Author: Uncover

Founded in 1985 with a vision to unite communities in the North West through a shared love of Indian arts, Milap celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2025 as the UK’s leading Indian arts and culture organisation. Over four decades, Milap has raised the national profile of South Asian music, dance, and culture, building a legacy that spans performance, education, and community engagement.

Over the last four decades, Milap have brought some of India’s most revered musicians and performers to stages across the UK through a rich and varied programme of music and dance, as well as pioneering the teaching and preservation of Indian classical artforms in the West and nurturing some of the UK’s most exciting emerging talent.

Their story began in 1985, when Dr Prashant Nayak and a group of like-minded friends hosted ‘Indian Cultural Evenings’ in Liverpool – to enhance friendship, understanding and cooperation between the local community and people of South Asian origin who made a home for themselves in Britain in the 1980s.

40 years on, their dedicated mission to promote Indian culture in North West England has spread nationally, culminating in the creation and delivery of groundbreaking artistic projects, with a strong track record of producing world class performances, educational development programmes and workshops that spotlight classical Hindustani and Carnatic artforms and recognition at their National Indian Arts Awards.

Music and Performance

Milap have worked with countless musicians that are globally renowned for their craft. Notably, British Mercury-Prize winner and pioneer of Indian Classical and Drum & Bass fusion Talvin Singh has been championed by Milap since the 1980’s – first bringing him to perform at the Bluecoat in 1993, and most recently collaborating with him at INDIKA 2023.

Fast-forward to their 40th year, Milap presented GRAMMY-winning bansuri virtuoso Rakesh Chaurasia at The Tung Auditorium in March 2025. The distinguished Chaurasia family’s musical legacy has also been a part of Milap’s story for decades – Rakesh’s legendary uncle Hariprasad Chaurasia graced the stage at the Bluecoat back in 1993.

This summer 2025, Milap are welcoming bass virtuoso Shez Raja back to the Wirral for an electrifying evening of his unique ‘Indo-funk-jazz’ sound, alongside electric guitar sensation, Guthrie Govan.

Dance India

Milap’s flagship Dance India programme remains a globally unique space for dancers of all styles to immerse themselves in an intensive week of learning, exchange, and artistic inspiration.

Today, celebrated artists like Arushi Mudgal and Sonia Sabri are shining examples of the impact of Milap’s enduring commitment to preserving and celebrating Indian dance forms. Arushi Mudgal was part of Milap’s first dance production Swadesh, then went on to become a key member of the Dance India team and has since been hailed by the New York Times’ Chief Dance Critic as ‘one of India’s most remarkable dancers’.

Sonia Sabri has also supported Milap in her role as tutor for Dance India and is now a multi-award winning dance artist, choreographer and movement director. She assisted in choreographing The Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in 2022. Milap have platformed both Sonia’s solo and company works throughout her career, including the 2010 grand opening of the Capstone Theatre in Liverpool .

SAMYO – National Youth Orchestra for Indian Music

Founded in 2002, SAMYO – Milap’s National Youth Orchestra for Indian music – has redefined the presentation of Indian Classical Music, by using classical instruments in a new context. Through SAMYO, Milap invite musicians and vocalists to break away from tradition to explore and push the boundaries of their instruments, whilst remaining true to their Indian classical training.

Former contestant on The Voice UK, Abi Sampa progressed through SAMYO and is now an Associate Artist of the Royal Albert Hall. SAMYO alumni Pirashanna Thevarajah has also taken his career to great heights, becoming a member of Pandit Ravi Shankar’s world tours and appearing on a GRAMMY nominated live album at the Royal Albert Hall alongside artists such as Anoushka Shankar and Jeff Lynne.

Jasdeep Singh Degun is the first ever sitarist and British Asian musician to be recognised and awarded a Royal Philharmonic Society Best Instrumentalist Award. He progressed through both SAMYO and TARANG as a young emerging sitarist and his career has seen him reshape the Indian Classical musical landscape. Jasdeep is now collaborating with BBC Concert Orchestra in Leeds and BBC Symphony Orchestra in London.

Arts School And Educational Programmes 

Milap’s educational reach over the last 40 years extends even further than their ensembles, targeting aspiring young musicians in the North West of all ages and abilities. A foundation of these inclusive opportunities includes Milap’s Arts School; a term time education programme based in Liverpool featuring weekly classes of Indian Performing Arts. Milap’s Arts School has allowed students to work closely with experienced teachers in a vast range of Indian art forms.

The local Merseyside communities have also experienced the lasting impact of Milap’s work via a range of workshops and masterclasses, offering people the unique opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge from the world’s leading Indian music and dance stars. This supported learning has ensured that audiences, aspiring artists and inquisitive students have all had access to memorable and inspirational experiences of Indian Arts for decades.

Festivals and Partnerships

Adopting a vision of ‘Uniting Hearts Through Arts’, Milap’s mission has been to strengthen both Liverpool and Britain’s multicultural society, ensuring that Indian Arts and Culture is accessible to their local communities.

Milap have made significant contributions to projects by Liverpool City Council over the years, including River of Light and most notably, the 50th Anniversary of The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 2017. This milestone celebration saw Milap present ‘The Beatles Ragafest’ at St George’s Hall, where world-renowned Hindustani and Carnatic artists explored the works of George Harrison.

Since 1985, Milap have also partnered with numerous venues including the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, The Capstone Theatre, The Tung Auditorium, The Bluecoat and Bundobust in Liverpool.

Coming off the back of a fantastic spring season of concerts, Milap are continuing the 40th celebrations with many more exciting performances and projects planned for the rest of the year. 2025 will also see the return of INDIKA – their bi-annual 15-day festival of Indian Arts & Culture in Liverpool.

As the organisation reflects on this milestone year, Artistic Director Alok Nayak shares what it means to the team and community:

“Milap began in 1985 as a niche festival, introducing Liverpool to some of the world’s greatest Indian artists at venues like The Bluecoat and Philharmonic Hall. Since then, we’ve grown nationally and internationally — but Liverpool remains at our heart. This 40th anniversary is a moment to share stories that changed lives, surprised us, and brought people together. It’s a celebration not of ourselves, but of everyone who’s shaped Milap’s journey. We hope it inspires new generations to dream, create, and believe in what’s possible — especially in a city like Liverpool, where culture and community are always deeply connected.”

Explore Milap’s spring / summer 2025 programme of events here.

In this latest instalment of Buried Treasure, John Maguire of ArtsGroupie CIC uncovers the wealth of history housed within Liverpool Central Library and Archives. Nestled between the World Museum and the Walker Art Gallery, this cultural jewel reveals fascinating stories, rare artefacts, and a vital opportunity for the public to learn how to preserve their own heritage through free home archiving workshops.

Perhaps one of the best examples of Buried Treasure in our City is a jewel that can be found in between the two other precious stones on William Brown Street, the World Museum and the Walker Art Gallery in the St George’s Quarter of Liverpool, Liverpool Central Library and Archives.

Established in 1860, Liverpool Central Library is the flagship building and hub of Liverpool Libraries and Information Services. The building was subject to a further £50 million rebuild and refurbishment and reopened in 2013 with a state-of-the-art repository archive which houses and protects the items within the Liverpool Record Office, the second busiest public archive in the UK. Internationally renowned, the Grade 2 listed heritage areas of the Picton Reading Room, the Oak Room and Hornby Library regularly attract visitors from all over the world, delighted by the opulent splendour of the Victorian and Edwardian architecture. The new building has also won several architectural awards. 

This public resource offers a bounty of riches, there is the majestic Audubon, BIRDS OF AMERICA on display in the Oak room, which looks like it has been lifted straight from the bookcase of Roald Dahl’s BIG FRIENDLY GIANT. Watched over by the cyclops in the wood (if you know, you know).

But it is the behind the scenes resources that are thrilling. When researching my play articulating the life of local public health pioneer Kitty Wilkinson (Kitty: Queen of the Washhouse), I discovered in depth facts / figures from public records and other valuable assets. This helped build a picture of what exactly Liverpool was like during the Victorian period.

Newspapers reveal details of the day to day lives, through advertisements and stories that bring the past to life. As I began to interrogate the life of William Roscoe for another play (A Portrait of William Roscoe) I found myself able to climb into the man’s head through his daily journals and manuscripts. Shakespeare revealed his belief in the power of love, when he had his character Cleopatra warn her lover, “You must woo me to the grave.” A view adopted by Roscoe, for I laid my hands on primary sources (direct artifacts) articulating his passion for his wife, writing her daily poems, even when they were married and living together.

This month sees the last week of ArtsGroupie’s Lights Up On Liverpool: Theatre History exhibition, on display in the Hornby Library, Central Library. This project evolved from a heritage walking tour to celebrate World Theatre Day in 2022 at The Epstein Theatre. Initial research found us wanting to know more.

Each week, we dived into the ocean of boxed up content archived around the theatres of the past. Unsure what would be encountered. Play bills from the 1700’s, like Hamlet and Macbeth, countless photographs detailing the ups and downs of the locations, lots of fire damage to venues. The theatres often had a pattern of suffering from financial problems and flames at some point.

But the piece de resistance discovered that blew my mind, finding the official ROYAL SEAL that declared Liverpool to have its own theatre by Royal approval in 1772 (the theatre stood where the Liverpool Football shop stands now in Williamson Square). It may have been administered by King George III but never materialised into a document and physical object until the reign of Victoria. Administration back then, like now, takes time. Bureaucracy can be a slow boat. 

One thing that came out of this research period, how important it is to ensure artefacts are looked after in the right way. A need to educate people in how to preserve things, archive programmes, tickets, documents in the proper fashion. For we encountered many archival injuries that had been done unknowingly by the general public. Like programmes scarred by Sellotape strips, tickets and newspaper clippings glued into books. The peril of rusted staples in paper booklets, discolouration and spotting of paper, creating brown or yellow spots, causing what is known as ‘foxing.’

This lack of knowledge gave an opportunity to develop a workshop to instruct people in how to create their own home mini- archive to then pass down through the generations. You can learn how to safeguard your precious memories and family treasures at our free Home Archiving Workshops in May and June.

These interactive sessions provide expert guidance on safely preserving your personal heirlooms, photographs, documents, and artifacts, in partnership with Liverpool Central Library and Liverpool Libraries and Information Services. You will leave equipped with skills and knowledge to keep your heritage safe for generations to come and even take-home materials to get you started on your first safe archive. Participants will learn practical, hands-on techniques using materials such as acid-free folders and specialist preservation methods. Sessions are limited capacity at Central library – Sat 17th May: 2- 4pm and Mon 19th May: 5:30- 7:30pm. 

For dates and locations of all the other FREE workshops in the regional libraries – see the calendar on the home page artsgroupie.org or email artgroupie@outlook.com to reserve a place.

Disclaimer: We are unable to give direct advice of genealogy or accept donations to the Liverpool Records Archive.

Kindly supported, by The National Lottery Heritage Fund thanks to money raised by National Lottery players to offer free heritage activity in connection with the ‘Lights Up on Liverpool’ exhibition currently on display at Liverpool Central Library which launched in November 2024.