Between visibility and elsewhere: South Asian queer creative cultures and resistance

Dasgupta, R. K. and Mahn, C. (2023) Between visibility and elsewhere: South Asian queer creative cultures and resistance. South Asian Diaspora, 15(1), pp. 1-16. (doi: 10.1080/19438192.2022.2164429)

Abstract

This article draws on existing interviews and creative material from LGBTQ + South Asians who have lived and spent significant time in the UK as part of the Cross Border Queers project. It begins by considering creative forms of diasporic activism and creativity in the UK that have emerged from South Asian LGBTQ + communities and individuals. We discuss the ways in which South Asian LGBTQ + diasporic organising was formed through a sense of shared racial and class solidarity and especially under the umbrella of political Blackness. We then move on to the role played by cultural activism to see how artists have used culture as a way to advance social change and increase the visibility of South Asian LGBTQ + communities in the UK. We place different genres of visual culture, curation, performance and oral history to evoke how South Asian queer migrants articulate a distinct form of subjectivity and aesthetic practice.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: The authors would like to acknowledge British Academy (Grant reference: IC4/100117) for funding this research.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Dasgupta, Dr Rohit
• Authors: Dasgupta, R. K., and Mahn, C.
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Culture and Creative Arts > Theatre Film and TV Studies
• Journal Name: South Asian Diaspora
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 1943-8192
• ISSN (Online): 1943-8184
• Published Online: 02 February 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in South Asian Diaspora 15(1): 1-16
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License