible for the horrendous consequences Class A drugs (banned) have among our communities,” said Rick Mackenzie, NCA operations manager. “Proceeds of crime proceedings have been started and all identified assets owned by the defendants have been frozen and are currently under restraint. The NCA will work with our partners at the CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] to ensure that any money made from their drug enterprise is recovered.”
Shergill arranged premises for class A drugs to be delivered to in the UK using the EncroChat handle “orderlyswarmer”, the investigation found. He would liaise with contacts in the Netherlands over impending deliveries, before his group distributed them around the country.
Shergill and his accomplices were arrested on different dates in 2020. He initially denied smuggling class A drugs, but eventually admitted the offence.
On September 20 last year, Shergill was jailed at Birmingham crown court. The news can now be reported after the last member of his gang, 43-year-old Jagdeep Singh, was jailed for the same offences last week.
Singh was an electrician by trade, and was tasked with taking receipt of drug deliveries and acting as a warehouseman. At the time of his arrest in April 2020, he was in possession of 30kg of high-purity cocaine.
He has now been sentenced to six years and eight months behind bars.
Three other gang members were also sentenced last September – Khurram Mohammed, 37, jailed for 14 years and four months was Shergill’s second-in-command and a trusted worker.
Shakfat Ali, 38, who travelled around the UK on behalf of the group and is believed to have delivered drugs, was jailed for 16 years and nine months; while Mohammed Sajad, 44, a trusted member of the group, was jailed for 16 years.
With a massive music collection spanning several decades, multi-genre DJ and music producer DJ Funky T found it challenging to narrow down just 10 songs he loves. Also known as Tony Hayer, his favourites range from Michael Jackson, Dr Dre and Fleetwood Mac to Bollywood, Punjabi, Hindi, Sufi and more. Some of these diverse influences feature in his own track Tu Meri Rani Si.
Before revealing his choices, he said: “The following golden tracks have stood the test of time. It was a hard call, as many more songs could have made this list. So, in no particular order from my current conscious memory, I present 10 Indian songs I love. Check them out and enjoy.”
Chand Sifarish from Fanaa: This Bollywood track, headlined by Aamir Khan and Kajol, starts with a cheesy rock guitar but quickly transforms into a dynamic blend of beats, choppy tablas, rich harmonies, sitars and an addictive whistling motif.
Neuke Phadin Jawanan by Panjabi MC: A 2003 hit that borrows rhythm styles and melodies from Maxi Priest’s Wanna Be Close To You. It features lyrics by Lal Chand Yamla Jatt, a classic 1990s urban swing beat, as well as a fantastically groovy chorus built around tumbi plucking melodies.
Indian Dance by Kray Twinz ft Elephant Man: A powerhouse club anthem marked by the Kray Twinz’ signature sound. This thrilling blend of hard bashment and traditional gidha boliyan rides a thunderous bassline and features ragga legend Elephant Man.
Addi Mardi by Malkit Singh: This timeless party favourite tells the story of a man smitten with a girl and wanting to dance with her. From the start, it delivers plucky guitars, a cheeky bassline and a fast reggaetón-tinged rhythm. Guaranteed to lift the mood every time.
Akhiyaan by Vee/Jay Kahn: A beautifully produced love song by the exceptional Vee, younger brother of Hunterz. The track blends a spiritual mood with high production value, hypnotic melodies and subtle Sufi elements that uplift and soothe.
Khwaja Mere Khwaja from Jodhaa Akbar: AR Rahman delivered one of my favourite Sufi songs in this Bollywood film. He composed and sang it himself. The touching song about the relationship with a higher power is picturised beautifully, with dancers reaching up to the sky, as if to be holding God’s hand.
Discovery by Shammi Pithia: Taken from his album Cosmic, this track is very spiritual sounding. The healing song performed and produced by Shammi Pithia has world-class flute melodies. This song can both make or break you, dependent on your mood. But either way, it will leave you feeling touched.
Gutt Sapni by Jhinda Music ft Captain: The fabulous sounding track featuring Punjabi singer Captain has great keys composition, dynamic drum beats and a magnificent mixdown finish. Captain has a similar singing energy to Malkit Singh, but with his own contemporary twist. The track has terrific tumbi melodies throughout.
O Mere Dil Ke Chain from Mere Jeevan Saathi: This 1972 RD Burman composed film song sung by Kishore Kumar is an absolute classic. It personally takes me to my childhood days when everyone’s parents, including mine, played it. A huge all-time classic favourite Hindi song written with sweet, innocent love lyrics.
Tere Liye from Veer Zaara: The late legend Lata Mangeshkar along with top singer Roop Kumar Rathod. Enough said. This classic Bollywood track is an absolutely beautiful piece describing the heartache between two people deeply in love.