Events

Kalasetu - Building Cultural Bridges

As the ‘Borough of Culture’ celebration draws to an end, Subrang Arts hosts Kalasetu – building cultural bridges with music and dance through a unique Indo Spanish cross cultural collaboration with leading sitar artist Mehboob Nadeem and Flamenco artist, Ramon Ruiz together with Hanif Khan on the Tabla, leading Flamenco dancer Rebeca Ortega and Kathak dancers Mira Salat and Shyam Nayan.

KALASETU - Diwali @ Trafalgar Square 2023


Sunday 29 October 2023



KALASETU – BUILDING CULTURAL BRIDGES WITH COMMUNITIES THROUGH ARTS

A borough as diverse as Croydon is symbolised by the plurality of its culture. South Asians form a large population of the borough. As part of the This is Croydon, The Mayor’s London Borough of Culture 2023 celebration, Subrang Arts has undertaken the project ‘Kalasetu’ – Kala means ‘Art’; ‘Setu’ means bridge – building cultural bridges with communities through arts. In collaboration with Kinetika, their Artistic Director Ali Pretty and team of specialist silk artists, Team Subrang worked with pupils from Norbury High Girls School, Croydon.

Pupils researched the cultural expressions like arts, crafts, music, dance, festivals, places / maps of the Indian diaspora in the borough through the lens of UNESCO-recognised intangible heritage of Batik silk painting. This research inspired the design and content for the silks and participants prepared 25 beautiful silk flags and 25 silk scarves that reflect the Indian diaspora. These will be displayed at This is Croydon’s flagship programmes – Croydon Mela – and later at Croydon Carnival and other venues throughout the year.

Subrang commissioned dance choreographer Anusha Subramanium as the choreographer and dance workshop leader to work with students of Norbury High School for Girls. Dancers from her Beeja Dance company too performed with the silk scarves.

An installation of an Indian Queen ‘Mother India’ will be created which will have a spectacular costume recreated by group of women who too learnt the technique of batik silk painting. The women took inspiration from cultural expressions from different regions of India for this costume.

https://kinetika.co.uk/portfolio/kalasetu

https://www.iglobalnews.com/icommunity/arts-culture/subrang-arts-builds-vibrant-community-bridges-with-kalasetu

https://southasianheritage.org.uk/kalasetu-the-story-of-indian-diaspora-in-croydon-through-hand-painted-silks/

https://www.london.gov.uk/events/diwali-square-2023?ac-182037=182036


Croydon Mela And Croydon Carnival 2023


'Rang Dhvani - The Real Sound of Colours'


Sunday, 30th April 2023


Few Comments from Audiences


'Superb - Very professional and worthy of presenting anywhere, in any forum, whether here or abroad.'

'The singing and the dance sequences were extremely well coordinated and beautifully rendered. Above all, Rakesh Joshi`s lead and direction, together with his many compositions, provided a seamless focus and continuity.'

'I was totally mesmerised . Spectacular!'


London Borough of Culture - Oratorio of Hope


The Indian dancers and singers of Subrang Arts performed with silky grace


By Richard Morrison (The Times)


Fairfield Halls, Croydon


★★★★☆


You would think that hope was in short supply in Croydon right now, what with the local council being all but bankrupt and scandal swirling round some of its horrendously costly past misdeeds. Despite all that, however, the place has been selected as this year’s London Borough of Culture — and this opening event (with the Fairfield Halls reasonably full for once) was rather good. I couldn’t have been the only person to be pleasantly shocked.

Its title, Oratorio of Hope, suggested something rather worthy and old-fashioned. In fact it was a buoyant and ingeniously constructed showcase. Each of its eight movements focused on a different facet of Croydon’s multicultural life, with a big accent on youth. Such a format could have been a recipe for an incoherent and rambling medley, but four things unified it into a compelling whole.

The first was the presence throughout of Croydon’s resident professional orchestra, the London Mozart Players. They played with admirable verve under the conductor Jonathan Bloxham, whether merging elegantly into classical Indian modes or, in a roof-raising finale, supporting hundreds of young instrumentalists and singers drawn from Croydon schools.

The second strength was the joyous music, which was a series of team-written variations (coordinated by the composers Fiona Brice, Sarah Freestone and Jeff Moore) on an exuberant, pulsing opening theme composed by Tarik O’Regan, who grew up in Croydon. In the same way, each text for the oratorio’s sung movements drew on a rosy word-portrait of the borough written by “Croydon’s poet laureate”, Shaniqua Benjamin.

Then there was the slickness of the presentation (directed by Thomas Guthrie), with platform readjustments executed seamlessly and the music punctuated by short, punchy films introducing the participants and their very different creative worlds.

Then there was the slickness of the presentation (directed by Thomas Guthrie), with platform readjustments executed seamlessly and the music punctuated by short, punchy films introducing the participants and their very different creative worlds.



Celebrating Diwali at British Museum

The festival of lights celebrated each year by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists.

From stunning dance performances to traditional art and craft workshops and storytelling, there's something for everyone.
This is a collaborative event developed in partnership with Subrang Arts and Neasden Temple.


Roots and Changes – Gujarati Influences

From April 2021 to August 2021, the Gujarati cultural organisation Subrang Arts in collaboration with Brent Museum and Archives, hosts ‘Roots and Changes – Gujarati Influences’, a multi-dimensional exhibition and events series. This project highlights the influences of the Gujarati diaspora in the UK focussing on the London Borough of Brent.



'Supported by Heritage Lottery Fund'

Recent Exhibition & Events






‘GUJARATI YATRA – Journey of a people’

Exhibition and Events series

From 14 November 2017 until 14 April 2018 the Museum of Croydon (MoC at the Clocktower) hosted Gujarati Yatra – Journey of a People, a multi-dimensional exhibition and events series. This project highlighted the cultural heritage and the historical journey of the Indian Gujarati community from Gujarat, a state along the north-west coast of India, to the east coast of Africa and eventually to countries in North America and Europe.


Media Gallery

What People Says

“ The whole display is a wonderful, colourful, affirmative account of the ability of a people to navigate its double diaspora and to keep intact its spirit and its sense of cultural identity ”

Andrew Steeds – Migration Museum (Gujarati Yatra – Journey of a people’ Exhibition )

“ Emotional-intelligent woven exhibition reflecting a complex subject' 'an example how such an exhibition should be ' ”

Maria Schetelich

“ A very comprehensive set of activities for children to learn from. Full of ideas and historical content. Very interesting ”

Bhadra Vadgama

“The entire endeavour ended on a very high note of cultural satisfaction and joy. The place was packed and there were people from various backgrounds Subrant Arts managed to pull through an amazing year long cultural event in a sustained way, done it with passion and perseverance and to a very high quality level ”

Mohamed Keshavjee

About Us

Subrang Arts is a Registered Charity, a Not for Profit voluntary organisation dedicated to the promotion and development of Asian Art and Culture. ‘Subrang’ means spectrum of colour and it represents the rich cultural heritage of the Indian Sub Continent. One of our objectives is to foster an appreciation and understanding of the rich and diverse heritage that originates from the Sub-Continent, and to help in maintaining its identity in a multicultural society .

We believe that education and entertainment can be combined and to achieve this objective, we organise numerous cultural programmes, exhibitions, heritage projects, music concerts, talks, lectures and demonstrations. We actively engage young people in our activities with a view to develop them holistically.

Jack Petchey Award Winners 2016

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Email

info@subrangarts.co.uk

Lata Desai

Landline : +0044 8763 8216
Mobile    : +0044 749 527 9503

Harsha Amin

Landline : +0044 8405 4325
Mobile    : +0044 785 714 1727