Desh is an intergenerational creative heritage project exploring South Asian culture in Bristol and beyond.

Asian Arts Agency invested in Bristol’s youth community through a range of workshops and mentoring sessions designed to explore young people’s heritage and culture. Desh created an important opportunity for talent development among Bristol’s grassroots and young South Asian communities, and a chance for young people to showcase their talent.

Desh launched at Watershed in October 2013. After 18 months of intense animation and music training with nearly 40 young people the Desh digital exhibition launched at M-Shed Museum in Bristol. The launch day attracted 250 visitors, with two free music performances by Bristol based artists and two storytelling workshops attended by 40 children.

Desh then went on to Plymouth in February 2015, where it spent a week on display at the Devonport Guildhall and was seen by over 200 people, before finishing with a special closing event for the local South Asian community.

In all, 14 new digital films were made by young people, and 27 oral histories were collected from South Asian elders.

Desh was a major development for the Agency’s educational and participatory work with young people from South Asian backgrounds. We are currently working on the legacy of the project.

It is now available for you to enjoy on this website.