Over the summer, 18 artists and young people across the UK were awarded small commissions to create activity pages to inspire young people at home to explore British South Asian heritage. The resulting work is an inspiring and rich journey through living heritage, experienced through creative writing, recipes, textiles and fashion, puzzles, patterns, playlists, heirlooms, maps, mudras and photography. Each page offers something for you to do - draw, design, ask questions, collect and share.
The Shared Heritage at Home activity packs are part of the Our Shared Cultural Heritage project which has been initiated by the British Council working with Glasgow Life, Manchester Museum and UK Youth and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Kick the Dust programme. Since 2019, the project has worked with young people aged between 11 and 25 in Glasgow and Manchester to create new ways for museums and youth organisations to become better places to explore identity and connect with others.
The heritage activity packs invite young people to create their own stories and images which can be shared on Twitter or Instagram by tagging #OSCH and #SharedHeritageatHome.
The designers for the heritage activity packs were Natasha Ahmed, Aamina Khan, Aleesha Nandhra, Anisha Parmar, Arpita Shah, Evelyn and Becky Miller, Karimah Hassan, Nadine Aisha Jassat, Za, Ragavee Balendran, Saffa Khan, Neela Syeda, Sarah Sayeed, Sophie Bansal, Taqwa Sadiq, Yusra Makhdoomi, Armaghan Butt, and Amrit Randhawa.
If you run a youth group or youth organisation anywhere in the UK and would like paper copies of the packs sent to you, please get in touch by email.
If you are Glasgow based email Diljeet Bhachu at Glasgow Life via diljeet.bhachu@glasgowlife.org.uk.
If you are Manchester based email Sadia Habib at Manchester Museum via sadia.habib@manchester.ac.uk.
If you are based outside of Glasgow and Manchester contact Isobel Cecil via Isobel.cecil@britishcouncil.org.
Our Shared Cultural Heritage also includes opportunities through Glasgow Life and Manchester Museum for young people to get involved in training, paid work and volunteering. Visit the Our Shared Cultural Heritage page or contact Isobel Cecil to find out more.