Archiving For Ourselves

In this event we launch a 30-minute audio documentary “A Merciless Light - Covid 19 in Newham” that shares stories of how Covid 19 was experienced by communities in Newham in ways that have not been acknowledged or accounted for in official reviews and records, serving as a reminder that archiving for ourselves is urgent and necessary work. The documentary will be followed by a conversation with four panellists: New Delhi based oral historian Aanchal Malhotra whose second book In the Language of Remembering will be published this autumn, Sadiya Ahmed, founder of Everyday Muslim Heritage and Archive Initiative in the UK, Asmaa Jama, who is part of the Camel Meat + Cassette Tapes project at Dhaqan Collective and Ghazal Haqani, co-producer of “A Merciless Light - Covid 19 in Newham” to discuss why recording and archiving at this time is so important, and the role that oral history can play, as a form of activism, in subverting and reclaiming narratives. The conversation will be chaired by Latifa Akay, Director of Education at Maslaha.

Aanchal Malhotra

Aanchal Malhotra is an oral historian and writer, living in New Delhi, India. She is the co-founder of the Museum of Material Memory - a digital repository tracing family histories and social ethnography through heirlooms, collectibles and antiques from the Indian subcontinent. Malhotra writes extensively on the 1947 Partition and its related topics. Her first book, Remnants of Partition was shortlisted for the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar, British Academy’s Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize for Global Cultural Understanding, Hindu Lit for Life Non Fiction Prize, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize and the Shakti Bhatt First Book prize. Her second book on the generational impact of Partition, titled In the Language of Remembering, is forthcoming in autumn 2021.

Sadiya Ahmed

Sadiya Ahmed established Everyday Muslim Heritage and Archive Initiative. in response to the lack of representation of the Muslim narrative in archives, museums and education in Britain. There are three archive collections consisting of; oral history interviews, personal documents, photographs, and ephemera held at five archive depositories across London and the South-East. Alongside her experience of fundraising, project planning and managing heritage projects, she has also negotiated collaborations and partnerships with museums, archives, academics, universities, artists, media and community groups across Britain.

Asmaa Jama 

Asmaa Jama is a danish born Somali artist, poet and co-founder of Dhaqan Collective, a feminist art collective. As part of Camel Meat + Tapes Dhaqan, co-creates with elders and young people in the Somali community, exploring orality, memory and archiving. As a poet, Asmaa has been published in places like Ambit,  ANMLY and The Good Journal. And has been translated into French, Swahili, Somali, Spanish and Portuguese. This year Asmaa was shortlisted for the Brunel African Poetry Prize and longlisted for the National Poetry Competition. Most recently, Asmaa was commissioned by BBC New Creatives.

Ghazal Haqani

Ghazal is a textile artist and a parenting facilitator working closely with communities in Newham, in east London. She has been a journalist with Al Jazeera and is passionate about poetry and people power. Ghazal calls Newham her home and has lived there for over 12 years. She is the co-producer of the Maslaha audio documentary, A Merciless Light - Covid 19 in Newham, along with Latifa Akay and Emily Mason.

A Merciless Light - Covid 19 in Newham

Audio documentary credits

Co-producers: Emily Mason, Latifa Akay, Ghazal Haqani

Sound design: Alexis Adimora

Audio editor: Remigiusz Sowa

Production assistant: Hodan Omar

This event will have BSL interpretation.

Please contact us with any additional accessibility needs - we are committed to making our events as accessible as possible.