Spotlight.
Ankna Arockiam
INTRODUCTION
Originally from Hyderabad, India, Ankna Arockiam moved to Glasgow in 2011 to pursue her passion for music. A graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) in Vocal Performance, she has since completed a PhD at the University of St Andrews, exploring the musical, cultural, and social identities of young Western classical musicians in Indian cities. She is currently a lecturer at the RCS and a Fellow at the School of East Asian and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.
A versatile singer, Ankna’s performances span festivals and venues across India and the UK. With roots in both Indian and Western classical traditions, she thrives on creative collaborations that cross styles and genres, from concert stages to theatre and film, where she has worked as a singer, actor, and composer.
Beyond her artistic and research pursuits, Ankna is the founder of Glasgow Sitare, a singing group for South Asian women, co-founder of Shared Narratives, an initiative empowering researchers of colour in the performing arts, and is the Artistic Director of Westbourne Music.
She also champions equity and inclusion in the music world through her work with: Musicians’ Union – Vice Chair for Scotland and Northern Ireland, European League of Institutes of the Arts (ELIA) – EDI Working Group.
INTERVIEW
How did you get into your creative practice? What initially inspired you?
It was my mum who first encouraged both my sister and me. We grew up in a community where music and the performing arts were seen as side hobbies rather than serious paths, but she kept swimming against the current, taking us to classes during the week and on the weekends. Bharatnatyam, Carnatic singing, choir rehearsals, later violin… she was tireless, and she will always be my first inspiration.
After that came the many teachers who walked with me for different stretches of this journey, each shaping me in their own way. Music and dance became woven into how I thought and experienced the world. We had this radio called World Space, a 24-hour station that was always on in our house, so sound was constantly in the air. From singing in church choirs to dancing in temples and everything in between, that’s how my creative practice came into being.
What themes do you tend to interrogate in your creative practices?
Like most things, the themes I’m drawn to shift and stay fluid depending on the project and the communities I’m working with. But activism, especially the joy of activism and the joy of resistance, is a constant. Feminist values surface often, and EDI themes naturally thread through most of the work I’m involved in.
My PhD research focused on identities, and I love that identity is never fixed; it ebbs, flows, and moves in unexpected directions. Above all, I try to create spaces where curiosity, respect, and play can flourish.
What is your favourite project you’ve ever worked on and why?
Gosh! There are so many projects I love. Maybe I’ll speak about the one I was most recently involved in. I worked with the incredible Edinburgh-based choreographer and dancer Himadri Madan on a show called The Gaze: you, me, us and them. It explored the ever-present societal gaze on women, the weight of any external gaze that attempts to define us.
Inspired by Mahasweta Devi’s Draupadi, the work delves into intersections of caste, class, gender, and body politics, tracing the tension between resistance and conformity. It is a blend of Kathak and contemporary movement with spoken word, music, interactive film, installation, and live performance. I performed the live music for the show, which we presented at Tramway in November.
It was during the post-show Q&A that the impact of the work really hit me. Hearing how deeply it resonated, especially for those who identify as women, made clear how universal the experiences of resisting and conforming to power structures are. With the 16 Days of Activism to End Gender-Based Violence happening at the same time, and this year’s theme focusing on digital violence against women and girls, the work has stayed very much on my mind.
What advice would you have for creatives of colour looking to get into your creative practices?
I’m slowly making my way through Pleasure Activism, and one idea from Adrienne Maree Brown that has really stayed with me, and that I want to offer to creatives of colour, is this: systems of oppression (racism, sexism, capitalism) teach us to feel guilty for experiencing joy and pleasure. So reclaim that joy. Claim it in your body, in your community, and in the small rituals of your everyday life. Your joy isn’t just personal, it’s political and it’s necessary. So lean into pleasure, into play. Go sing a song, write a poem, paint something that feels like you, and let yourself feel that joy fully. It is resistance in one of its most beautiful forms. :-)
And I have recently started the Artists’ Way 12-week programme. I would highly recommend taking a look at this book. It has been really helpful in tackling creative blocks and building confidence.
What are you currently working on?
At the moment, I have quite a few plates spinning, which isn’t always as glamorous as it sounds! I’m working on a research project in Glasgow centred around South Asian communities, and I have a few performances lined up for early next year. Most excitingly, I’m working on my own music, exploring my sound and discovering my voice.