Muslim Women’s Council is a registered charity based in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Our vision is ‘for every woman, life with all its opportunities’, and our mission is to empower women for the benefit of society.

Our project, ‘Finding common ground through calligraphy’, is about using the beautiful art of calligraphy to bring together women of different faiths living in the same city, ensuring more women feel their stories are heard and valued. We will create an exhibition that encourages communities to converge and reflect on shared heritage living in Bradford regardless of faith.

The women will work together with a noted calligrapher, to learn calligraphy and design pieces of work showing their personal and shared representation of faith/God. We hope the women attending will benefit from the workshops by using them to relieve stress, encourage creative thinking, boost self-esteem, and have a sense of accomplishment, as the workshops will offer a journey of discovery, sharing identity, solidarity and building social capital that goes beyond the workshop and project.

The work created will be exhibited on a trail across Bradford with each of the pieces being hosted in a different location, offering local people an opportunity to experience and enjoy various aspects of Bradford’s colourful culture as well as the art. Locations will include places of worship, shops, community organisations, and restaurants. 

We hope that the images displayed across Bradford will offer the opportunity for audiences to have the chance to engage in a creative experience and develop understanding of different local heritages. We hope each location will become an engagement space in everyday life for families, children and communities to reflect on the qualities that underpin the work displayed.

We have chosen calligraphy as it is an evolving and supple form, which allows mutuality rather than divisiveness. The focus of the project and the exhibition is to show the public the similarities of our beliefs. Furthermore, amid the rise of digital art, we will also help advocate the continuous survival of calligraphy as an art form.