Keith Khan

Keith Khan (born 1963, Wimbledon) is an English artist, designer and performance artist.^[1] In 1996, together with Ali Zaidi, he co-founded the arts organisation Motiroti.^[2][3]

Designer Keith Khan, LEEDS 2023 (cropped)

Life

Khan studied fine art / sculpture at Middlesex University.^[4] Until 2004, most of the artistic events with which Khan was directly involved were under Motiroti, which produced projects such as Flying costumes, Floating Tombs^[3] (1991) which won the Time Out Dance and Performance Award; Queen's Golden Jubilee Commonwealth Celebrations^[5] (2002) and Alladeen^[6] (2004) which won the Village Voice OBIE Award Special Citation, co-produced by The Builders Association. Khan departed from Moti Roti in 2004 and has filled a number of senior executive positions since then, most notably, Head of Culture^[7][8] and then Artistic Executive to the^[9] 2012 Summer Olympics (2007 to 2009) and sitting on the panels of high-profile funding bodies, including the Wellcome Trust^[10] and as a Council Member of the Arts Council of England.^[11] Keith Khan is also a member of the Advisory Panel of Art on the Underground^[12] and was the Costume and 3D Designer for the Opening Ceremony for the Central and Opening Show at the Millennium Dome^[13] (2000); Director of Design for the 2002 Commonwealth Games ceremonies under the direction of David Zolkwer.^[14] Chief Executive of Rich Mix^[15] (2004 to 2007); Chair of Diversity Group for Creative Economy Programme Working Group^[16] (2006) and has been a member of the Commonwealth Group on Culture and Development since 2009.^[17]

Controversy

Rich Mix – Khan resigned amid questions of leadership and cost controlling. Karen Bartlett wrote in The Times ""Keith was not a natural cost controller, but the board was also weak". Overstaffing, disputes between builders and architects with some funders temporarily withholding revenue in 2007 until a new business plan could be agreed. Khan did not want to comment on Rich Mix for this article."^[15][18][19]

London 2012 – While in his role as Head of Culture, Khan was criticised by some ^[who?] commentators for being excessively "anti-elitist".^[20] He was commended by others for trying to make the Arts more relevant to young people across the UK.^[21] His departure in 2008 was greeted with relief by some ^[who?] in the press and concern by others. The response of Richard Brooks in The Times was "Thank goodness... Keith Khan, its artistic executive, is leaving.".^[22]

Interviews

• Review of the theatre piece "A midsummer night dream" with Keith Khan for the Victoria and Albert Museum
• Interview with Keith Khan on Culture and Diversity from the 2009 Commonwealth People's Forum
• Interview with Keith Khan for the Trinidad & Tobago Express entitled "The time is right for the Caribbean region..."

Talks

• "Culture as Catalyst" talk, Ministry of Tourism, Trinidad & Tobago, October 2009
• Monitoring Scenography 3: "Olympic Scenography – The Opening Ceremonies of the Olympic Games", October 2009
• Frame by Frame, "A symposium on the dance of Indian cinema and its transition into Bollywood dancing", July 2009^{[permanent dead link][23]}
• Intercultural Cities Conference, May 2008
• "Leading Voices" talk on cultural diversity and the art of making creative cities, Australia Council for the Arts, 10 April 2008
• African and Asian Heritage, Legacy and Leadership, February 2008
• No Man's Land: Exploring South Asianness, May 2004^[24][25]