The Diwali festival at the National Maritime Museum aims to showcase all of the emerging young South Asian creative talents mainly in the UK in the form of a modern programme that perhaps appeals to a broader audience. This year the programme is called 'Shine your Light' and is inspired by self-expression and self-acceptance.
For the second consecutive year, RMG has extended an invitation to Mehala Ford, the founder of the South Asian art platform CommonGround&, to curate the Diwali celebration. This year's theme centres on celebrating the inner light that resides within all of us, emphasizing creativity, happiness, and well-being through an engaging program designed to cater to a wide range of ages and interests.
A multicultural showcase
As a part of the event's program, there will be a yoga class, breathwork and meditation led by Tiwari Yoga. Story Hour Puppet Theatre is bringing the story of Diwali to life with a screening and showing their puppets and Akademi dance group are doing a Rajasthani dance performance. Visitors can also take part in a dance class. We'll have a DJ set by Tara Kumar in which the public is invited to join a sari flash mob to dance on the Great Map space, and Mehala is teaching a sari drape and styling workshop.
Henna and rangoli will allow visitors to get involved with the traditions of the festival as well as a lantern-making workshop. Musician Neo 10Y will be performing before the grand finale which will be a lantern parade around the park. The Museum café which is run by Benugo will be putting on a special Diwali-themed menu for the day.
Speaking about the multicultural aspect of the festival, Mehala said, “The UK is already so diverse and so are the visitors to the Museum. It's great to see the mix of ages from families and young people to younger adults and older people. I focus mainly on inviting good talent and programming as this is what people are ultimately going to enjoy. I like to stretch the audience and bring in people or topics they may not have come across.
“Some of the talks and workshops are mind, body and soul practices, looking at 'shining your inner light' and well-being. It connects with the photography display curated to celebrate South Asian heritage called 'PIONEERS: A Renaissance in South Asian Creativity'. It will be on display in the Great Map area of the Museum.”
The galore of previous year
Last year ' Finding Diwali' was all about celebrating Diwali in a non-traditional way and finding your own ways to have ritual and celebrate. Talented people such as BISHI performed and debuted her audio visual work 'Reflektions', which was projected onto the Queen's House.
Jewellery designer Anisha Parmar did a workshop, comedian Parle Patel was the host and Instagram hit choreographer Usha Jey came from Paris and taught her style of hip hop to Tamil music. Chef Mira Manek talked about her Diwali food rituals, graphic designer Sthuthi Ramesh showed a modern graphic take on rangoli and we had an incredible lantern parade.
