‘I don’t believe in erasing history’, says Meneesha Kellay, youngest trustee at the British Museum

At 39, Meneesha Kellay has made past arsenic the youngest trustee successful the British Museum’s 272-year history. In the storied corridors of Britain’s taste institutions, Kellay represents a caller chapter.

Born and raised successful Southall to parents of Punjabi practice who arrived from East Africa successful the 1970s, she is besides pb curator for the Victoria & Albert Museum’s forthcoming accumulation celebrating South Asian creativity.

Today, her travel from “half-itect” (as she jokingly calls herself for doing 4 of the 7 years required to go a afloat qualified designer successful the U.K.) to 1 of the astir influential taste voices successful Britain is arsenic layered arsenic the histories she present helps reframe. “I telephone myself a half-itect due to the fact that I got halfway there,” she laughs. “I didn’t afloat qualify. I loved studying architecture, but I was ever much enthusiastic astir the sociological and anthropological aspects — however radical interact with buildings and however they signifier cities. I conscionable recovered the plan process truly painful.”

Now, seated successful the V&A East Storehouse, the museum’s extremist caller outpost successful East London, she speaks astir disrupting aged frameworks and bringing lived acquisition into organization spaces.

How does it consciousness to beryllium the youngest trustee successful the British Museum’s history, and what does that relation look similar time to day?

Trustees are a voluntary role. There are tons of unthinkable minds connected the committee — radical similar Mary Beard, who has written countless books connected past Rome, arsenic good arsenic Sirs, Dames and Lords. So maine joining arsenic a comparatively young person, and idiosyncratic from a South Asian background, feels similar a immense honour. What I tin bring to the relation is that lived acquisition and besides my inheritance successful architecture.

My full signifier wrong depository spaces has been astir broadening participation, particularly for underrepresented communities and young people. The trustees conscionable quarterly, but I’m besides portion of the maestro program committee. Last summer, Nicholas Cullinan, the caller director, asked maine to articulation the adept assemblage alongside others specified arsenic creator Tracey Emin and Mahrukh Tarapor, an Indian depository nonrecreational who received the Padma Shri, to name the adjacent designer designing the Western Range [of galleries astatine the museum] — the largest taste infrastructure task successful history.

How did you travel to beryllium invited to the board?

I curated the British Pavilion astatine the Venice Architecture Biennale successful 2023, and we won an grant for it. I deliberation from the British Museum’s perspective, I was ticking respective boxes — having some depository acquisition and an architecture background. At the extremity of that assemblage process, George Osborne, the seat of trustees, asked maine to apply. I had my interrogation with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and a fewer months later, received a missive from 10 Downing Street signed by the Prime Minister appointing me. That truly deed location — like, wow, this is real.

You’ve described your curatorial signifier arsenic “collaborative and questioning.” What questions are you hoping to rise done your enactment astatine V&A East?

We’re opening V&A East Museum adjacent year, and 1 successful 5 radical successful this portion of London person South Asian heritage. So, it felt similar astir a no-brainer to bash an accumulation celebrating modern South Asian originative practice. There’s been nary large organization amusement anyplace successful the satellite of modern fashion, architecture, and plan from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The thought is to observe what’s happening present — designers, architects, and makers whose enactment draws connected heavy generational cognition and past practices, but redefines them for 21st period contexts. Even radical who are invested successful South Asian civilization often don’t realise however overmuch is happening due to the fact that determination aren’t capable planetary platforms for it. There are unthinkable initiatives similar the India Art Fair, Dhaka Art Summit, Kochi Biennale, Serendipity Festival, and Colomboscope, but they seldom get disseminated much wide than South Asia. It’s truly astir shining a spotlight connected the portion and showing however applicable this creativity is globally.

When you deliberation backmost to your ain upbringing arsenic a British Indian, what kinds of stories oregon perspectives did you consciousness were missing from taste spaces?

My parents were truly funny successful america seeing the world. We’d question by car crossed countries [once, from New York each the mode to LA] and they’d instrumentality america to museums everyplace we went. Being children of 2 diasporas — calved and raised successful East Africa, with practice successful Punjab, and past settling successful the U.K. — gave them this insatiable curiosity. My mum was an creation teacher successful Nairobi earlier moving here, truthful that originative broadside was ever there. My dada ne'er sat still. He was a teacher but besides ever gathering something. I deliberation that’s wherever my tendency to go an designer came from.

The legacies of the Empire are evidently heavy and problematic, but 1 unintended effect is that the South Asian diaspora became 1 of the astir planetary successful the world. That’s thing I’m truly funny successful exploring, however that worldly outlook shapes our originative look today.

Your begetter sounds similar rather an influence. How person those aboriginal values filtered into your curatorial work?

We were a zero-waste household. I deliberation that cognition has stayed with me. At the V&A, I erstwhile commissioned an installation utilizing leftover materials from the Kimonos exhibition. I’d ever email colleagues asking if they had materials we could reuse.

Sustainability has to beryllium embedded successful however I work. When I commissioned designers Nebbia Works for an ultra-low c aluminium pavilion astatine the V&A, we aboriginal repurposed the infinitely recyclable worldly for an installation successful the British Pavilion astatine the Venice Biennale for a portion called Bardo, stemming from the Buddhist thought of rebirth. That benignant of cyclical reasoning feels precise earthy to me.

The British Museum has agelong been a flashpoint successful conversations astir assemblage bequest and restitution.

The British Museum is 272 years old, and it’s not going anywhere. I’m genuinely delighted to beryllium joining astatine this infinitesimal of transformation. We’ve got a visionary manager successful Nicholas Cullinan who understands the ngo of making it a “museum of the world, for the world.” I don’t judge successful erasing history. It’s important to admit what has happened, but besides physique connected it — to guarantee radical spot the worth successful the postulation and recognize that it’s theirs. The depository is escaped to enter, it belongs to the public. Rather than closing up, it’s astir opening up, collaborating more, and ensuring communities astir the world, whether successful India, Pakistan, oregon Nigeria, consciousness represented.

V&A East has positioned itself arsenic a depository for a caller audience. What does accessibility and practice look similar to you?

It’s astir information and dialogue. I precocious commissioned [content agency] Diet Paratha to curate a Friday Late astatine the V&A, a nighttime that brought 6,000 radical unneurotic to observe South Asian creativity. It was truthful joyous due to the fact that it wasn’t conscionable South Asians; it was incredibly diverse. It was a reflection of London.

The satellite feels progressively polarised due to the fact that of online platforms, but erstwhile you conscionable radical successful person, there’s usually communal ground. I deliberation taste institutions person a civic work to make spaces wherever radical tin travel unneurotic — to debate, discuss, adjacent disagree — and bash it successful a mode that’s civilian and curious. That’s thing I consciousness truly passionate astir close now.

What benignant of depository bash you anticipation your procreation volition permission behind?

A depository wherever radical tin travel unneurotic to larn astir different cultures and consciousness nourished. We request to marque them places for translation — wherever radical consciousness moved and engaged. Museums aren’t static. They’re experimental spaces, places wherever things tin perpetually beryllium done differently. And I deliberation it’s up to us, arsenic taste workers, to continually propulsion for that — to marque definite these institutions germinate arsenic places that bespeak who we are, and who we’re becoming.

The writer is an autarkic writer based successful London, penning connected fashion, luxury and lifestyle.