Man or Rabbit?

When I met with Jerry Smith and Sally Martin to discuss a funding application we're making for Different Moons, Sally reminded me that when she grew up in Sri Lanka, it was a Rabbit or Hare in the Moon that children saw, rather than a Man in the Moon, as is common in Europe. Sally immediately identified this as the reason for the name of our project - i.e. Different Moons. 

Actually I had several inspirations for that name, and the Rabbit/Man in the Moon is only one. I'm not sure how widespread this difference is. Sally felt it was to do with seeing the moon from a different angle but, again, I'm not completely sure if that is the case. Either way it's a fascinating phenomena, and a quick look at Wikipedia tells me that the Hare in the Moon is also a pagan idea, as hares are believed to gaze at the moon in Spring (presumably between their bouts of boxing and other crazy behaviour). The other well-known story is a Buddhist story of a selfless hare as a previous incarnation of the Buddha - you can find it here. 

As nearly all of the south Asian heritage population locally are Muslims, not Buddhists, I'm not certain exactly who or what they see when they look up in our sky and, on the rare occasion the clouds have parted, see the Moon. I must find out...

moon room, fountain room

We're beginning the serious business of fundraising for Different Moons. There's now a programme of 80 workshops being planned with local organisations and groups, and involving both local and national artists working with all ages across the Asian heritage community in Rossendale. 

These workshops will focus on people's stories - stories of families, memories of Asia, and of the first generation who arrived in England. The poet Shamshad Khan will lead these workshops over a period of two years starting in April 2014. The first phase of Different Moons will culminate in a celebration of the south Asian community with an exhibition at the Whitaker, in Rawtenstall, plus a special festival of events. 

The exhibition will take place in the upstairs galleries, featuring a Moon Room and a Fountain Room. The second phase will be the creation of a book, website and CD of the collected stories, and many will be made into films and animations. This will be the focus of our work in 2015 and into 2016.

A Way of Life

In between working on other Horse + Bamboo projects I'm continuing the research and planning for Different Moons. Local historian John Simpson suggested I look for a a booklet published in 1981 called 'A Way of Life: The Muslim Community in Hyndburn and Rossendale', written by Jackie Smallridge.

Copies in Rawtenstall and Haslingden Libraries seem to have gone missing, but I finally tracked a copy down in Accrington Library - where John Simpson works. The booklet, typed and cheaply produced, turned out to be not so much a history as a source of information for outsiders about the local south Asian community, including the languages, traditions, etiquette and other customs. It inevitably contained a lot of information about Islam which I found valuable and sympathetic. All in all a useful guide, if now slightly out of date.

A Festival!

Planning for Different Moons has now started in earnest after meeting with Shamshad Khan (above) and confirmation from the Whitaker (below) that they would be delighted to host an exhibition starting in October 2014. 

With a substantial programme of community workshops in the run up to the exhibition and with a good number of related events taking place during the exhibition, we've decided that  it makes sense to think of the whole thing as a Festival. The Different Moons Festival!

So my research into the history of the community continues. Shamshad and I will soon be meeting with interested individuals and groups, planning workshops and other creative activities; finally the inevitable budgeting has begun with the intention of making funding applications to support the programme. 

A year away...

Haslingden, late 1950s, photograph courtesy of RM Nostalgic Railways. The period when the first of the immigrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh were beginning to arrive in Rossendale to work in the cotton textile mills that were short of a labour force, especially for the unpopular shifts - usually the night-work. 

If you were trying to find this scene today you would be stuck. The station was closed in 1964, the railway disappeared and its route is now the A56 Haslingden By-Pass, opened in the early 1980s. The chimneys have been demolished too.

We also have agreed with the Whitaker (Rossendale's Museum & Art Gallery) to work towards an exhibition in exactly a year's time celebrating the history of the South Asian Community in Rossendale. We've also started planning the next stage of Different Moons, and soon expect to begin working on new projects within Haslingden.   

Attock

I had a meeting at the home of Muzammil Quraishi and Yasmine Choudry on Sunday and, along with the reading I've been doing over the past few weeks, I now have a far clearer idea how to develop this project. Muz and Yasmine gave me a very succinct over-view of the history of the Islamic community in Rossendale. Muz has studied and written about this and I'm very grateful for him loaning me his book which deals, alongside much else, with this history. 

Many of the immigrants to the Haslingden area were from the Chach region north of the modern day town of Attock in the Punjab, Northern Pakistan. Campbellpore (at the bottom of the map) is the old Raj colonial name for Attock. It's north-west of Islamabad. 

Another area from which people emigrated to Rossendale was around the city of Mirpur, in Kashmir, south-east of Islamabad. Here, development of dam projects drove many agricultural workers from their lands just as there was a demand for labour (especially for the dirty, night-shift work) in the textile mills of Lancashire and Yorkshire, and in the early 1970s these things coincided to direct male emigrants from this area to places like Haslingden. 
(Map copyright YASIR Amin Hazrovi)

The Islamic Supplementary School

A few weeks ago I was invited to a meeting of the Islamic Supplementary School in Haslingden, and was impressed by the families and their children who had created this group in a short space of time to enhance their learning and teachings from the Koran. I was made very welcome, and talked with some of the leaders at the school about 'Different Moons' and how we could use their knowledge in helping put together an exhibition about the history of the south Asian community in Haslingden and the Rossendale Valley. 

Another useful link came through talking with Professor John Hyatt who lives in Haslingden and is the Director of MIRIAD, the Manchester Institute for Research and Innovation in Art and Design. John was once a Trustee at Horse + Bamboo, and I often bump into him at art events locally. I know he, and MIRIAD, have strong links with Asian artists, and I asked him about textile artists who might be able to feed into Different Moons in the way that the poet Shamshad Khan has with her writing. John put me in touch with Alnoor Mitha who told me that in 2014 the Asia Triennial will be taking place in Manchester and the region. One of the artists involved will be Nadim Chaudry, from Nottingham and with Punjabi roots, whose stunning work can be seen on his website at http://kashifnadimchaudry.com/portfolio/ . I'm looking into whether we can in any way involve Nadim with Different Moons.

Moving here

There's a very interesting website 'Moving Here' which documents the main groups of people who have migrated to England during the past 200 years. There's an extensive section on South Asian communities and it begins to explain some of the features of the groups that came to Lancashire and other small milltowns in the  period after the end of the Second World war. You can visit the South Asian pages by clicking on this link, http://www.movinghere.org.uk/galleries/histories/asian/asian.htm

The site includes some fascinating photographs. The one above is an early photograph - an on-board prayer time on SS Bengalen, taken in 1910 when south Asian seaman were know as lascars, a word I associate with Victorian novels. It also has a 'trace your ancestors' facility. 

At Haslingden Library

Yesterday's meetings at Haslingden Library were fun, and very useful. My neighbour at the studio, Nusrat, came along and brought a few of her friends. I introduced them to Shamshad and outlined my ideas for the Different Moons project. The group of us then had a good humored and wide-ranging discussion. Among many things, memories of parents; childhood reminiscenses; the state of the country - and poetry. As we talked it became clearer that the idea of an exhibition, celebrating the south Asian community in Rossendale, with one aspect of it being about the history of that community but another a creative programme revolving around poetry and textile work, would be both well received and effective in bringing people together.

Towards the end of the meeting we were joined by Leesa Amin, who talked more about her youth groups, during which it emerged that the library had been fire-bombed, and that rather than respond by adding more security measures the librarians asked for a free-for-all youth room with PCs and other facilities. This - the Headspace - has been a great success, and when we visited Shamshad met two of the young girls she remembered from the work at St James School. One promptly told her that she had gone to on to find out the meaning of her name (a task Shamshad had suggested) and that it was ' strong'. For the work with the 11-19 age group Shamshad suggested that she worked alongside a rapper/poet, Avaez Mohammed,  who she knew from Blackburn.

Later we were joined by Esther and went to the new Positive Start centre in Rawtenstall. Here we met with Shaju Ahmed; heard about developments at the centre, and discussed ways in which the two organisations could work together to find funding for the project. All very impressive. 

A day of meetings...

Tomorrow I've a series of meetings that I hope will set Different Moons on a clear route forward. The idea of aiming for an exhibition about the local south Asian heritage community has been well received in informal discussions, and both the Whitaker (Rossendale's museum) and Haslingden Library have expressed an interest in hosting aspects of it. So the first meeting will be with Shamshad in which we'll look at how we can create an exhibition which is both informative and has at its heart a core of individuals stories and reminscences about their personal experiences. 

Then we're meeting some of the interested partners at Haslingden Library, including Nusrat Rahmen from the sewing group, and Leesa Amin who runs the youth group at the library. After peeking in at the youth group we'll head down to Rawtenstall to talk to Shaju Ahmed from Positive Start. Positive Start is a Rossendale-based organisation set up "to support and assist young people, particularly from a disadvantaged and Black Minority Ethnic groups..." It was set up in 2003 and has recently raised the money to open a new youith centre in Rawtenstall. Esther met with their committee a few weeks ago and explained the ideas behind Different Moons. They were highly enthusiastic, and tomorrow we end the day by following up that first meeting.

Memories and Mehndi

Esther and I met up with Shamshad Khan last week to discuss how we will carry out the next phase of Different Moons. We agreed to continue developing the project together, with Shamshad leading on working with local Asian heritage groups to uncover individual stories, particularly from the period of emigrations to Lancashire, of memories of the journey from the homeland and of first impressions of Rossendale.  We felt it would be useful if she could accompany me to meetings with some of these groups - the existing youth groups, the Islamic Supplementary School, and the women/s sewing group, for example.

One of the young artists - Habiba Shenza - who I met during phase one of the project came to the Boo this weekend, and provided Mehndi, henna painting, for our visitors (see above). The whole period the building was packed with visitors, and Habiba, who came along with her sisters and cousin, was busy for the whole afternoon.

Into the next phase

There's been a short break since we completed the workshops at St James School in Haslingden.  We've collated the various reports on the workshops, and had a number of meetings about how to move on to the next phase of Different Moons, specifically where to go to for financial support - oh, there was also a couple of weeks break in Spain. Very nice. 

Shamshad Khan will continue to be at the heart of that part of Different Moons that is about discovering and remembering stories from within the Asian Heritage communities in Haslingden. Meanwhile Esther and I will be going back to those contacts I've made within the community to look at how they can benefit from and support the development of the project. 

One by-product of the Spanish holiday was to see how widely new technologies are used there. Even in fairly out-of-the-way towns with relatively low tourism, QR codes and Layar are used extensively in museums, tourist and cultural settings to provide information and web-links. I was even easily able to find English-language web-pages on the wildlife of Extramadura by walking down to the plaza and scanning in codes from the tourist office window. It all worked easily too - makes me convinced this is the way forward in disseminating the work we do in the project.

A lullaby

From the first of Shamshad's sessions at St James yesterday:

tari, tari, tari, tari
sucacori waari
amy wala na varki
pya chugu chugu gari

He wanted to clap, clap, clap
He wanted some old chappatis
His Mummy doesn't give it him
So then, he cries...

Mohabbat

Today was the last of the two days Shamshad Khan worked at St. James C of E Primary school in Haslingden. This is a pilot project for Different Moons, and we were excited to see what the response would be from the children after last week - when they took home their little matchboxes with questions for their parents and grand-parents. 

I walked in the room and found Mohabbat - love or affection in Urdu, and Arabic - written on the classroom floor in matchsticks, the matchsticks from the matchboxes!

The children then went round in a circle, each saying what their name was and what it meant. Then the same with an answer to the question of 'what was the first word you spoke?' 

Then an impromptu poem was written jointly by the group - their own, slightly wacky, lullaby:

The session showed a tremendous response from the children and their families to the questions we had asked in the first session. It also demonstrated that we need to think more about how to develop these quite simple ideas if we want stories and reminiscences to emerge from the families. This and more will emerge from the evaluation that we'll carry out with help from the school, the children, and Shamshad. But in its small way these two sessions have also been a great success. 

A day at school

To St. James CofE School with Shamshad Khan for the first session with a class of the older children. I collected Shamshad from Bury; drove to Haslingden and introduced her to Linda Roberts, the Headteacher. I then left Shamshad so she could prepare the room in advance of the class arriving.

I came back to the school at 2pm, and by then Shamshad was close to the end of her second session of the day, each of which was with a group of 14 children.

Here (in the photo above), some of that group welcome me. Most have matchboxes balanced on their heads. The matchboxes hold a tiny note, and next week when they return it should also hold some special pieces of information - the  meaning of their name; the first word they spoke; and a lullaby that was sung to them in their crib or bed. In doing this we hope we will begin to introduce the older members of the family to the project, and for the different generations in the household to share precious memories. 

The next thing I noticed was an old parchment-like book, singed at the edges, and dried roses spread out on the floor in front of the children, and I found Shamshad using these to prompt the shy ones in the group to talk and describe what was in front of them.

A good day, and a good start to Different Moons.

Hennimation

I met with Habiba Shenza today to discuss 'Different Moons'. Habiba had been mentioned to me by several of the people I've spoken with. I was told that she is a very creative person, and she is clearly into the arts, with a small business in henna art. You can see what she does by going to her Facebook site page - www.facebook.com/ShenzasMehndi (these  photographs are taken from that page). This is interesting as everyone struggles when I ask the question as to whether they know of any artists among the Asian heritage community in Haslingden, beyond suggesting I go see Habiba. 

In Phase Two of Different Moons, I have the idea that we will create short animated film versions of the stories that emerge, and that these will go up on a Different Moons website that can be accessed on YouTube. It could be part of this to bring together artists like Habiba with animators such as Eleanor Mulhearn, to work together on pieces derived from the stories we find. Eleanor is someone I've come across recently, a brilliant animator who among other things created the opening title sequence for 24 Hour Party People. I have the feeling that in bringing Eleanor and Habiba together the resulting 'hennimation' would work brilliantly....

Shamshad

On Wednesday I met again with Shamshad Khan who is going to run the preliminary classes at St James School in Haslingden. The first of these will be in just under three weeks time; things are moving fast. 

I'm very happy to have Shamshad taking the lead on the pilot project. She had an immediate grasp of where I was coming from, even though, especially on our first meeting, my ideas seemed to me to be still vague and approximate. But when we talked things came together fast; plus she has a visual, tactile grasp of things too - suggesting the idea of the children taking home small matchboxes stuffed with folded notes as a way of sending messages to the parents and families so that they know what we're up to, and inviting them to join in.

Shamshad gave me a copy of MEGALOMANIAC, her book of poems published by Salt Publishing. It's a book I'm dipping in and out of, a great joy; to quote Lemn Sissay 'it is vivid, vivacious and veracious'. 

A meeting

Yesterday I bumped into my neighbour Nusrat and briefly discussed the Different Moons project with her. Nusrat promised to give some thought to the questions I asked her - perhaps she might know of other groups in Haslingden who would like to be involved? Did she know of any Asian artists in the town?

I also heard back from Shamshad Khan, the poet, who I hope will run some pilot sessions for us at St. James C of E School in Haslingden. Shamshad is from Manchester but has worked in Rochdale for Cartwheel Arts, running poetry workshops in local schools. Shamshad has been unwell, but I hope she recovers soon and we're able to fix up some dates next month for a pilot project at St James. 

By the end of March, with the experience of a small-scale project behind us, we'll be able to formulate a detailed and long-term programme for 'Different Moons' - oh, and then start the process of fund-raising for it. 

At the bus stop

I came to live in Haslingden in 1966 because my teacher at art school, Dave Pearson, lived there. I immediately liked it - very much. From the age of 9 I had lived in Stevenage, a New Town where almost everything was new, and clean, and at right angles. I loved the messiness and wild character of Haslingden. 

Later, when I had my own cottage just outside of the town I went back to the south for a year to do an MA in London. But I would often drive up over night to stay for weekends, and find myself travelling through Haslingden in the early hours of the morning. I remember the queues of Asian men at the bus-stops. At this time the Asian community were almost invisible in the area and, although I knew immediately that this was the night-shift from the failing cotton mills, I felt surprised, and so I wondered what it must be like for these men to live this odd nocturnal life, living and working in the shadows, far from their homeland.

Now the Asian community in Haslingden is busy, confident and highly visible, in fact the only new businesses opening in the town seem to be Asian owned. My neighbours at Dave Pearson's old studio are Asian families, and I pass pleasantries with the old men on their way to and from the mosque. Still, I wonder about the stories of how their families arrived in the town 40 or more years ago. 

The young children of the Asian families now speak English as a first language, and naturally have their own concerns. This is certainly their homeland. 

Different Moons is an opportunity for me to find out more about those late-night bus queues, but far more importantly I hope that it will be a way for today's school generation to connect with their parents or grandparents stories and their memories. Across the generations and perhaps across and between different languages. 

This is a project currently unfolding.

For a wonderful link to quotes about the moon go to this link.

"A big moon - for a small town".

Defeated by love

Courtesy: NASA

DEFEATED BY LOVE

The sky was lit
by the splendour of the moon
So powerful
I fell to the ground
Your love
has made me sure
I am ready to forsake
this worldly life
and surrender to the magnificence
of your Being

Rumi  (1207 - 1273)