Music at the Mela

Yesterday we held the 2015 Haslingden Mela at Community Link - with a dozen stalls (arranged by Habiba Shenza) selling food, clothes, shoes, offering crafts and mendhi. We also had some interesting entertainment - Stories from the Arabian Nights told by Shellac Tesab in Urdu, colourful Rajasthani marionette and hand puppets from Diana Baylis's Black Cat Theatre, and singing from Sumana Basu.

The music caused us some worry, as we were concerned that some of the women might feel excluded from the event by there being music. The songs Shellah chose to sing were mainly songs from classic Bollywood movies, and Shamshad Khan, who organised the three events, had discussed with us what music might be most acceptable, and then consulted Sumana herself.  

So we were slightly nervous - but in the event the music sessions, each about 30 or 40 minutes, were clearly very popular. The women in the audience were asked if they had requests and before long there was a list of favourite songs waiting for Sumana to sing. The short video clip above will give you a idea...

Our first week - and into the second!

The first week at the Apna has been really eventful. Arry Nessa has done an incredible job organising and managing the project to this point - and now delivering workshops and sessions. In return she has been meeting lots of interesting and interested people; been excited and stimulated by people's enthusiasm and ideas; and enjoyed the positive spirit that everyone has brought to the space. 

Today, for example, she helped Habiba Shenza deliver a busy taster session in mehndi (above). Then after a brief lunch break the first of the Apna Walks took a group of 15 ladies down to Victoria Park and back (starting gently!). Then Janina Cerbetowicz (below) joined her with some examples of her collection of South Asian textiles, including some extraordinary 'War Rugs' - from the Pakistan/Afghan border region, where motifs from today (cars, helicopters, grenades - see the examples below) are combined with traditional shapes and forms. An unsettling symbiosis of the old and the (unfortunately) contemporary. 

The Apna now looks beautiful; it;'s a calm and tranquil place to visit, and the experience of the first week has been that it also fulfils a need for the community...watch this space!

The key!

We have the key for our new space - APNA@theOldBank - on Deardengate in Haslingden. Yesterday I visited with Habiba Shenza and Arry Nessa (above). There's a lot to do if we want to open in three weeks time. At the moment working on the premises is hampered by having no electricity - as well as no water, but the landlord says he'll have it connected within the next week. 

Meanwhile we've had a new carpet donated, and we're waiting to hear from Rossendale Borough Council and Lancashire BME Network as to exactly what support they'll be able to give us. The success of the pop-up, drop-in centre will largely depend on volunteers and voluntary hep - so if anyone is interested in offering their support, whether its their time, expertise or a donation, then please get in touch. 

The Bazaar

After the Different Moons exhibition being open for best part of a week, we're preparing for the Bazaar on Saturday (22nd), again at the Whitaker in Rawtenstall. 

Look out for Asian crafts, and henna-painting, live music, bookstalls, saree stalls and Asian food. We'll also have, later in the day, live music from Chris Davies and Olivia Moore. There will be a free taxi/bus service from Haslingden Community Link to The Whitaker each hour on the half-hour.

It's been such a successful first week that you should meet the great team of people who have made it happen:

Above, from the left, is Shamshad Khan - the Project leader, Maryam Golubeva who is responsible for the wonderful paper-cuts and the Moon Book and who helped Shamshad on some of the many workshops she organised and lead in Haslingden; then there's Arry Nessa who came along initially as a volunteer but is now an indispensable member of the team organising the Different Moons Festival of activities.

Above there's another key member of the group - Habiba Shenza, the Project Support Artist, and she's standing next to her beautiful panel made up of mehndi, or henna, images. Habiba has also been great link with the community in Haslingden. I'm on her left - Bob Frith, the Artistic Director of the project.

Finally here's Phil Milston who has been responsible for making the Fountain, and supporting me in the technical work that's central to the project. Of course we're the most visible part of the team, but there's a whole group - mainly at Horse + Bamboo - who  are supporting us too, as well as the team at the Whitaker offering us their help for the exhibition. 

Lanterns and fountains

There's suddenly a real sense of urgency - it's not long now before the exhibition opens. I'm working on making the four lanterns (above) for the Fountain Room. Shamshad is collating all the written work that has been produced during the various workshops in Haslingden - in English, Urdu and Bengali; Habiba is working on the five-panel mehndi (henna) artwork, and Arry is completing the transcriptions of our recent interviews with older members of the local South Asian community. 

Phil is continuing with his work on the fountain itself. The tiles have arrived and the long  (and enjoyable, he says) process of tiling has begun. Meanwhile final proof-reading is taking place and the posters, banners and various advertising of the event will be beginning to go out over the next week. Look out for it!

Full Moon

Preparing the artwork that's going to make up the Different Moons exhibition at the Whitaker (which opens in just over months time) is now everyone's priority. A lot of this is simply designing the information boards and the graphic displays along with the catalogue. But there's also a more creative side to it. The poems written by the women as part of their group with Shamshad Khan, and work of the various young people's groups, are being collated. Maryam Golubeva is working on the paper-cutting. Meanwhile Habiba Shenza is making a five-panel image based on photographs of her mehndi (henna) work.

Today she decorated her mother's hands so, when brought together, they create the image of a full moon. I went along to photograph this - and the photographs that Habiba will use in her finished panels; the full-moon being the larger central panel of the five.

Wonderful news for Different Moons!

We can announce that we've been awarded a Heritage Lottery Fund grant towards the Different Moons project. A total of almost £70,000 over two years to further the pilot work we've been undertaking since Spring 2013. We're delighted!

With the first deadline being the exhibition, opening on November 15th, at the Whitaker Museum & Gallery in Rawtenstall, we've got a busy three months ahead of us. Today I'm meeting Shamshad Khan (the Project Leader) and Habiba Shenza (Project Artist) - above - to decide on our immediate plans, and meet Maryam Golubeva, who we hope will work with us on the exhibition. 

A second animated film

We've started on the second of the planned animated films. The story, once more, is taken from the recorded interview with Mr Mazhar Hussain; its a short section in which he talks about his sea journey from Pakistan to England.

Habiba Shenza is creating the animation, and she has already edited the sound recording into the two-minute section she wants to animate. Habiba is a mehndi artist, and is using henna forms as the inspiration for the visual style of the film. Today we created some short test sections to try different approaches to stop-frame animation. Tomorrow the serious animating starts!

Planning and training...

The Different Moons project is waiting to find out if we'll get a Heritage Lottery grant to support its development. This will mean an exhibition at The Whitaker in November this year, as well as the creation of an archive of interviews, artefacts and writings relating to the history of the South Asian communities in Rossendale - something which is currently lacking. The main work at the moment is planning and training, hopefully in readiness to move ahead later in the summer. 

In the meantime we've been helped that Habiba Shenza Rahman from Rising Bridge, who has taken a key part in our pilot projects, has been able to take a 5 week placement at Horse + Bamboo from her Education Degree in Leeds.  She is working on an animated film inspired by the recordings we made of Mr Mazhar Hussain during our pilot project, as well as taking part in the Puppet School we're running for two weeks during her placement period (above). Up to now Habiba has been helping and supporting Shamshad Khan on her creative writing work with the Islamic Supplementary School. Her local contacts have been helpful in making new contacts with people in the South Asian community, and in addition Habiba is also a talented mehndi (henna) artist.

One contact I made recently was very far from being a new one...Mr Lal Miah was our neighbour when Horse + Bamboo were based in Rawtenstall, and I often used to talk with him. His young daughter used to play in our workshop. We lost touch when the company moved to Waterfoot, so I was delighted to meet him again. Miah is from a Bengali background, and it's great that we can extend our pilot contacts who, so far, have been from a Pakistani background, Urdu and Pashto speakers. 

Another thing I discovered is that Lal Miah has just finished writing a book about his life - a labour of love which documents his years in England. He arrived more than 60 years ago speaking absolutely no English, and writes of the struggles of an immigrant making his way in a strange country. Miah's story will be a very different one from Mr Hussain's, who was an educated English-speaking student when he arrived, so the two tales will provide a fascinating contrast with one another...

The Islamic School

I joined in with the third session of Shamshad and Habiba's classes at Rossendale Islamic Supplementary School this afternoon. The subject used the recordings we made a few weeks ago of Mr Muzzar Hussain, covering a range of subjects but here concentrating on his memories of travelling to and arriving in England in 1958. 

The young people were first asked to uncover his name through a game of 'hangman'. Then they divided in half and each half was shown a different photograph - one I took a few weeks ago of Mr Hussain in his house in Accrington, and the other a photograph from the 1930s of his maternal grandfather on  horseback in India (pre-Partition). They were asked to describe their feelings about the characters in the photos. and were then played a short recording of Mr Hussain reminiscences. Finally they were asked to guess which of the two photographs was of Mr Hussain. 

This discussion and lesson took place in the context of Mr Hussain being described to them as among the very first Asians to settle in Haslingden, and their homework had been to discover who of their own relatives first arrived and settled in England. Shamshad and Habiba took turns in leading the class, and it provoked discussion and interest in the young people about the subject.

I was very impressed by the way the children focused on the subject, and entered into the 'games'. Shamshad has planned the five week course with these young people to develop an awareness of, and pride in, their heritage. What I witnessed today was very encouraging.  

Story time

Last week we (Shamshad Khan, Habiba Shenza Rahman, and I) started the second phase of Different Moons when we drove to Accrington and interviewed Mr Muzhar Hussain; an interview that I recorded for later use in our project.

Mr Hussain (above right, with his daughter-in-law, Hafiza) entertained us with several hours of his memories, thoughts and reflections on his life - starting with his family and childhood in Lahore, then partition, his early education, his travels as a student to Lancashire, and finally his subsequent involvement with the community in Haslingden. Mr Hussain was one of the very earliest south Asian visitors who settled in Rossendale, and he took a very active part in local community politics, even standing at one time for the council elections. He was an instrumental figure is establishing the first mosque and islamic centre, the community council, and a wide range of other initiatives. 

Mr Hussain is an impressive man, with a lively mind and a wealth of stories on many, many subjects. His memories will form a valuable part of the archive we hope to build as part of the Different Moons project. They will also form part of a dialogue we're holding with young people with a background in the south Asian community. Shamshad and Habiba will be taking a selection of these stories to the young people at the Islamic Supplementary School to help start a dialogue about their community and its culture. At the same time I'm taking one particular story told by Mazhar Hussain about his grand-father, a story about a djinn (a supernatural being often known as a genie) and I'll use it to make a short animated film to be shown to teenagers at the local Youth Club held at Haslingden Library. 

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.

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....