Diverse Communities

Long term process-driven project working with Rotherham Council’s Cultural Diversity Officer and Pakistani men’s group to explore the men’s Mirpuri heritage and steel working experiences in Rotherham. We produced a local history display, and collected oral history, photographs and memories which formed the basis of the Faultlines theatre production at Clifton Park Museum.

As the Inside Story Yorkshire Regional Co-ordinator for the British Library I liaised with artists, dancers, performers, museums, libraries, schools and holiday clubs from many cultures including Bradford-based Annapurna ( http://www.annapurnadance.com/ ) This was to create family -friendly arts workshops based around three world ‘myths’ at Leeds Central Library, York Central Library and Rotherham Art Gallery. Photograph courtesy of Charlie Hedley.

Collated case studies of museum, library and archive related asylum seeker and refugee project for Yorkshire Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. The photograph shows a Kurdish dance group and their musician performing traditional Kurdish dances and a Jewish dance at the Kirklees Holocaust Memorial Day event in Huddersfield Town Hall, 2004.

For the Moving Here/Rotherham Council Community Partnership I worked with a group of young Yemeni women and local graphic designer to create a cultural diversity exhibition based around home life in the Yemen. We were also given a number of photographs of family members from the early days of Yemeni immigration to Rotherham (see right).