My arts practice has evolved over the years, morphing from Theatre Design, into creating Workshops for Youth & Community settings, into Mental Health & Wellbeing. Whilst there have been distinct core starting points here, they have moved beyond neat boxes and the intersections of all these themes are where there have been some wonderful opportunities to collaborate with fellow artists and communities. This work is often related to themes around peacebuilding, social justice, community development, awareness raising or to practice our listening skills, as well as to play and have fun! These projects have opened up how I work together with people, in their and our spaces.
Below are some examples of collaborative projects:
WUR BRADFORD
Wur Bradford (Wur means ‘we are’ or ‘our’ is an independent grassroots arts project which is about exploring how we can make our city and our world better through imagination and collective action. Run by artists Jean McEwan, Chemaine Cooke and Uzma Kazi, Wur work with people to explore how creativity might be used to make empower us and connect us. Image by Jean McEwan.
INSPIRING NON VIOLENCE ZINE: TURNING THE TIDE PROGRAMME
Uzma and Jean were invited to participate and create a visual documentation of the speakers and participants experiences of non-violent actions in their spaces around the World. Check out the zine here.
THE BEAST OF BRADFORD
An audio/visual storytelling of the based on the tale of a wild boar which rampaged in the woods around Bradford long, long ago.
In collaboration with Mike Barrett of http://www.frogsdesign.co.uk/ (Graphic Designer) and Ruth Fettis (Printmaker). Watch on Youtube here: The Beast Of Bradford
CATALYST
In Feb 2014, a group of social activists came together from across Bradford & Keighley to participate in the Catalyst Leadership programme, supported by Near Neighbours. We created a monthly radio show, aired on BCB Radio 106.6fm on matters around local/global social justice and awareness-raising issues.
TENx9 BRADFORD
Tenx9 Bradford is a storytelling night, where 9 people have up to 10 minutes each to tell a true story of their lives based on a theme. Tell a story or be a listener for others.
Tenx9 Bradford is run by a group of volunteers, and is an alternative social on the first Friday of the month. Tenx9 currently takes place at Millside Centre in Bradford City Centre.
BRADFORD SOUTH ASIAN FESTIVAL
In Summer 2020 a group of artists, community organisers, teachers, journalists, women and of South Asian Heritage from Bradford came together to put on a festival which celebrated our cultural heritage as a collective. The month-long festival covered themes on art, music, dance, storytelling, as well as inviting people to engage in conversations around our lived experiences with relevant historical, contemporary and geographical lenses. Over the next two years, we went on to co-create the festival over a long weekend, marking Freedom, Independence, Migration and other stories that make Bradford’s South Asian identity what it is.
My role on BSAF was as co-director from 2020-2022. Check out the highlight video from 2021 here.
CECIL GREEN ARTS
Cecil Green Arts is an artist led organisation based in Bradford that works with communities to create street theatre and events specialising in large scale lanterns and puppets.
In 2023, I joined Cecil Green Arts on the Board of Directors, alongside Harry Kingham and Katie Jones.
Check out CGA’s work here.
Uzma Kazi 2024 