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Since the events of 11th September 2001, Muslims have been placed at the centre of national and global debates about modernity, citizenship and multiculturalism; this research has served to promote and inform public debate about the representation of British Muslims in contemporary culture. The impact of this research takes two closely related forms. Firstly, this research has promoted awareness and understanding of the historic contribution of South Asians to British life and culture since 1870. Secondly, this research has served to bring new audiences and readers to the work of contemporary writers of Muslim heritage.
Elleke Boehmer's archival research into early Indian migration (1870-1950) has enhanced public understanding of the cultural impact of migration, challenging common assumptions of its historical impact in Britain and assisting better-informed public discourse. Her work demonstrates that the effects of one of the major immigration flows to Britain were on balance more constructive than threatening, increasing and improving cultural interaction rather than reinforcing or exacerbating colonial divides. Disseminated through a Government Forum, travelling exhibitions, film and installation, radio broadcasts, and public lectures, her research has improved the evidence base for civil servants, policy makers and cultural commentators interested in the impact of immigration on identity formation.
Ananya Kabir's pioneering research on how the visual arts in South Asia express trauma generated by conflict resulted in a major exhibition at Leeds and associated events nationwide, attracting over 130,000 visitors. Her focus on female artistic responses enabled long-term partnerships with South Asian cultural producers, whom she helped to connect with museums and galleries in the UK. Through both her research and direct involvement with impact, Kabir has facilitated transnational pathways of professional development whilst creating and interpreting South Asian cultural capital for British and South Asian heritage audiences.
The British Asian Theatre Project (2004-2009), involved researchers from the Centre for Performance Histories and Cultures. The project charted and disseminated the cultural history and heritage of British Asian theatrical practitioners, enriching appreciation and preserving the heritage of British Asian theatre, partly by enabling theatre professionals to possess their own history more securely. Research findings were presented as part of industry debates, informing theatrical development. This led to a further research project, `The Southall Story' (2011-2013), which is documenting the cultural history of the art forms and political movements among the British Asian communities in Southall. There is further funding via the AHRC Follow On grant scheme for a touring exhibition and performances, emerging from `The Southall Story,' in the source culture of India, and on to Thailand. These projects are preserving and disseminating this public history through a public digital archive, and series of community and arts events in the UK and internationally. All the research is supported by AHRC funding, awarded after a rigorous peer-review process.
Research conducted at Loughborough University by Sudipto Chatterjee into Lalon Phokir, the nineteenth-century Sufi-Baul Bengal saint, whose music is a living oral tradition across the boundaries dividing Bangladesh and West Bengal, has preserved, conserved and presented Baul cultural heritage. This has been achieved by utilising the findings of the research in a solo-performance involving live music, dance and film. Through a practice-as-research undertaking, Chatterjee's research has engaged a broad range of public audiences to contribute to processes of commemoration, memorialisation and reconciliation across the Bangladesh/Bengal border.
Over the last five years Dr Anne Witchard's research on the representations of China and the Chinese in Britain has generated considerable social, cultural and political impact on an international stage. The research has contributed significantly to international cultural relations between Britain and China, in particular through enhancing understanding of the social and historical ties between these nations. The research has also improved Britain's knowledge of its own multicultural history and altered public understanding of ethnic groups in contemporary urban Britain. Finally, the research has directly influenced the creative industries in their efforts to represent British-Chinese relations today.
Ysanne Holt was Academic Advisor and Commissioning Editor for Tate's Camden Town Group in Context project, funded through the Getty Foundation's Online Scholarly Catalogue Initiative which aims to transform how museums disseminate information about their collections. Holt undertook and commissioned new research into the Group's artworks and their broader contexts. Impacts derived from the project's online catalogue include increased awareness for national and international public and specialists; and improved access to the art and its contexts via a multi-platform open access facility. In addition, the project has influenced the Tate's Digital Strategy and led to the creation of the new post of Digital Editor within Tate's Research Department.