Assessing the impact of artistic and cultural activities on the health and well-being of forcibly displaced people using participatory action research

Objective Drawing on a growing body of research suggesting that taking part in artistic and cultural activities benefits health and well-being, the objective was to develop a participatory action research (PAR) method for assessing the impact of arts interventions on forcibly displaced people, and identify themes concerning perceived benefits of such programmes. Design A collaborative study following PAR principles of observation, focus groups and in-depth semistructured interviews. Setting London-based charity working with asylum seekers and refugees. Participants An opportunity sample (n=31; 6 males) participated in focus groups comprising refugees/asylum seekers (n=12; 2 males), volunteers (n=4; 1 males) and charity staff (n=15; 3 males). A subset of these (n=17; 3 males) participated in interviews comprising refugees/asylum seekers (n=7; 1 males), volunteers (n=7; 1 males) and charity staff (n=3; 1 males). Results Focus group findings showed that participants articulated the impact of creative activities around three main themes: skills, social engagement and personalemotions that were explored during in-depth interviews. Thematic analysis of interviews was conducted in NVivo 11 and findings showed that artistic and cultural activities impacted positively by helping participants find a voice, create support networks and learn practical skills useful in the labour market. Conclusions The study expanded on arts and well-being research by exploring effects of cultural and creative activities on the psychosocial well-being of refugees and asylum seekers. By focusing on the relationship between arts, well-being and forced displacement, the study was instrumental in actively trying to change the narrative surrounding refugees and asylum seekers, often depicted in negative terms in the public sphere

Visuels

Visuel

Diasporic visions: colonialism, nostalgia and the empire in Gurinder Chadha’s Viceroy’s House

Released on the 70th anniversary of Partition, Gurinder Chadha’s film Viceroy’s House, which is narratively and stylistically constructed in the fashion of heritage cinema, chronicles the last days of the empire in India and is said to provide a ‘British Asian perspective’ on Partition. This article addresses the debate that followed the release of the film and, in particular, the analysis focuses on the interplay between Partition, diaspora, and representations of the imperial past. Through the analysis of the film’s structure and narrative, the article discusses its representation of British India and argues that, notwithstanding its potential to unsettle traditional representations of the empire of period dramas, the film’s glamorous depiction of the British rulers ultimately feeds into the contemporary wave of colonial nostalgia

Something old, something new, something borrowed. Indian films, British networks and the Sikh diaspora in Italy

Something old, something new, something borrowed. Indian films, British networks and the Sikh diaspora in Ital

Diasporic dreams and shattered desires: Displacement, identity and tradition in heaven on earth (Deepa Mehta 2008)

This chapter addresses the question of travel through the analysis of Deepa Mehta’s 2008 film Heaven on Earth. Through the narration of the journey of a young Punjabi bride from India to Canada, the film provides a critical analysis of the concept of diaspora which on the one hand emphasises the difference between ‘casual travels’ and diasporic journeys (Brah 1996: 182), and on the other focuses on the political, economic and cultural conditions within which people move, as well as their positions in terms of gender, race and ethnicity

Is everybody Kung Fu fighting? Indian popular cinema and martial arts films

Hong Kong’s martial arts film have been popular in India since the 1970s (Srinivas 2012: 66) and they have had a profound influence on the Hindi action films of the 1970s-1980s, as martial arts were progressively integrated into their narratives (Banerjea 2005; Vitali 2006). This article investigates the appeal of Hong Kong the martial arts films, and of the figure of Bruce Lee in particular, with specific reference to the social, cultural and political context of reception in India. The context within which Bruce Lee made his entrance on the Indian screens was in fact critical for his success. In particular, the article examines the appeal of martial arts, and their incorporation in the Hindi action films of the 1970s, in relation to (post)colonial discourses of Asian masculinity. Drawing upon Yvonne Tasker’s examination of the “anticolonial narrative” embedded in Hong Kong martial arts films (2012: 504), the analysis discusses the incorporation of a martial arts style of combat within Indian popular films as a response to colonial and orientalist tropes of Asian effeminacy and softness (Said, 1978) and argues that martial arts allowed the 1970s Hindi action hero to articulate an alternative, anticolonial, version of Asian masculinity

Discours et pratiques féministes contemporaines dans et hors des frontières

Avtar Brah is Professor Emerita at Birkbeck College, University of London. Her book Cartographies of a Diaspora (1996) has been widely read internationally and opened up new perspectives on ‘difference’ and ‘diversity’, informed by feminism and post-structuralism. An early advocate of intersectionality, she is also the longest standing member of the Feminist Review. In this interview, conducted in December 2016, Avtar Brah reflects on her own personal journey to academia and activism, and discusses the value of a postcolonial approach to questions of identity, migration and border crossing at times of resurgent nationalism. In particular, she addresses the value of transnational feminism and the utility of an intersectional framework of analysis to understand the so-called “refugee crisis”, the persistence of racism and sexism in contemporary culture and the state of feminism

The cultural industries of India: an introduction

No abstract available