Visual Arts

A new exhibition, entitled Interface, runs at Wolverhampton Art Gallery until May 2nd 2009. The gallery commissioned award winning photographer Michelle Sank to take portraits of the city's Muslim and Sikh youth.

Football boots

The portraits show young people growing up in Wolverhampton, on the brink of adulthood. Although they are from Sikh or Muslim families, they are growing up in a culture very different from that of their parents and grandparents.

Image from Interface: Michelle Sank

In one photograph, a girl stands in traditional Sikh dress in a leafy suburban street. In another, a Sikh boy kneels beneath a tree, his football boots peaking out beneath his Sikh clothing.

Pride and defiance

Wolverhampton sits in the midst of a landscape that was once at the heart of British industry. It is the UK's 13th largest city, and according to the most recent census, around 25% of residents belong to ethnic minority groups.

During its industrial hay day, immigrants from all over the world flocked to the city, to find work in mining and manufacturing, far from their countries and cultures of origin. Many of these people were Sikh or Muslim.

Image from Interface: Michelle Sank

Generations on, the powerful influence of both British and Asian cultures is evident in Wolverhampton's youth, as these photographs show. In one image, a Sikh boy stares sidelong into the camera, sporting an England football shirt and turban with equal pride.

Beyond labels

South African born artist Michelle Sank has travelled Britain, photographing young people from all manner of cultures and backgrounds.

From adolescents in an Irish village, to England's teenage mothers and residents of a rehabilitation unit for youth offenders, she has sought to go beyond the labels and burdens that society may place upon their shoulders.

Image from Interface: Michelle Sank

Richness

Sank has always been interested in the issues surrounding ethnic diversity, and how they impact on young people:

"My interest in different cultures stems from my upbringing in South Africa, which was so multicultural. The richness that comes from this is inspirational for me photographically."