What we do
SADAA conserves, digitises, shares, and celebrates the work of first generation British South Asian artists post-partition. A volunteer-run charity, we work alongside other nationally important collections at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
What's the project?
Covid has hit that first generation particularly hard. We are now urgently fundraising to bring in their outstanding archives before it's too late. Each new collection is collected, conserved, catalogued, curated and digitised by specialist staff at a cost of £5000 per collection. Can you help? Every pound matters.
Covid’s pernicious rampage through BAME communities has put a precious legacy at risk. Over 100 historically important collections promised to SADAA by artists, writers, and performers, are in danger of being lost or dispersed unless we collect them now. All donors will receive regular newsletters with progress updates.
Every collection in the SADAA archive is hand-picked. Our Ram Gopal costume (above) is on permanent display at the V&A. We lend to, and work with, heritage and arts organisations as well as museums. We’ve introduced new and diverse audiences to an exciting legacy. Academics use our archive to map mainstream arts narratives.
The SADAA team normally harvests collections as part of project work. In 2019 we completed digitisation of the newly gifted John Mayer and Vayu Naidu collections. Covid has set time against us. Every £5000 we raise, saves an archive now.
Please help us bring them in.
Find out more about SADAA