Description: The sound in this video is damaged, and does not work for the majority of the video and first works around 9 minutes in. In the black-and-white handheld video, we see a selection of dance and music performances at the Big Show of the Tower Hamlets Arts Show (THAP). The Tower Hamlets Arts Project (THAP) was formed in 1976 out of protest to the Thames Television ‘Eyesights’ scheme which commissioned professional artists to create posters for display in the borough, rather than investing in local arts projects. A crowded public meeting in February 1975 called for an alternative, bolder plan, bringing together existing and fledgling arts activities under a coordinating body to be called the Tower Hamlets Arts Project (THAP). The purpose was to create opportunities for everyone to participate in community art. THAP celebrated their achievements with a month-long ‘Big Show’ at the Whitechapel Art Gallery. A performance that begins with a Jazz orchestra with young white men playing trumpets and saxophones. This is followed by an accordion duet with two white men. Next, we see a young South Asian woman singing with a guitar.

Afterwards, we see a South Asian woman perform a traditional dance. The sound stops again after this performance around 12 minutes in, which is then a musical performance between two South Asian men who play the batá drum and the Shruti box, with vocals. Next, we see a performance with a woman performing the Shruti box and two men on drums. Finally, we see a skit – featuring a soliloquy delivered by a South Asian man holding onto a pair of shoes. This is then followed by two men on stage, one holding onto a manuscript.