Bright Nights: Empire

Head to Kensington Palace to hear from writers, artists, scientists and psychologists all exploring the complex and contested legacy of the British Empire. In the spot where Queen Victoria was born and grew up hear debates on the impact of the Empire on our contemporary ideas about race and identity. Over two nights listen to original works on race an didentity by award-winning poet Anthony Anaxagorou, hear ethnographer and journalist Irna Qureshi explore the idea of Britishness in a Pakistani context, literary researcher Sarah Jilani will question the makings of Englishness through literature, watch dance performances from choreographer Jeanefer Jean-Charles fusing African movement and Victorian court dances and hear spoken word artist Jaspreet Kaur share poetry on the impact of Empire and taboo subjects both in the Asian community and wider society.