Celebrating South Asian heritage in Hitchin

A new exhibition showcasing Hitchin's diverse heritage will be on display at North Herts Museum next month.

North Herts Museum will highlight the story of diversity, including a short film featuring the stories of six local British South Asians between August 2 to August 28.

Mandeep Kaur Nijjer, creator of the film documentary, and one of the people featured, explains why Hitchin is so warm and welcoming.

She said: "The reason is because diversity is linked to Hitchin's migration story. In the 1960s, many South Asians moved to the UK and some, like my family, moved to Hitchin in the hopes of starting new lives.

"Their children, like myself, were the first to be born and raised in this country and I wanted to explore how other children of the diaspora, particularly women like me, shaped and navigated their hybrid identity as British Asians in Hertfordshire.

"My docu-film will tell our story and it'll be the first time we've shared it. I felt it was important to not only chronicle the people in my community who experienced cultural conflict, but to also celebrate them and how they challenged the conventions of what it means to be brown in a small English town.

"Hopefully it will help people understand what it feels like to be different, particularly in a world which feels so divided. I want audiences to resonate and relate with the participants in this film, who paved the way for a new and multicultural definition of what it means to be a British Asian."

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North Herts Museum is located in Brand Street, Hitchin, open Tue-Sat 1030am-430pm and Sun 11am-3pm, admission is free.