BRITISH ARTIST & PRODUCER
JAMBO CINEMA
ABOUT ME
Dawinder's
Biography
Dawinder Bansal is an award-winning British producer and artist. She has a track record of producing brand new stage shows and creating immersive art installations by weaving South Asian cultural heritage and contemporary stories into her work.
Throughout the past decade, she has produced site-specific shows, exhibitions, art installations and festivals to spark curiosity of new audiences and international press. Clients include; National Festival of Making, Multistory, BBC, Centro Cultural Banco Do Brasil (Brazil), Channel 4, English Heritage, Southbank Centre, Selfridges, Oldham Coliseum and Cast in Doncaster. Dawinder also was responsible for developing and producing Southbank Centre’s largest South Asian festival, ‘Alchemy’ for the Black Country region.
Dawinder’s recent commissions include; Asian Women & Cars: Road to Independence – exploring untold stories of first generation Asian women who learned to drive in the UK.
Making of a South Asian Wedding – Commissioned by National Festival of Making, to engage diverse audiences by exploring wedding making traditions of South Asian communities during the 1980s era.
Jambo Cinema – commissioned Barbican Arts Centre for Leytonstone Loves Film festival - an autobiographical film and immersive living room experience about growing up in her parents Bollywood VHS film rental shop during the 1980s.
She produced 'Mother Tongues from Farther Lands', a stage show for London's Southbank Centre and was a finalist for Best Stage Production 2017 in ITV’s Asian Media Awards.
Dawinder’s commission ‘Making of a South Asian Wedding’ (National Festival of Making) is currently cited by Arts Council England - Creative People & Places programme as a leading example and best practice for creating work with and for diverse communities. As a consultant, she uses her expertise to help mid-large scale arts organisations and festivals to achieve diverse and non-arts attending audience engagement.
In 2018, Dawinder was invited to 10 Downing Street to meet with the Prime Minister to discuss her work with communities and her ambition to use arts to address loneliness in the UK.
In 2017 she was a recipient of a High Commendation by Asian Women of Achievement awards. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, Arts Adviser to the prestigious Jerwood Arts Foundation and serves on the Diversity Board at ITV Central.
Awards & Fellowships
Royal Society of Arts (RSA) 2018 - 2022
Dawinder is an active fellow at Royal Society of the Arts, a global network of 28,000 people who support the RSA's mission to enrich society through ideas and action. Fellows collaborate and have access to the brightest new ideas, innovative projects, a diverse network of like-minded people and a platform for social change.
NATIONAL DIVERSITY AWARDS - FINALIST 2021
In 2021, Dawinder was a finalist for the prestigious National Diversity Awards, supported by ITV News. Dawinder was recognised as a Positive Role Model and achievement through overcoming adversity as a young carer.
ASIAN MEDIA AWARDS - WINNER 2019
In 2019, Dawinder won the Creative Media Award at the annual Asian Media Awards, held in Manchester. She won this award for her film and art installation called Asian Women & Cars - The Road to Independence. The judges recognised her project as an outstanding piece of work which celebrated the hidden contribution of the first generation of Asian women who learned to drive in the UK.
Asian Woman of Achievement Awards 2017
Dawinder received a High Commendation by Asian Woman of Achievement Awards (AWA) 2017 in the Media category. She was recognised for her contribution to British arts sector. AWA put on a platform, the phenomenal Asian women across the UK and across industries, who are making a valuable and important contribution to British life. The awards play a key role in redefining the contribution of Asian women; and informing a new, positive, pro-diversity debate.
Board Member - Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton, 2020 - October 2022
Dawinder joined the board of director at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre in January 2020. Dawinder made history by joining the board by becoming the first South Asian and Sikh woman to join the board in 125 years.
Board Member - Birmingham Repertory Theatre 2003-2008
Birmingham Repertory Theatre is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre companies. It consistently produces innovative work, much of its work goes on to tour nationally and
internationally. It was a great privilege to serve on the board of a prestigious arts organisation such as The REP.