Month: March 2023

A group of lecturers including myself, came together to discuss the urgency of creating a programme to not only commemorate the 75 years of India independence and creation of Pakistan, but also to provide a platform for the often-complex reflections on what we view as the ongoing process of Independence, and the histories that have unfolded, since the historic partition of the subcontinent. 

Seventy-five years is a substantial period over which to negotiate identity, nationhood, and democratic freedom. It is also enough time to demonstrate understanding of the event for broader critical reflections on postcolonialism and decolonisation. 

We created a programme through an intense, sustained, focus on personal histories, culture, art & design, performance, and communication practices. We did this through talking, thinking, doing, making, and learning together over the 6-month period, with an emphasis on arts pedagogical and educational practices. 

It was an exciting, intense, and a challenging journey showcasing, discussing, and debating art, film, fashion, music, performance, and products, in the context of colonialism, postcolonial diasporas, migration, politics and development. A diverse range of people shared their stories, reflections and references to books, articles, photography, and objects – for which I was most grateful.

My utmost thanks to both Graham Barton, Rahul Patel and Shumi Bose who supported the project and helped make it a reality, and the external speakers/students who contributed to the process: Aijaz Ahmad, Barjis Chohan, Pav Singh, Aanchal Malhotra, Arpita Akhanda, Murad Qureshi, Pallavi Chamarty, Rajinder Kalsi, Amandeep Sandhu, Nivi Jaswal, and Jaspreet Kaur. 

I have never been as overwhelmed as I was from receiving all the positive feedback by the tutor for my MA dissertation. I have always said that feedback is so important to any individual’s educational professional development and creative practice. It empowers and motivates you to be involved in bigger and better projects that also matter in society today.  

As a big advocate for diversity, inclusivity, and equality; there are further improvements to be had in our creative institutes. As practitioners, we should continue to voice our views and support others to communicate their thought-processes within their work.  

I started to discover through exploration, experimentation, and discussion of how a sari disrupts the British Creative institutes, that a sari is not deemed as a professional attire and how the sari is only known by British people as a garment worn at celebratory events. It has been an interesting research journey delving into the history, theories, and women’s experiences of the sari, and because of the many methodologies I used to conduct this research.

Undertaking the MA over 3-years part-time was one of the best decisions I have ever made as it gave me ample headspace to learn and enjoy the subject. 

The writing process involves, creativity, imagination, structure, editing, drafting, revisions, reflecting and it aims to be thought-provoking. There will always be challenges on any given writing journey and there are numerous ways of improving the text after the first draft. 

More often I would say go with your gut feeling when a piece of writing is not yet completely coherent. I know this from when I submitted my dissertation, once proofreading was completed, the conclusion was an element that needed more time to review. If I had the opportunity to change or review any part of the dissertation it would be the conclusion of the dissertation. 

Despite how challenging the writing was, I really enjoyed learning, reading, researching, connecting with people and discovering new knowledge and insights. Tutorials and supervision are also a crucial element of the process in validating one’s theories, approach and articulation.  

Interviewing has been a social science methodology for decades where formal questions are used to obtain knowledge – essentially common practice for sociologists and anthropologists. However, interviews can cause great stress and anxiety for the interviewee before, during and after the process. It is vital for the interviewee to be put at ease by the interviewer, but it still does not completely erase the stress that is felt by the person who is being interviewed despite the research they undertake to prepare. Many factors such as whether you have articulated effectively, your appearance, and your demeanour are being evaluated and this can trigger nerves and anxiety. Long questions can also add to the stress of the process.  When the interviewee has to think on the spot, mistakes can be made in answering the questions. In a situation like this, the interviewee might then also reflect on what they should have said, how they came across and whether they communicated well, for example.

Interviews in my opinion should instead take the form of an ‘informal conversation’ and questions should be short and concise. One should start by putting the interviewee at ease, with no judgements so that they can respond freely without feeling apprehensive.

It is also important to allow the interviewee space to respond to questions throughout the process which eliminates tension. Questions should be sent ahead of the conversation, giving the interviewee time to prepare and thus to making them feel comfortable during the process.

For the MA Academic practice, I undertook interviews, but I labelled them ‘informal conversations’, which led to having a friendly dialogue using one main, open-ended question and it worked very well.