Writing in the Independent newspaper yesterday, columnist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown says British Asians don’t appreciate the arts as much as they should. She added:

British Asians today still don’t get the arts, and don’t want to either. Got better things to do. They push their young people into real jobs that bring in big bucks, or at least good brides from families with big bucks. A painter, novelist, playwright, actor, cannot be admitted into respectable or wealthy dynasties – unless, of course, there is evidence of stardom.
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Jatinder Verma, founder of Tara Arts, the British Asian theatre company, observes some stirrings of interest, but largely superficial. “Over the last two decades, people have become more comfortable, and a small number from this emerging middle class are coming in. But too few are passionate about theatre or dance. There is no understanding that the arts have intrinsic value, that they tell us who we are as a society, our relationships. We have not looked to critiquing ourselves, what our place is in this country, this world. We are not yet in love with ideas.”
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“Asian kitsch has cachet now,” says one composer who wishes to remain anonymous. “The young would rather go to fashion shows than exhibitions, listen to Britney rather than Nitin Sawhney. There are, of course, brilliant individuals who will always rise, but with no blood links, cultural pathways to and from their people. We British Asian artists are lost before we were found, and I am very depressed about the future.”

Is there a hint of truth to these accusations? Are British Asians too in love with simple entertainment and not experimental enough with the arts?