Promoting Intangible Cultural heritage of South Asian people

Mission

South Asian Heritage Society Cymru (SAHSC) works to build a more inclusive Wales by making sure South Asian communities are properly recognised, represented, and valued.

We collect, preserve, and share the lived experiences, memories, and cultural traditions of South Asian people in Wales and across the diaspora, ensuring these stories are not lost and are accessible for future generations.

Vision

We aim for a Wales, and a wider world, where the histories of South Asian communities are fully embedded within national narratives rather than treated as separate or secondary.

We see a future where migration, settlement, and cultural exchange are understood as central to shaping society, and where these histories continue to inform identity, belonging, and dialogue across generations.

Values

• We hold that South Asian Intangible Cultural heritage is an inseparable part of Welsh, British, and global history.
• We recognise South Asian identity as diverse and evolving, spanning connections to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, the Maldives, and global diaspora communities.
• We value diversity in all its forms and actively seek to reflect differences in language, religion, region, caste, class, gender identity, sexuality, and personal experience within our collections.
• We believe migration and diaspora communities are fundamental to understanding modern Wales.
• We respect everyday lives and personal stories as powerful historical records in their own right.
• We believe heritage should be actively shared and shaped by communities, not preserved in isolation.
• We support the use of heritage as a tool for confidence-building, identity, and community empowerment.
• We embrace technology as a way to make heritage more open, interactive, and widely accessible.
• We see archives as living, evolving spaces that support reflection, discussion, and learning.
• We believe community archives should be active and engaging—kept alive through participation rather than left static.