Beyond the Frame: Indian-British Connections

'Indian-British Connections' extends the public remit and international impact of the AHRC-funded collaborative research project 'Making Britain: South Asian Visions of Home and Abroad 1870-1950'. Drawing on the proven success of the UK exhibition (touring 2010-11), the new project proposes a diverse range of new activities to generate further dissemination of Making Britain's findings in India and Britain. Featuring rich visual evidence as a powerful conduit to provoke dialogue on a history that has largely existed outside orthodox frames, it will swivel the perspective to examine India's role within Britain (rather than Britain's well documented imperial influence in India) creating in particular a display reconfigured for Indian audiences. This exhibition will trace a transverse lineage of Indian-British interactions across the race, class, gender divide and draw public attention to the complex realities of both countries' intertwined histories. The impact of the 12-panel display will be enhanced by a catalogue, talks, workshops and learning materials. These activities will direct attention to the depth of research underpinning the project and the many stories of political, social & cultural consequence underlying it. Simultaneously, in the UK, the BL will add new online content(microsite/timeline) to the BL Learning website. A photographic history drawing on UK/India collections will expand the visual narrative and further enhance public understanding of the mixed heritage of present-day Britain.

These activities respond directly to major national and international demand generated by the project's many substantive, path-breaking outputs (interactive database, academic publications, workshops, conference, UK exhibition) and by academic and public audiences during Making Britain's final phase. In June 2010, India and Britain signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote cultural exchange. This timely agreement directly involved several major museums in Britain, including the BL, which highlighted the project in a joint press statement released by the Dept. for Culture, Media and Sport. In June 2010, the British Council requested 4 preview panels to display at a reception in Delhi for the UK government delegation's visit.

Subsequently 'Making Britain' benefited from considerable public and media interest evidenced by the Guardian's commissioning of an interactive timeline on South Asian Britain for their World News webpage (Sept. 2010). The proposed follow-on public engagement activities are directly encouraged by this response and the BC's keen interest to co-ordinate the exhibition tour in India.

Led by the OU (Nasta, PI Making Britain), the project will continue its successful working relationship with the BL and pioneering historian Dr Visram (senior consultant; original project). In addition, it will develop productive new networks and knowledge exchange partnerships across the cultural, heritage, museum and education sectors. The timing is auspicious, given the keen support from museum partners as well as RCUK's 'India strategy' which aims to promote Arts and Humanities research links between India and Britain.

Professional affiliations with the British Museum, British Council (India), National Archives of India, RCUK (India), and Southbank Centre (London) are established and link a large network of internationally distinguished scholars, educationalists and curators, bringing new perspectives and value. By its focus on specific Indian British interactions which illustrate how these early South Asians shaped Britain's cultural, political and economic life, 'Indian British Connections' will complicate and add graphic depth to contemporary understandings of 'diaspora' and 'migration'. This will fill a major gap in public knowledge of the significant contributions this population made to the formation of the UK's long multicultural history and the makings of present-day post-colonial India and Britain.

A key impact of 'Indian-British Connections' will be to present 'Making Britain's' findings in new contexts, attracting wide public responses through a 6-city India tour, offering new insights on Indian British local and global networks in the period. The display and KT activities will make clear the extent to which Britain was host to Indian networks and influences, offering invaluable insights and new knowledge for public consumption. Audience responses will be monitored through feedback forms by the British Council.

The KT activities will engage several new constituencies. The wider public in Britain and India through outreach activities around the exhibition; organisations: RCUK, BL, NAI, BC, British High Commission with whom we are working to curate and tour the exhibition to India; as well as South Asia/UK more generally for whom the issues around cultural diversity and cross-cultural interactions continue to resonate.

A further impact will be to translate the relevance of the substantive archival findings to inform public policy, thus contributing to quality of life by fostering a more inclusive approach to heritage, identity, and cross-cultural knowledge, reframing the standard narrative of Indian-British relations. For example, through RCUK (India) and the British High Commission in India, the exhibition/talks will be available for diplomats and civil servants.

The knowledge exchange activities between national/international partners in the arts/culture/museum sector, exemplified by this project, will enhance potential for future alliances and professional associations. This will raise awareness of how to present for public consumption the complex issues surrounding cultural diversity and cross-cultural histories and their relevance to present-day contexts. In the long-term, such links may stimulate overseas knowledge exchange through research fellowships linking curators in South Asia and Britain, e.g. the intended BL/NAI collection digitisation.

Digital/print teaching materials will draw attention to 'Making Britain's research, engaging non-academic communities through the wide circulation of materials, potentially initiating pedagogical shifts leading to a more inclusive curriculum in India and Britain. The cumulative effect of our collaborations will act as a launch-pad for educational engagement through diverse platforms (Dates/materials for BL award-winning 'Timelines' site (5500 visits/month)/micro-site, teachers' packs, catalogue, original MB database), monitored and assessed through web statistics.

The 'Indians in Bloomsbury' event at leading arts hub (Southbank Centre) will attract a wide national and international audience, signifying the importance of the project's findings to non-specialist audiences. This will present the cultural interactions of Indians in Bloomsbury as significant players in the conventional narrative of British modernity to a mainstream audience.

PI Nasta's established public networks through her 28-year editorship of Wasafiri, 3-year leadership of Making Britain, 5-year advisory role on the AHRC's Diasporas, Migrations & Identities initiative and the project's ongoing relation with the OU Ferguson Research Centre for Africa and South Asia will deepen the strong institutional base and help facilitate the project's pathways to impact.

The Photographic History (Saqi Books) is intended for a trade audience and will act as a lasting visual legacy of the project's findings. Stimulating for the general reader as well as in educational contexts, the publication will provide a unique visual record for the Asian community in Britain and audiences interested in the UK's long multi-cultural history, encouraging local users to explore UK archival holdings and expand knowledge of heritage. On publication, the book will be accompanied by a series of media & public outreach events in UK schools and libraries, further extending the project's audience.