South Asian Togetherness

A community display co-curated with women at the Sahara Project in Preston celebrating the freedom to express clothing, language, religion and culture.

After human beings came into the world, they needed food to eat and clothing to protect themselves. Over time, people have developed different kinds of food, clothing and fabrics; clothes for weddings, for parties and other special occasions. Living in Britain, we have the freedom to express our clothing, language, religion and culture. The purpose of this exhibition at The Harris is to showcase South Asian culture, including Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Afghan styles.

South Asian women at Sahara Centre have worked together as a team to prepare this exhibition selecting personal objects and museum objects that represent South Asian fashion, cooking and celebrations. Everyone contributed their own ideas and played their part through discussion and cooperation. The exhibition also features the re-display of the stunning community artwork, the Free to be Me Anarkali dress; a dress made up of 25 pieces of re-purposed purple corduroy and raw silk, embroidered, embellished and painted by ladies at Sahara’s Coffee Afternoon in 2024.

Sahara is a voluntary organisation in the Fishwick area of Preston that works predominantly for the benefit of black and minority ethnic (BME) women in Preston. They look after the health and wellbeing of women. ‘Sahara’ means ‘Support’ in Hindi.

The Coffee Afternoon Group are a group of women made up of different cultures, religions, languages, traditions and backgrounds. They speak Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi, Gujarati, Telugu, English, Arabic and Malayalam. They meet weekly to do a range of activities including crafts, upcycling, exercise and workshops on health and wellbeing.

Sahara Project (Preston) Ltd. – Community Care for BAME Women