Bhangra Jig

A young South Asian woman walks through the city of Glasgow once the second largest city of the British Empire Her eyes reflect on the wealth symbolised in the textures of the citys architecture Signs of Empire ever present in the stone freizes imposing cast iron statues of dead colonialists ornate pillars and the opulence of marble Against histories of colonial carnage Asian people build our communities and cultures forging identities of selfaffirmation Against echoes of colonial memories is the living memory of todays cultures of resistance through dance and music young Asian people celebrate desire and self pride Bhangra Jig disrupts dominant notions of European culture and offers new meanings of what constitutes national cultures and identities of what it means to be Asian British and European It was a fourminute television intervention piece commissioned by Channel 4 celebrating Glasgow as the European cultural capital for 1990