South Asian community in Glasgow
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Glasgow Museums has a small collection of social history items relating to the lives of the South Asian community in Glasgow. The objects date to the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, but the majority date to the later 20th century. We hope to actively collect more in this area. The oldest item is a cast iron plaque from Stobcross Quay, which probably dates to the 1890s. It says ‘Lascars Only’ in English and Bengali, denoting separate toilet facilities for South Asian seamen. South Asian businesses such as fabric shops and restaurants are well represented, with donations of furniture, fittings and crockery from the Koh-I-Noor and the Shish Mahal. Textiles include lengths of fabric, but also two examples of wedding dresses from the 1990s. There is also one ladies outfit from the 1960s. Other working lives are less well documented. The education collections contain school photos showing South Asian pupils in Glasgow schools from the 1960s on. Items such as Scope: An Introductory English Course for Immigrant Children , c 1969 show how schools were trying to respond to the growing numbers of South Asian children at school. Social, leisure and family life is less well represented but there are some items, for example Glasgow mela programmes, wedding invitations, and a Bollywood poster. Eric Watt, an amateur photographer who lived in Pollokshields, took photographs of local shops and children playing in the parks and streets. RELIGION: There is a small collection of 7 murtis, clay images of Hindu deities, donated by Glasgow’s Bengali Hindu community in 2001 and 2015. These were imported from Kolkatta for the annual pujas held in Glasgow’s Southside. There is a model of the Golden Temple at Amritsar (A.1999.1). donated by the Sikh community for the 1999 Vaisakhi celebrations. OTHER: There is a van (T.1997.25) decorated in the style of Pakistani truck art by Afshan Abid, Lisa McConnell, Jean Hughes and Nancy Littlejohn, part of 'Salaam Festival' organised by Glasgow Museums in 1997.
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