The idea of a British artist being as successful as Madonna or Eminem used to be unimaginable. However, the emergence of artists like M.I.A and Jay Sean has made that a possibility. British Asian Musicians is a photographic exhibition that celebrates and documents the achievements that British Asians have made in music and exhibits the lesser know artist emerging onto the scene.

The cultural and historical importance of these musicians is immense, they represent, reflect and connect with today’s second and third generation of British Asians and despite differing styles of music or the message they project, all have commonalities; South Asian roots and a place in British Asian culture.

All of the artists who feature in British Asian Musicians were photographed in a place of importance to them, places where they have drawn some of their musical inspiration, whether this is Soho Road, The Tate Modern, old school parks or garden sheds.

The visual artist and photographer behind the exhibition is Jaskirt Dhaliwal. Jaskirt specialises in portraiture and telling stories through her bodies of work. Exhibiting previously at the NEC, UN Headquarters in New York and AOP’s London gallery, Jaskirt also won the Photo Imaging Council Award in 2006/07 for her work on Women’s Football.

“When I first started this body of work I didn’t envisage that it would become as big of a body of work as it has, and I’m immensely proud to be documenting what is also my own personal cultural history. Right from Bally Sagoo and Apache Indian in the 90s to H Dhami and MIA right now, British Asian musicians have reflected or represented the culture and identity of British Asians, giving them a voice or something to relate too. Having had the opportunity to see what has inspired and played a real significance in the lives of all the musicians and then to try and capture that spirit on film has been both a privilege and a thrill. I hope to document this work into a book eventually so in 20, 50 or 100 years time it will be used as a primary source of information on the history of British Asian musicians.” - Jaskirt Dhaliwal.

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