An East London festival collaborates with local artists to explore the rich results of immigration
East London has for centuries been defined by immigration. Many new communities who migrated to the capital made East London their home. These include the Irish in the 17th century, eastern European Jews in the late-18th century and Bengalis in the 1960s. Each swathe of immigration left its unique imprint on the cultural and social landscape of East London.
‘The Isle is Full of Noises’, a recent festival held in East London exploring the cultural legacy of immigration, was in many ways perfectly placed there. The festival was created by the Grand Union Orchestra, founded over 30 years ago and made up of international musicians. This is the orchestra’s second festival in two years, exploring the musical legacy of immigration in Britain, after their well-received show ‘Undream’d Shores’ last year. In ‘The Isle is full of Noises’, the orchestra collaborated with first and second generation artists from migrant communities in East London.
I attended two very different performances at the festival: the ‘Bengal Tiger, Shanghai Dragon’ at Dalston’s Vortex Jazz Bar and ‘Take me to Rio’, a night curated by Somali British artist Kinsi Abdulleh with her company Numbi Arts at Stoke Newington’s Old Church. The festival attempted to create original work exploring the theme of immigration beyond the headline grabbing sensationalism in the media.
I spoke to Kinsi about her thoughts on representation in the arts in Britain. “There’s the political, and representation in real terms”, she differentiated. “I would like to see ethnic minorities represented in everyday life as teachers, in the police, working in banks”. This as opposed to situations where the ethnic background is constantly foregrounded. On the importance of the arts she added, “[we need to] show that we’re here and let our voice be heard” as it “allows us to look at different layers of who we are”. This, she feels, will bridge the diaspora’s experience of two worlds and create wider understanding across communities.
The first event I went to, ‘Bengal Tiger, Shanghai Dragon’, was described in the festival programme as a collaboration between Grand Union jazz soloists and Chinese, Indian and Bengali virtuoso musicians. However, despite this description it was difficult to comprehend what this musical fusion would sound like. The chattering and laughter at the Vortex Jazz bar was silenced when the distinctive sound of the South Indian violin played in the opening song of the night – a South Indian folk song. What seemed a foreign courtship of jazz and South Indian melodies met in a dance of rhythmic harmony.
This was truly an evening of music without borders where the electrifying rhythms of jazz provided the free and easy musical foundations to adapt and merge with the ‘idiosyncratic melodic scales of China and India’. The Chinese Song of Four Seasons weaved into the jazz melodies and blended seamlessly into the Indian Mishra Kafi (a slow melody with a lead string instrument that intertwined with the Chinese harp).
The pinnacles of the night for me were at two points: firstly, around midway through the evening, when a Chinese folk song with the distinct rhythmic similarities to Jamaican reggae was played. The audience were astounded by the fusion but Tony Haynes, founding member and director of Grand Union Orchestra, informed the audience that although the intersectionality of the music was undeniable, this was coincidental as the folk song was several hundred years old. The second awe-inspiring moment, which crept in subtly towards the end of the night, was the playful musical duel between the saxophone and South Indian violin in one of the few Bangladeshi folk songs played.
The second performance, ‘Take me to Rio’, offered a completely different experience for the audience which is not easy to sum up. The performance took place in the intimate space of Stoke Newington Old Church, a 16th century church heavily bombed in WW2. The title of the show should not be confused with the Brazilian city but rather ‘rhiyo’, meaning ‘dream’ in Somali, and as a nod to the Somali Café Rio, opened not long after the end of the WW2 in the 1950s and ’60s in East London.
There was nothing conventional or predictable about this show; it was a work in progress collage of dance, spoken word poetry, storytelling and music. The show started with a neat succession of performances: an acoustic piece by a sweet voiced Laura Marling-like singer, a spoken word performance ruminating on postcolonial ghosts with drums beating, and a dancing silhouette of Ethiopian dancer Yenenesh Nigusse. Then Somali rhythms filled this very English space of the Old Church; there was an ambitious and well-executed bilingual duet performed in Somali and English, and a Somali singer, accompanied by ladies who sat on the side of the stage, sang Somali songs with a loud and resonant voice while encouraging the audience to dance and clap.
The show progressed into a jam session with Kinsi telling stories of Café Rio and the Somali sailors who frequented it. Amina, a Somali artist, told stories of her struggles in pursuing art in a community where it was not thought the proper thing for a woman to do. The show unravelled into an end of sorts with the audience invited onto the stage to dance or play an instrument.
‘Take me to Rio’ was not a clash of cultures but rather a coming together of cultures living side-by-side and cohabiting in the psyche of those descendants of migrants. Both nights were uplifting and truly enjoyable; the jazz concert brought to the east end the distinct cultural sounds of China and South India and ‘Take me to Rio’ allowed the often unheard experiences, sights and sounds of Somalia come to life. The festival tapped into the rich cultural heritage not only of London but Britain, producing work of experimental music at its finest and explorative theatre at its most exciting – when completely unpredictable.
Photo Credits: Grand Union Orchestra