Curating aesthetics – starting my journey with Kaleidoscope
Amrita Rahman is a third-year student studying English, with a particular interest in postcolonial literature. Born in Bangladesh, Amrita moved to the UK at the age of five. Keen to promote an environment where people feel a sense of belonging, she began promoting inclusivity and diversity locally in the student population through her position as secretary for University Hall from 2022-2023. In summer 2023, she started as a communications and social media intern with KAN, where she was able to continue to advocate for representation and diversity on a larger scale to empower voices in the community. Here, she shares her experience of being the Kaleidoscope Alumni Network’s first intern.
As a British-Asian woman, the opportunity for a communications and social media intern for the Kaleidoscope Alumni Network (KAN) immediately piqued my interest. Growing up in a multicultural environment, diverse stories of familial history and cultural differences informed and influenced my day-to-day life. Perhaps it is my natural propensity as an English student to focus on the importance of stories. In my view, tales of home told over the dinner table, the stories of migration and of cultural heritage, and children’s fairy tales originating from the other corners of the world have all created the idiosyncrasies that make us individuals. Stories make us unique.
The University of St Andrews has long been enriched by a diverse student body – students’ own tales informed by their lived cultural experiences. Yet, these stories often get overlooked, lost, confined to the periphery.
I wanted to be a part of KAN to help create an environment where stories of difference were not just highlighted but also celebrated. An environment in which the exchange of cultural experiences enables us to build a community where people feel represented and feel a sense of belonging. Social media is an integral part of this process as we bring together members of the St Andrews community (alumni, staff, students and their families) from all over the world to create a network which facilitates meaningful dialogue. By creating a social media page where people feel seen and voices are heard, we are aiming to honour the diverse communities which enrich St Andrews, and celebrate it as the international, multicultural institution we all know.
During my KAN internship, I was tasked with researching and creating LinkedIn and Facebook graphics for various religious and cultural holidays from around the world. Having researched each holiday in order to understand its significance for a given community, I created visual mood boards and images to represent them. The research element was an integral first step in the process because a faithful and sincere visual representation (as opposed to an appropriated one) is imperative.
The idea of creating striking visuals which conveyed the essence of the festival was an important part of the process, as, for communities who have often been overlooked, the idea of being seen is an integral first step in acknowledging their presence.
Currently I am in the process of building a KAN calendar which encompasses all of the cultural holidays in one space. This will become a resource for everyone in the St Andrews community; an interactive point of reference for information, education and engagement.
I am thankful to be a part of KAN, and for the opportunity it has given me to help build a fairer community and society where everyone feels valued and represented.