Written by Kasim Tariq, Founder of Fayakunu
With only a few days remaining of 2022, I write this as a reflection of my personal journey. I find that jumping off at the deep end isn’t such a terrible idea for creative minds like myself. You see after graduating, I genuinely didn’t feel stimulated by the work that was available to me. I felt restricted in my creative outlets and all of a sudden as if there was a glass ceiling above me.
It has taken time but I’ve nurtured the unique social business design to truly establish a support network for other creatives in this city whilst tackling major social issues. In the beginning, much of the work was on my shoulders with me having to create architectural plans for the space whilst also being the builder in action. Not to mention learning how to establish organisational structures, manage the accounts and apply for grants for further development.
Thankfully after finding other passionate artists to join the board our workflow has levelled up. Haider Cheema our newest member, a Bradford-born web developer and Digital Leader for Fayakunu, works collaboratively to enhance our Digital Strategy. Our strategy ensures Fayakunu reaches the right social channels but also lays the foundations for our online marketing platform, Fayakunu Collections. Our online marketplace curates digital and physical works of art crafted by our in-house residents and local artists.
As far as construction is concerned we’ve ticked off some major milestones this year. To combat a significant issue with water ingress, we’ve successfully damp-coursed the workshop after devising and installing a French drain system to evacuate the water. The concrete floor has been laid in most of the workshop and the existing concrete was repaired. The ceiling required over 120m of timber to frame and 15 plywood sheets, arduous but rewarding now that I can see the woodgrain stand out with the teak oil finish. We’ve also had a three-phase power supply installed and over the course of the year had five skips of rubbish removed from the site. Check out the YouTube video here!
For 2023, we will be launching our online store and our crowdfunding page. We have some fantastic reward tiers available for donors so be sure to follow our social channels to keep informed. We need our online community to get us to our crowdfunding goal so we can establish our ceramic workshop and Islamic art studio in Bradford. This project aids ethnic minorities and the harder-hit community members of Bradford to learn skills in woodworking, 3d printing, pottery, and carbon fibre casting; whilst enabling them to sell their own creations through our platforms.
Fayakunu is an organisation that is adamant about preserving and teaching the world heritage arts with a particular focus on Islamic art, which includes geometry, illuminations and various world-renowned techniques in creation. We will also be hosting major artists of ethnic backgrounds to showcase their ethnic heritage through the arts, creating space for conversation and sharing of cultural understandings. Bradford is such an incredibly diverse city but to use this as our strength we need to embrace the opportunity for highlighting who we really are.
Fayakunu welcomes and supports creative artists in order to boost social enterprise in the community; through our urban regeneration project, we embrace cultural identity and Islamic heritage.
Don’t forget to check out our latest series of Youtube videos where we celebrate Bradford’s astonishing architecture through a collaborative project with Architect, Clovis Keuni: showcasing City Centre at night, Chellowdene Reservoir and Lister Mills like never before in 4K Drone footage.
Don’t forget to hit like & subscribe to our channel.
We will be bringing you regular updates on the progress of the renovation and launch of our crowdfunding page. You can help Fayakunu by sharing the message about our revolutionary new project for City of Culture 2025, Bradford. Head on over to our Social Impact page to see why this project is so important to Bradford & Fayakunu.
From all at Fayakunu, we wish you a Happy New Year!!
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