ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on specific community arts initiative developed over a year, involving an intensive period of community development work with South Asian women in Birmingham. It stresses the value of partnership and community development built on the basis of an ethical relationship from within the principles stated by Lila Watson, an aboriginal social worker. The art forms utilized during the course of the project were identified through consistent dialogue with the artists and the women participants. The categorization of art is intermingled with questions of power with the quality of the product. The project explored ongoing debates around South Asian women and British culture through the thoughts and experiences of the women themselves. The workshops were extremely popular, so the exhibition was seen by a large number of, particularly South Asian, women. The lack of South Asian presence in the larger museums and galleries in the region was recognized by many of the participants.
