Royal Museums Greenwich (RMG) will mark Diwali with a public festival titled ‘Shine Your Light’ on 11 November 2023 at the National Maritime Museum.
Diwali is an annual celebration in the Hindu lunisolar calendar, and variations of the festival are also observed in the Jain and Sikh faiths. The National Maritime Museum hosts a public festival every year to mark the occasion, encouraging visitors to engage with other cultures and families, and learn more about the South Asian items in the Museum’s collection.
RMG has invited Mehala Ford, founder of South Asian arts platform COMMONGROUND& to curate the Diwali celebration at the Museum for the second year in a row. The theme this year is a celebration of the light within all of us, highlighting creativity, joy and well-being with an exciting programme to suit all ages and interests.
Mehala Ford, founder of COMMONGROUND&, said “I am excited to work with RMG to spotlight these inspiring creatives and entrepreneurs of South Asian heritage and bring them into the museum space."
For more information visit: https://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/national-maritime-museum/diwali
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NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM
Performances and Parade
Rajasthani Dance Performance
South Asian dance group, Akademi, will be performing a traditional Rajasthani dance on the Great Map, followed by a workshop for the public.
Location: Great Map
Ramayana Puppet Show
StoryHour puppet theatre will screen a puppet performance of The Ramayana story. Following the screening, they will show their puppets and talk to the public about the characters and how the puppets are made.
Location: Lecture Theatre
NEO 10Y
Recording artist NEO 10Y makes consciousness-expanding music, fusing his Indian and British influences. He will be performing his song ‘Oneness’ at the event.
DJ Tara Kumar
DJ and broadcaster Tara Kumar will play a live DJ set and the public are invited to dance - saris are encouraged.
Lantern Parade
The day will end with the annual lantern parade around the park. Visitors can bring their own lanterns or make one at the lantern workshop earlier on in the day.
Workshops and Talks
Yoga, Meditation and Breathwork
Angie Tiwari is a yoga, meditation, breathwork and ayurveda consultant. She will be leading a yoga class for all abilities followed by a meditation and breathwork session.
Location: Great Map for the yoga class and Lecture Theatre for the meditation and breathwork session.
Mauli Rituals
Anita and Bittu Kaushal of ayurveda brand Mauli Rituals talk about daily rituals to bring out your best self.
Rangoli
Visitors can learn how traditional rangoli art is made and then make their own rangoli led by Rangoli Art and Design.
Dance Workshop
Following on from their performance, dance group Akademi will lead the public in a dance workshop.
Location: Great Map
Lantern Making
Throughout the day, visitors can make and decorate Diwali lanterns that can be shown off at the lantern procession at the end of the day.
Sari Drape and Styling Workshop
A sari styling workshop will be led by Mehala Ford, curator of the festival and founder of the Friday Sari Project. Mehala will demonstrate modern sari drape and how to wear a sari with your own wardrobe.
HuqThat Henna
Founded by Sabira Haque and Nuz Fatima, HuqThat aims to make the art of henna more accessible for all. Visitors will have the opportunity to receive a Diwali inspired henna motif.
Objects in Focus
Curator of World History and Cultures at Royal Museums Greenwich, Dr Aaron Jaffer, will present items from the Museum’s collection relating to South Asian heritage, that the public don’t usually get to see. Aaron will be presenting the culmination of a 5-year project to catalogue and digitise photographs and archive materials, leading to the production of a research guide for the public to find more easily South Asian objects and people in the Museum’s collection.
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ROYAL OBSERVATORY
South Asian Astronomy: Diwali Special
Visit the planetarium for a brand-new show about South Asian astronomy. For this show, an astronomer from the Royal Observatory will discuss how the Hindu calendar links to the Sun and Moon, and how the skies are used to work out the date for Diwali.
Date: 11 November 2023
Time: 10.30 – 11.15
Age: Suitable for ages 7 and over
Location: Royal Observatory, Peter Harrison Planetarium
Admission: Adult £10 | Child £5
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NEW PIONEERS
‘Shine Your Light’ is just one element in a series of events that COMMONGROUND& is curating to celebrate South Asian heritage and explore the British and South Asian connections within the collection of Royal Museums Greenwich.
The programme, titled ‘New Pioneers’, is inspired by this year’s South Asian Heritage Month theme of ‘Stories to Tell’. The programme will explore the sub-themes of layers, memory and legacy. ‘New Pioneers’ will look at individual and collective layers, what personal histories remain from earlier times, and what is being passed on to future generations.
Portrait Display
Inspired by the historical portraiture in the Museum, COMMONGROUND& has curated a display depicting 40 South Asian creative individuals and collectives, photographed by four South Asian photographers at the Royal Museums Greenwich sites. Often, South Asian heritage is discussed from a historical perspective. This project aims to show the stories, challenges, and triumphs of current generations. Those depicted have broken stereotypes in their career choices, challenged family expectations and conventional ideas about what one should do with their lives. They have dealt with self-expression and self-identity, and advocated for diversity, inclusion and representation.
Date: From 14 October 2023
Location: National Maritime Museum, Great Map
Creating your Personal Culture
For World Mental Health Week, guest curator Mehala Ford, talks to transpersonal transcultural integrative psychotherapist in training, Namalee Bolle and guests, to discuss creative expression and mental health.
Date: 13 October 2023
The Alchemy of Identity
A therapy-inspired workshop inviting a transpersonal exploration of cultural heritage through creative imagination, poetry, art and collage. This will culminate in a personal 'identity flag' of the participant's own unique view of their heritage, reflecting how all their cultural influences come together as a whole. There will be a focus on celebrating and sharing the uniqueness of each participant's story.
Date: 14 October 2023
Rainbow Bridges
Ryan Lanji, a curator, presenter and founder of the internationally renowned South Asian Bollywood night ‘Hungama’, headlines a panel of guests discussing ethics, gatekeeping and championing community during the rise of South Asian creativity.
Date: 18 October 2023
What is this Behaviour Podcast Live: Understanding the South Asian Creative Renaissance
Reuben Christian, Aaron Christian and Almass Badat host a live podcast unearthing stories of South Asian people who carve out remarkable careers and lead empowering lives, redefining what it means to be South Asian today, and beyond.
Date: 1 November 2023
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ONLINE RESOURCES
Meet Raj Fernandes
Meet Raj Fernandes, a dockworker living and working in London in the nineteenth century. Learn about the cargoes brought into London, the pay and working conditions along the docks, and Raj’s own story of life in London as a Lascar and the diverse communities he lived amongst in sailor town.
URL: https://www.rmg.co.uk/schools-communities/meet-cutty-sarks-dockworker
Diwali Performance at the Queen’s House
Epika Dance is an International Bollywood Fusion Troupe based in London recognised for their unique fusion of Indian, Japanese and hip-hop styles. Watch three performances from Epika, filmed at the Queen's House, to celebrate Diwali. Performances include Bhangra and Giddha, Bhangra hip-hop fusion and Kathak.
URL: https://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/national-maritime-museum/diwali-performance
Rangoli Demonstration
Watch a Rangoli being created on the floor of the National Maritime Museum by members of staff from the Museum’s Visitor Experience team.
URL: https://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/national-maritime-museum/diwali-rangoli
How to Make a Hanging Rangoli Decoration
A Rangoli image stands for a sign of welcome. The main purpose of making Rangolis in Diwali is to welcome Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth, to individual homes.
URL: https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/how-make-rangoli-diwali-decoration
How to Make a Diwali Lantern
Diwali is known as the 'festival of lights' because houses, shops and public places are decorated with small oil lamps and lanterns. These lanterns are generally hung in front of homes during the Hindu festival of lights. Create your own lantern this Diwali to decorate your home.
URL: https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/how-make-diwali-lantern
India in Greenwich
From maps and boats to badges and portraits, discover some of the items in Royal Museums Greenwich's collections with connections to India.
URL: https://www.rmg.co.uk/schools-communities/india-greenwich
Diwali Podcast
A podcast in conversation with Hansika Jethnani, a queer poet and activist. Listen in to find out more about Diwali, religious violence, and queer interfaith spaces.
Diwali Zine
This special publication is made up of submissions from South Asian communities in London and around the world.
URL: https://www.flipsnack.com/anjumariekasturiraj/diwali-zine.html
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INFORMATION FOR VISITORS:
Venue: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
Date: 11 November 2023
Time: 11.30 – 17.00
Admission: Free
Visitor enquiries: 020 8858 4422
Twitter: @RMGreenwich
Instagram: @royalmuseumsgreenwich
Facebook: @royalmuseumsgreenwich
NOTES TO EDITORS:
- The National Maritime Museum holds the world’s largest maritime collection telling stories of Britain’s epic relationship with the sea, housed in historic buildings forming part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site.
The National Maritime Museum is part of Royal Museums Greenwich which also incorporates the Royal Observatory, the 17th-century Queen’s House and the clipper ship Cutty Sark. This unique collection of museums and heritage buildings, which form a key part of the Maritime Greenwich UNESCO World Heritage Site, welcomes over two and a half million British and international visitors a year and is also a major centre of education and research. The mission of Royal Museums Greenwich is to enrich people’s understanding of the sea, the exploration of space, and Britain's role in world history. For more information, visit www.rmg.co.uk.
- COMMONGROUND& is an arts platform founded in 2021 by Mehala Ford to foster connections amongst the South Asian diaspora and reflect the experiences of the current generation who share common interests as well as their culture and heritage. Mehala has had a 20-year career in the fashion industry, and for a decade Mehala has researched, observed and platformed emerging creative culture from South Asia and the diaspora through fashion, design, art, music food and writing.
For further information or images please contact:
Royal Museums Greenwich Press Office
Tel: 020 8312 6545/6789/6589
Email: press@rmg.co.uk