Kahaani means “Story” in Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu and is a film, website, education resource and exhibition to honour and celebrate the voices and experiences of South Asian communities that helped to shape the South West of England from the 1950s to today.
At a time when Commonwealth communities were invited to settle in the UK and help rebuild Britain after World War 2, some members of the South Asian community chose to settle in the rural South West rather than bigger UK cities.
Their experience was therefore unique and undocumented – until now.
Thanks to the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund the team at Create Studios worked with regional partners in Wiltshire, Bournemouth and Yeovil to find 50 people willing to share their personal stories to be shared publicly and held in archives going forward.
Over a 4 month filming period in Spring of this year, Create discovered and captured personal and powerful stories from first and second generation South Asian migrants who made Wiltshire, Somerset and Dorset their home contributing to industry, health and culture in their rural communities.
These stories – of challenge and joy, resilience and belonging – capture the living history of the rural South West. The Create team curated the interviews for archive and edited a 30 minute film to bring the stories together into a piece that forms part of the touring exhibition.
