The Colour of Britain - ACE273.8

Sandy Nairne says that not only do Asian artists produce good work, but they have also – though only with a struggle – achieved recognition. Nairne VO over classical Roman sculptures: the struggle has been against established white male "norm". Chila Burman, Artist, on difficulty for Asian working class women to go through "the system". Burman VO over classical sculptures and paintings: the systems are white middle-class institutions. Burman: survival in that set-up is tough; she has been lucky to have come along during the growth of the Black arts movement, but it’s much harder for younger artists who don’t have the same level of support. Asian paintings and photographs. Burman: artists who started out, like her, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, are now almost mainstream. Asian paintings and photographs. Street scenes – Asian women, Asian shops, etc. VO says that the number of racist attacks on Asians continues to rise, but, though Asian artists are very much concerned by this, they don’t want to confine themselves to commenting on issues of racism or migration. Gilroy: Asians are complex people and can offer the world a new way of looking at identity. It doesn’t have to be just one thing or another. Jeyasingh: creativity comes from personal desire; worrying about whether or not that creation is multicultural is far from foremost in an artist’s mind. To Reflect An Intimate Part of The Red (1981), by Anish Kapoor. Kapoor’s studio. VO names him as "one of Britain’s most acclaimed contemporary artists", representing Britain at the Venice Biennale in 1990, and winner of the Turner prize in 1991. Kapoor says that whether his work is multicultural or intercultural is "simply a fact of [his] being". Sculpture. Kapoor VO says he’s always resisted taking part in shows which define a culture. Kapoor says he’s interested in what art can do and what he can do as an artist. This raises questions such as "what can a contemporary attitude be towards the poetic… towards the sublime?" Kapoor sculptures. Kapoor VO: his Indian-ness may change the way his work is seen, but in terms of the "human story", it’s a minor detail. Nairne: artists like Kapoor not only create influential work, but cause "interruptions" in people’s assumptions, e.g., demonstrating at Venice that British artists are not all white and British-born. It also shows the complexity of different cultural relations. Kapoor walking round To Reflect An Intimate Part of The Red. Kapoor VO wants the opportunity to be creative in every part of his existence. Classical Western sculptures. Catalogue of Hayward Gallery exhibition, "The Other Story". Tawadros talking about the response to "The Other Story" and to a Kapoor exhibition running at the same time at the Lisson Gallery: several critics started their pieces on "The Other Story" by defining it as work by Afro-Caribbean and Asian artists, all of whom are Black, but explained that Kapoor "describes himself as an artist first and an Indian second", and finds the "contest" set up between identity and art "insidious". Gilroy worries that such defining reduces the role of the artist to that of propagandist.