Sampad: working with arts and culture

Abstract

sampad is a South Asian arts and heritage organisation based at the Midlands Arts Centre in Birmingham, UK, that develops high-quality dance, music, drama, literature, poetry, crafts performances, and events based on traditions drawn from the countries of the Indian subcontinent to engage in a creative intercultural dialogue with all sections of Britain's increasingly diverse society. Through the language of art, it explores the relationship between traditional and emerging identities, between established and popular art forms, within and between different religious, cultural, and social groupings, and between settled communities and new migrants to create the basis for a wider and more informed debate in wider civil society about the construction of community and identity in the modern era. This chapter explores the extent to which sampad has met its aims and objectives. sampad's formal mission statement now is to connect people and communities with British Asian arts and heritage and to play a proactive role in the creative economy.