Kala Sangam’s January Blog

Welcome 2025!

We have an incredibly exciting year lined up, and we can’t wait to take you along with us. We will be launching Bradford Arts Centre later this year, but for now, check out everything we have been up to in January…

Capital Update

There’s been a huge amount of progress on site since Christmas, with Bradford Arts Centre really starting to come to life!

Our old Ganges Theatre has been split in two, creating two new dance studios, whilst the fit out of BCB’s new studios and offices is well underway. The framework of our new First Floor mezzanine is up and work to open up the windows to create our new front doors is going well.

This month will see work progress on our new Ground Floor theatre, with the framework for seating going in and the walls and ceilings being prepared.

It’s all really starting to come together – we can’t wait to show you all around later this year!

It was brilliant to take some of our Artist Advisory Group on a tour of St Peter’s House to show them how the building work is taking space. We also had some fun thinking about how we make Bradford Arts Centre the best Arts Centre it can be!

Upcoming Performances

We have our Spring events going on sale very soon, so make sure you sign up to our mailing list and follow us on our socials to be the first to bag yourself some tickets. We are super excited for these events which are our final offsite before BDAC opens, and we will be bringing back our Arts Iftar in March too!

First Bradford Arts Centre Merch

We have our first official piece of Bradford Arts Centre merch!

Keep an eye out for our members of staff who now have pockets full of BDAC badges to hand out at our events. Don’t worry if you don’t get one – we have plenty more merch coming out soon!

What Have Our Staff Been Up To

Team Kala Sangam have been getting stuck into all things 2025, by making a visit to RISE, the opening night of the Bradford 2025 celebrations. We had a dance to the DJ, watched our fantastic local talent dance, sing and rap, and we saw plenty of magic! It was great to see so many of our friends performing. We also went to see Akram Khan’s Jungle Book Reimagined at The Alhambra Theatre. Thanks to Dance United Yorkshire for securing us tickets, they have been working on a very exciting project with Akram for 2025 later in the year. We are excited to see it!

Mo has had a very exciting start to 2025 – He became a dad! Mo and his wife welcomed their son into the world in early January, and we can’t wait to meet him!

Alex Croft had a lovely time in Windemere celebrating his and his friends’ birthdays. They played some board games, ate lots of food, had some drinks and spent plenty of time in the hot tub!

On New Year’s Eve, and over 3 further sessions at the start of January, Jez was DM (dungeon master) for a heist-adjacent game of Dungeons & Dragons. ‘Mission Implausible’ was a darkly comedic game for a group of friends as far-flung as Germany and The Isle of Man.

Fay celebrated the New Year with her family by visiting Whitby for the week. Fay stayed in a cottage overlooking the Abbey with her partner Karl, her parents and their dog Nala. The week consisted of lovely walks on the beach, a trip to the Abbey Brewery and some fish and chips.

Archive Adventures

Starting in February, we have an exciting new video project coming, highlighting parts of the interesting things our Archivist and the assistants are finding. Archive Adventures will delve into the past of Kala Sangam and our home at St Peter’s House – expect some interesting facts, familiar faces and some huge throwbacks!

Arts and Heritage Update

Jess and Arts and Heritage Officers did their second session of training over at BCB Radio. They are going to create their own show soon about all the brilliant work they are doing with our hubs and their communities.

On Tuesday, Grace and Ellie held their Rockwell Community Art sharing at BCB radio station! With artwork from all four groups, it was a great day of celebrating work created so far and to get to know new faces who came to have a look round. They set up a kitchen space in honour of Nanna Lucy, who’s living room saw the early performances of Katie and Jenny before Bloomin’ Buds was born. Thank you so much to everyone who came along and had a cuppa, and we hope all the wishes that were put in the well come true!! 

Over in Keighley, Lauren started the first session of the upcoming K-Town Cart 2025 workshop programme, at Lund Park Lantern Parade with Cecil Green Arts! Participants enjoyed making and designing their own mini candle holders and tealights to walk through the parade. Also they helped us start decorating the K-Town Cart, starting to make it their own! Lauren also enjoyed a trip to Cartwright Hall with Highfield Community Association men’s group to see the new Bradford 2025 exhibition, Fighting To Be Heard.

Storyteller Liv joined the Parent & Toddler group at Bloomin’ Buds for a Bronte Babies storytelling session! The group played with sensory toys, sang songs and joined in a story that led them through a wintery cave! The Bronte Babies was inspired by the Bronte family in a partnership between South Square Centre and the Bronte Parsonage Museum. 

Who Has Been Using Our Space

Sid Akbar, founder and artistic lead of Dhamaka Arts has been in the space with dramaturg/associate Jenn Wilson, devising and writing for their new show, which will open this autumn as part of the opening season in our new venue.

The next in Sid’s autobiographical series about the intersectional challenges of queer, brown, Muslim experience, this follows on from “Besharam: Shame Less”, Sid’s coming out story. The new work explores “family” in all its forms. Sharing lived experience that encompasses trauma and pain is a careful and thoughtful process – and one that is softened with escapism and humour… much of which comes from Sid and Jenn’s shared love of all things Star Trek. Their work is seriously playful, and there’s been a lot of laughter even at this early stage of creating the new piece.

So Captain Sid and his trusted advisor (geeky reference: Jenn is Guinan to Sid’s Picard) began the adventure this January. They boldly went into the wrath of Kahndan (family). Their 5 day mission (in our space) was to discover if Sid would be assimilated back into biological family traditions he has escaped… or discover that resistance is NOT futile and with a loyal crew of chosen family, explore queer new worlds. So far, the show includes a conversation with a fridge, a dodgy impersonation of Mariah Carey and navigating through clouds of flour… Sid and Jenn are inviting us and you, to follow their ongoing adventures as they make space for understanding, healing and growth… Sign up to the mailing list at www.dhamakaarts.com or follow @dhamakaarts on Instagram to keep up with the work as it develops into a full show.

School’s Performance

On Wednesday 29th of January we hosted the performance of Drift created by Interplay Theatre at Coop Academy Delius. Coop Academy Delius usually engage with us through our school’s takeover however this time we had the opportunity to go to them. The day consisted of two performances by Interplay in which we saw a total of 41 children with a range of physical disabilities and learning difficulties with staff alongside. This was a great performance to experience, and you could see the children were all really engaged. Here is what Aimee Helie, Assistant Headteacher of Delius had to say:

“The opportunity Kala Sangam provided for Interplay to visit our Academy was truly exceptional. Through the magic of live theatre, Interplay brought the story of DRIFT to life, creating an unforgettable experience that empowered and inspired our pupils. This unique opportunity allowed them to connect with the art of storytelling in a way that was engaging, inclusive, and transformative, leaving a lasting impact on all who experienced it. The engagement from all pupils was noticeable, with eyes fixed on the performers. Interplay and their team did an incredible job of meeting the needs of our pupils, adapting to their pace and interests, and truly building meaningful relationships through the performance. It was an experience that will be remembered by both our pupils and staff alike – thank you!”

Aimee Helie, Assistant Headteacher of Delius

Volunteer Call Out

Looking for some volunteering experience this year? We are pleased to announce that we have secured The People Can Volunteering Quality Standard Award! We are also a rewarding agency for the Citizen Coin scheme which recognises and rewards people for doing social good. Please sign up to Citizen Coin to see all of our amazing volunteering opportunities! Sound like something you would be interested in? Contact Amer on amer@kalasangam.org or give her a call 07512328372. Come and get involved!