'Culture can change the world'

Expat zone

Life has come full circle for Alan Gemmell. He started learning piano at the age of 14 and then he went to a conservatoire where he thought he would become a pianist. But soon he changed his mind and started asking himself questions like, “how the world worked” and “who was responsible for making changes”. “Very stupidly, I realised that musicians wouldn’t change the world, so I decided to study law. Then I thought politicians change the world, and when I met politicians, I realised that civil servants change the world,” recollects, Gemmell.

“Now, I am back in a job that absolutely and utterly says that anybody can change the world. I have always believed that culture can change the world. It has taken me 20 years to realise this ,” he says.

The career graph of British Council’s India director offers a fascinating insight into the life of a man, who, according to GQ magazine’s 2016 list is one of the 100 ‘Most Connected Men’ in the UK. The 38-year-old was a civil servant in Britain from 2002 to 2007 before he joined British Council and served as director Israel (2012-12016) and deputy director Mexico (2011 – 2012) and director of external relations, London (2008 – 2011).

“It is a great joy to be in a job where you can group artistes together as they are the cultural voices and hold the power to change the world,” he says.

It’s been only a few months since he came to India, but he has already set his eyes on the projects he is excited about. “One is ‘Mix the City’ for which we have collaborated with Sonya Mazumdar. She will work with us to find musicians whose melodies reflect and represent four Indian cities: Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Delhi. Together, we will create YouTube videos of these musicians performing in their respective cities and then create mobile phone apps to let people remix that YouTube video so that you can create your own version,” he tells Metrolife.

“The second project I am excited about is ‘Mix the Play’ which is headed by theatre director Roysten Abel and where a series of Indian actors will take Shakespeare across the country and reinterpret his work. This will allow people to experience the world of a director by reinterpreting his plays. We will ask them to choose actors, costumes and even scenes,” he adds.

Gemmell had come to India five years ago, when he was serving in Mexico. He was here for four days and had travelled to cities like Chennai and Amritsar. It was then, he says, he had decided to be in India at “some point of time in my life”. An advocate of people-to-people engagement, he wants to celebrate the relationship India and Britain share and hopes to reconnect youngsters in both the countries by creating programmes and activities that are truly inspirational. “We want young people in Britain to understand what this country has become and what it has to offer. We also want young people in India to know that UK is also a vibrant, contemporary and diverse society,” he says.

“The British Council does this by creating programmes in culture and other fields. We strongly believe that if you work in culture and share the English language, you start building trust and understanding. And that trust and understanding makes the place a slightly better place, which we need right now,”
he says.