Enlightening our transcultural stories - Reflections on London's Cultural Olympiad 2012 by Olu Taiwo

Now that preparations for the 2012 Cultural Olympiad are in full swing, it is important that we reflect our multi, inter and trans-cultural identities as a nation. These entangled and cross-fertilising differences raise interesting questions about our historical, political and spiritual connections to the land we live in and dance on.

It was quite an eye opener when I found out that in the Roman army, the 10th legion comprising a large number of Nubian warriors, were posted in Exeter and Carlyle within the 400 hundred years or so of Roman rule in Britain shortly after 54 AD. What! Do you mean a professional Roman Army with Black participants? What! In Britain! My imagination has been ablaze with thoughts and images of their exploits ever since, their interactions with the locals, did they marry and have children? What did they eat? How did they entertain themselves? And if they brought their traditional instruments, what rhythms did they play? How did they dance?

In my view, as a performing artist and academic, dance and the other performing arts are a means of facilitating the trans-cultural art of storytelling. But whose stories are we telling? And whose context are the stories being told through? Where is the ‘here’ in the ‘now’ with regard to why and how we dance our stories? My interest is in encouraging the untold stories of a counter cultural discourse in Britain, which includes the presence of Black Africans. The story of contemporary urban culture is currently, by its nature, trans-cultural - containing multi-ethnic, multi-faith, multi, inter and trans-cultural perspectives, so there does not exist a singular culture or social narrative, but a collection of hybrid ones.

I must confess that as an artist and academic, though I have been proactive when it comes to promoting Black British stories at various events, I have not ostensibly been political with regard to ‘actions’ that have a direct effect on policy. Personally this is due in part, to not wanting the typecast of the ‘Black activist’ or the ‘Black artist’. However I am acutely aware that to ‘act’ and ‘represent’ views as part of a marginalised group, is not only to be responsible for bringing an awareness of untold issues to the general public’s attention, it is also about asserting our belonging, even if marginalised, to the land that we exist on; historically, politically and spiritually. This assertion can only occur after we give voice to the dead whose stories have been forgotten, but whose narratives we can reinvent through imaginative deduction, drawing from historical investigation of the fullest spread of cultural narratives. This is crucial at this time as these narratives need to be passed on to the young and disenfranchised. Due to the trans-cultural effects of globalisation, cultural affiliations along ‘ethnic’ and ‘national’ grounds no longer constrict the formation of an individual’s identity. Consequently how we investigate, connect to and value the land we live on, can help form new affiliations along refreshed indigenous terrains.

Ultimately if we are to talk about ‘identity’ ‘representation’ and ‘participation’ as a community, we have to talk about spiritual value and self worth. As artists, it is time to move forward to a place in which we are confident enough to be fully present - to ‘claim the land’, sure of our identity and not questioning our right to fully participate in the cultural life of Britain.