As the culture ministers from G20 countries prepare to meet in Varanasi today, India-UK creative economy and cultural relations exchange is poised to take a giant step forward. Representatives from both nations met at the annual India Global Forum in London last month to discuss opportunities ahead for sustainable development, enterprise, trade, and self-reliance.
India has set up an unprecedented drumbeat for its G20 presidency that is echoing around the world. The India vision — One Earth, One Family, One Future — and the Ministry of Culture’s ambitions resonate well with many of the G20 nations and the European Union with their appropriate focus on the Asia-Pacific. India’s G20 presidency is seen by many as a nexus for positive change.
Fuelling innovation partnerships
The India/UK 2030 Roadmap agreed by both Prime Ministers in May 2021 sets the course for greater cultural collaboration, which is centred on digital innovation for intangible heritage and new innovations in sustainable design, gaming, CreaTec, and festival skilling for the creative industries. This is echoed in the Government of India’s G20 ambitions for employment, trade, and self-reliance through digital restitution, sustainable livelihoods, the creative economy, and digital innovation for access to heritage and museum archives.
The legacy agenda that India’s Ministry of Culture has set out for the G20 with member nations offers the UK — through its Department of Culture, Media, and Sports (DCMS) and the cultural organisation British Council — deep engagement opportunities for deepening relationships with UK bodies such at the FCDO, Department for Business and Trade, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and the Intellectual Property Office.
Systemic creative industries policy for change
Since 1997, the UK has been a global pioneer in valuing and mapping cultural and creative industries as a major engine for economic growth and as a sector that promotes inclusive and sustainable growth across different areas: from museums to galleries, theatres to festivals, publishing to television and film, gaming to advertising across the UK.
Embedding tax codes for the creative industries in the formal UK economy through income tax, VAT, and corporation tax with HM Treasury ensured that in times of crisis, such as during Covid-19, the Chancellor was ready to take action with emergency funding and the furlough scheme to prop up the creative industries. The UK is now working with India to create policy frameworks that support the large unorganised creative sector in the country; and realise the economic potential of her rich creative and cultural wealth.
Creative economy powering inclusive growth and self-reliance
The British Council is working closely with government partners, such as the Ministry of Culture, several state governments, and sector bodies such as Ficci, to build evidence and data-driven approaches to build insight into the creative economy and culture industries. The Taking the Temperature Report, with the British Council, Ficci, Art X Company, and Smart Cube, brought together data on India’s formal economy contribution to GVA, which reduced from 2.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent during Covid-19.
Research confirms India’s creative industries are the second largest after agriculture, employing 200 million alone in the informal crafts and design sector. Managing rural unemployment or underemployment will be a key to managing India’s demographic dividend of being the largest young, working age cohort in the world.
Creative economy’s mainstream success
In 2019, the India-UK trading partnership in culture (as per DCMS) was the third largest globally after the US and Ireland. During Covid-19, in 2021, 20 Hindi films were filmed in the UK, despite the challenges of lockdown and social distancing, using studios, locations, and post-production.This artistic connection between India and the UK spans decades. Notable Hindi films such as Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Namastey London (2007), Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012), and Dilwale (2015) skilfully integrated the UK’s allure into their narratives.
Indian regional language films like Tholi Prema (Telugu), London Bridge (Malayalam), Jagame Thandiram (Tamil), and Gharey Pherar Gaan (Bangla), also incorporate the UK into their narratives. Created by Parambrata Chattopadhyay, who studied filmmaking in the UK, the Bangla OTT series Sharatey Aaj (2019) is a thriller set against the backdrop of a Durga Puja among the Indian and Bangladeshi Bengali community in London.
This vibrant artistic exchange is further celebrated at the London Indian Film Festival (LIFF), now known as the UK Asian Film Festival, the UK’s and Europe’s largest annual South Asian Film Festival.
Creating opportunities for emerging artists
India and UK partnerships in the space of art and culture also creates economic opportunities for lesser-known artists. The recent India/UK Together, Season of Culture, a landmark year of arts and culture programmes that marked India’s seventy-fifth anniversary of Independence, created over 51 partnerships across India, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and England in 21 cities. Over 1,945 artists and arts professionals showcased before an audience of 14.3 million people, collaborating across borders to celebrate, connect, and create. The global platform showcased emerging and established artists, arts companies, and institutions on an equal footing.
At the recently held Ministry of Culture G20 working group in Bhubaneswar, minister of state for culture and external affairs, Meenakshi Lekhi, said: “The word for culture in many Indian languages, sanskriti — is an amalgam of srishti (creation) and prakriti (nature).”
The wonderful harmony of the minister’s words is an inspiring prompt for us to reflect on the culture industries and the creative economy for greater social inclusion, environmental sustainability, and the generous sharing of expertise and skills across our nations. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi positions India as the spokesperson for the global South, the importance of plurality and mutuality in India and UK cultural exchange is even more important.
John Newbigin, one of the architects of the creative economy in the UK, asserts, “The creative economy is the fuel of the 21st century.” India’s G20 presidency looks assuredly set to take this ambition to heart and into action.
Debanjan Chakrabarti is director British Council, East and Northeast India, and Jonathan Kennedy is director, Arts India, British Council