Hyper-nationalism seems to be the reigning emotion in political discourse with populist politicians like Donald Trump, Nigel Farage, and closer to home, Aung San Suu Kyi, trumpeting its importance. But the emotion borders dangerously close to xenophobia and that is why Anand Chhabra’s Apna Heritage Archive (AHA) is an important art and archiving initiative of our time. The archive, set up by the Black Country Visual Arts (BCVA) foundation, documents the lives of Punjabi immigrants in the city of Wolverhampton, U.K, through 2000 photographs sourced from family albums. The bygone photographs provide a window into the dreams, desires and daily lives of the over 40,000 Punjabi immigrants who moved to the city in the 1960s - 80s.
At a talk held at Dr. Bhau Daji Lad City Museum, Anand, who is a photographer and the founder of BCVA, says, “My dad himself was an immigrant. His adventurous spirit brought him to the city, but he had to work hard in a factory to earn his daily bread. People like my father came to the country on invitation by the government, worked in arduous jobs nobody was willing to take up and contributed to the culture and economy of the country. I don’t want their legacy to be forgotten.” He also points out how, in the absence of such archiving initiatives, history can be manipulated because public memory is short-lived. “There are Nazi sympathisers who claim that the Holocaust never happened; that’s why you need to document lives and stories,” he insists.
Pictures speak a thousand words and therefore, they are ideal for documenting not just stories, but for the emotions connected with them - wide smiles in photographs capturing first cars and television sets make pride palpable, an ever-so-slight distance between a brown man and his white colleagues hint at feelings of alienation while photographs of Indian movie stars in bedrooms or traditionally-dressed brides signal a desire to stay close to one’s native culture. The significance of each photograph is as diverse as the collection itself, and an astute eye will spot a kaleidoscope of meaning. Anand has also focussed on photographs that capture cultural integration, social and economic mobility and so, it isn’t surprising to find photographs of Punjabi men with their ‘firang’ mistresses or the fact that many men in the photographs are devoid of turbans. “The turban was a controversial item. Many men chose not to wear them to fit in or get better jobs. But there were also those who went to court to fight for their right to wear them,” reveals Anand. Apart from these black-and-white and coloured images, the AHA also houses album covers, portraits, and memorabilia, most of which have been sourced from first-generation immigrants.
Because of the immensely personal nature of the initiative, it took Anand and his team about two years to collect the photographs. Each photograph in the archive is accompanied by information about the persons in the photograph, the location and year it was clicked in. “We went to daycare centres for senior citizens, schools, gurudwaras, and almost every avenue imaginable to talk about the initiative and ask people to donate photographs,” informs Anand. But their hard work paid off, for Anand found some priceless prints along the way. “Many Punjabi immigrants made it big in the city. One became the first Asian Mayor of the city; some became millionaires, while some even became photojournalists who photographed crucial events and famous personalities, like Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi,” says Anand. These never-before-seen photographs are now a part of AHA, and can be seen by all of us, thanks to Anand’s dream and his determination to pursue it.
