It’s hard to imagine London as a place without diversity. The rainbow shades of skin color, the melodic sounds of foreign languages, the abundance of cuisines and cultures from all corners of the world,... these are all components that make up this city’s DNA and help establish it as -- on the surface at least -- one of the most tolerant and vibrant metropolises we know today. 

However, diversity in Britain is a relatively modern concept which did not take root until after the Second World War. Those born and raised in London before the 80s will paint a very different picture of the capital from their childhood and share stories about their first encounters with a non-English person or culture. 

Thanks to immigration, the fabric of Britain has undergone a drastic transformation over the last 70 years. Now, an exhibition at the Southbank Centre is laying out the stories of those who migrated to this country and their roles in making Britain "great". 

很難想像倫敦若沒有多元文化，會是個怎樣的城市？許多我們所認知的倫敦素質: 由深到淺的膚色，悅耳的各國語言，與來自世界各個角落的美食和文化， 都是這個城市基因的一部分，也是促使它成為世界上最寬容和充滿活力的大都市之一的原動力。

其實「多元社會」在英國是個挺現代的概念，在第二次世界大戰之後才開始紮根。因此只要在80年代之前出生的倫敦人，童年記憶常會包括第一次接觸有色人種與非英國文化的經驗。

過去七十年來，英國接受了大量的移民，英國社會的面目也因此經歷了巨大轉變。現在，南岸藝術中心的一項展覽把外來人口的故事提上台面，讓大家有機會瞭解移民的經驗，以及他們為這個國家所做的種種貢獻。

Adopting Britain: 70 Years of Migration is an interactive exhibition about immigration that interrogates seven decades of British history, focusing on society, culture and politics.  To better grasp the changing landscape of Britain and how it became the nation it is today, we first need to understand the timing and motivations behind each stage of migration. 

「接受不列顛：移民記事70年」互動展，意在探討這七十年來外來人口為英國社會，文化和政治所帶來的震盪。若要深入瞭解英國歷年來所經歷的變化，我們必須得先認識各階段移民的時機與動機。

1946 - 1948

At the end of WWII there were labour shortages across Britain and work shortages in Europe, so the British government started to look for immigrants to fill the void.

The first groups to be allowed to settle in the UK were the Europeans, mainly from Poland, Ukraine and Italy. A large number of Indians also came to the UK after India gained independence in 1947, but there were still not enough labourers to meet the need. So the government turned to the residents of the West Indies partly due to their colonial links and contribution to the the British Empire during the war years.

In the summer of 1948, when a ship full of Caribbean men docked in London, Britain officially entered a new era of mass immigration and started venturing on the path towards multiculturalism. 

1946 - 1948年

二戰結束時，英國各地出現了嚴重的勞力短缺，歐洲的情況則相反，許多居民找不到工作。所以英國政府開始往大陸尋找移民來填補人力空缺。

第一批來英國的新移民大多是歐洲人，主要來自波蘭，烏克蘭和意大利。1947年印度獲得獨立後，也有大量印度人湧入英國定居。不過這些新增人口仍不夠滿足市場的需求，因此政府把矛頭轉向英屬西印度群島，因為這兒的居民對殖民者文化懷有某種崇敬之情，而且在戰爭時期為大英帝國做出了很大的貢獻。

1948年，一艘載滿黝黑的加勒比男人的船隻停靠在倫敦港口，正式揭開了大規模移民的新時代，英國從此踏上了多元文化的道路。

<<  Some words favored by the British media when discussing the issues of migration and immigration. 

<<  英國媒體探討移民問題時最喜愛的用詞常常與「水」有關（如洪水，潮流，波浪等）。

1972

In the days of the British Empire, people from the Indian subcontinent were encouraged to settle in the then-colonized Uganda and work for the Imperial service or in the financial or sartorial sector. Many became high earners in the country and called it home even after Uganda gained independence from Britain in 1962.

However, the prosperity of the Indians became a source of resentment in Uganda, and in 1972 dictator Idi Amin expelled 80,000 African Asians from the country, giving them just 90 days to make the move.

As many Ugandan Indians were British passport holders, thousands fled to Britain for a fresh start, making it the most significant immigration event of the decade.

1972年

大英帝國盛期，政府時常鼓勵印度次大陸人民來非洲的烏干達殖民地定居，在殖民機構當文職人員，也有許多亞洲移民從事金融與裁縫等較高端行業，長期以來成為了當地的高收入者，在烏干達1962年脫離英國獨立後仍然繼續留在此生活。

然而亞洲人的富裕成為烏干達經濟惡化的代罪羔羊，獨裁者伊迪·阿敏上任後不久，就於1972年下令逐出住在烏干達的八萬亞洲人，限期他們90天內離境。

許多持有英國護照的烏干達印度人因此逃往英國，掀起了1970年代最大的移民潮。

1989

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the eventual demise of communism in Central and Eastern Europe, a new wave of migration began. Originating from Europe, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and Africa, seekers of political asylum as well as a better life started to arrive in western Europe, many of whom landed in Britain. 

1989年

1989年，代表東西歐分隔的柏林圍牆倒塌，共產主義在中歐和東歐滅亡，啟動了一個新移民浪潮。許多人自中東，印度次大陸和非洲來到歐洲尋求政治庇護或工作機會，成千上萬的流動人口就在此時跨海來到了英國。

2004 - NOW

The most recent mass migration into the UK kicked off when the European Union expanded in 2004, and Britain opened its border and began to accept immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe. 

The census chart below highlights the consistent increase in the number of foreign-born residents in England and Wales since 1951, reflecting the continuous growth of immigrant population in the UK.

2004年 - 現在

最近的大規模移民於2004年歐盟擴大時開始，許多中歐東歐國家加入聯盟，英國因此開放邊境，歡迎外來勞工。

以下的普查圖表凸顯了自1951年以來在英格蘭和威爾士，外國出生的居民人數的數字，反映了移民人口在英國的持續增長。

While most of us appreciate Britain's diversity, a multicultural society is not without its problems. However subtle, many immigrants still face everyday racism and employment discrimination.

During the eurozone financial crisis, migrants from new European Union member nations became the scapegoat for unemployment among Britons. Now with crises unfolding in the Middle East and Islamophobia on the rise in the West, even the second or third generation immigrants can still fall prey to such prejudice. 

Such is the premise Adopting Britain：70 Years of Migration is trying to explore: the ways in which people of all ethnicities and backgrounds are stitched into the fabric of Britain, as seen through the eyes of migrants who've made this country home.

許多人仰慕英國的多樣性，不過一個多元文化的社會並不是沒有問題的。今日，無論膚色，語言或背景，許多移民仍時常面臨著日常生活中微妙的種族和就業歧視。

不久前的歐元區金融危機，讓來自歐盟新成員國的移民成了英國高失業率的替罪羊之一。今日，隨著西方日益嚴重的「伊斯蘭恐懼症」，許多土生土長的英國穆斯林，也都能親身感受到英國社會對穆斯林所存在的歧視與排斥。

「接受不列顛：移民紀事70年」展覽的宗旨，就是要以外來人的眼光來尋找融入這個文化大熔爐國度的方法，與探討移民所面對的現實社會問題。

** This article was originally published in 2015

ADOPTING BRITAIN: 70 YEARS OF MIGRATION

接受不列顛：移民記事70年

Dates:       CLOSED

Location:  Spirit Level at Royal Festival Hall, Southbank, London, UK MAP