September Blog
Kala Sangam’s September Blog
Welcome to the September edition of the Kala Sangam Blog!
Capital Update
It’s been another busy month on site at St Peter’s House.
We were delighted to welcome Secretary of State for Culture Media & Sport Lisa Nandy for a site visit, along with Arts Council England’s Deputy Chief Executive Laura Dyer and Susan Hincliffe, Leader of Bradford Council. It was the ideal time to show them around, with demolition and strip out now fully completed and some key areas now under construction – including our new, accessible public lift!
September also saw us installing our new hoardings around the site. As well as sharing some of our favourite images from the company’s 30 year history, the hoardings showcase some brand new poetry from Bradford poets Kamal Kaan, Nabeela Ahmed, and Kirsty Taylor and Kemmi Gill. They are also your first chance to see our new Bradford Arts Centre brand – let us know what you think!
Archivist Announcement
As Kala Sangam looks to the future, we have appointed Memory Dance Ltd to protect the past.
We are delighted to be working with Memory Dance to create an archive that will reflect and preserve the organisation’s thirty-year history and document the stories, memories and history of the company’s home, St Peter’s House. Read our news post here
Latterhand: Beck
On Friday the 27th of September we had Latterhand transform the beautiful Bradford Club for their performance of Beck. A video of different points of Bradford’s Beck was projected behind Ian and Phil of Latterhand, with the room lit by candlelight and filled with incredible music. It was great to be joined by so many people and experience the performance together!
‘Gorgeous performance in a very beautiful venue’
Audience Feedback
Upcoming Events
Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa: Cane, Corn & Gully
Thu 17 Oct | 7.30pm | Ilkley Playhouse Weston Rd, Ilkley LS29 8DW | Pay What You Decide
Adapted from Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa’s highly acclaimed debut poetry collection, Cane Corn & Gully is a live literature performance integrating visual art, dance, poetry & spoken word. As Safiya navigates the historical narratives of Barbadian women through their dances she learns valuable lessons on womanhood, love & ice-cream sandwiches. This literary experience will share ground-breaking research on black history & may feature historical tales some audiences may find disturbing. In Partnership with Ilkley Literature Festival.
Tickets available here (To access PWYD tickets, use the code KALASANGAM at checkout)
Qaisar Mahmood Qawwal: Qawwali
Wed 23 Oct | 7.30pm | Pictureville Bradford BD1 1NQ | Pay What You Decide
Don’t miss this evening of traditional qawwali favourites with one of the UK’s leading qawwali groups – Qaisar Mahmood Qawwal.
Inspired by the likes of Ustaad Fateh Ali Khan, the Sabri Brothers and Ustaad Sher Ali Khan, Qaisar Mahmood Qawwali have trained with acclaimed musicians from the sub-continent. They will be performing a mix of traditional qawwali, gazzals, geets and other party songs. In partnership with Pictureville at National Media Museum Tickets available here
No Dress Code at Yorkshire Dance
Fri 22 Nov | 8.00pm | Studio Theatre at Yorkshire Dance, 3 St Peter’s Square, Leeds LS9 8AH | Pay What You Decide
We are partnering with Yorkshire Dance to support No Dress Code, their informal scratch night.
This is the chance to work new works-in-progress by dance artists and companies. This is a pay-what-you-can event with a suggested donation of £5.00 which goes directly to the artists who perform.
Artists performing include Bradford based Zoe Katsilerou, who will be presenting new work, Voices.
Book tickets here
Artists Advisory Group
It was brilliant to welcome our Artist Advisory Group to Bank House in September for the first meeting! We spent the day getting to know each other and talking about our plans for the future – including a look at the plans for how Bradford Arts Centre will look when it reopens. We are really excited to be working with this group over the next few years. They will be feeding into many aspects of our work including giving feedback on our programme, helping to shape our artist support offer and even testing out our café and bar. We will also be helping them to develop their skills and gain more experience of how venues run. We can’t wait for the next meeting in the new year!
What Have Our Staff Been Up To
Alex Corwin had a busy week off including a couple of days up in Saltburn and a trip to Ilkley to see her favourite author, Kate Atkinson, as part of Ilkley Literature Festival. She also went to Headingley to watch England play Australia – it was a disappointing day for English cricket fans in general but she missed England taking 3 wickets in quick succession because she was at the bar!
Claire has had an amazing September! She celebrated her 30th Birthday in style with her best friend who planned a surprised filled visit to York, including a mystery walking tour where they solved clues to a story whilst seeing York’s sights. This was finished with afternoon tea at Betty’s, they both had an amazing day! Claire has enjoyed celebrating her birthday with all her friends and family and is looking forward to celebrating her and Fay’s birthdays with the rest of the Kala Sangam team soon!
Its been a busy month for Mo! He has moved into a new house with his wife, they are currently decorating and working on their garden. He has also bought a gorgeous little kitten, but he is struggling for names. The Kala Sangam team have been on hand to help with naming, but he is still open to suggestions, so if you have any ideas then let us know!
September was quite a musical month for Steve – he attended an Asian wedding in Wolverhampton, complete with a live bhangra band – he had to brush up on his ‘changing the light bulb’ moves! He also saw Jamie Cullum in Manchester – one of his favourite jazz musicians, he last saw him over 20 years ago when he was first starting out – also in Manchester.
Arts and Heritage Update
Grace and Ellie from Bloomin’ Buds
Grace and Ellie have been out chatting with the local community this month in and around BD10 whilst delivering some get to know you sessions at The Rockwell centre. The gardening group in particular have had lots of fun teaching Ellie and Grace about what they grow in the Rockwell allotment. The group have knowledge on everything, from how they pollinate their plants with the Rockwell beehives to using the home-grown raspberries to make award winning Jam. We can’t wait to see what the collaboration between creativity and green fingers might grow in the near future.
Lauren from Keighley Creative
After a long, busy summer, I’ve spent this month continuing to get to know the community whilst planning the next stages of activity. I’ve been to some brilliant events in Keighley, such as Falling Stars Theatre performance of ‘Let Me Tell You A Story’, Keighley Walking Festival and Keighley Flower Pot Trail. Keighley Creative hosted an amazing workshop for the walking festival, making light up flower batons out of recycled materials. Participants were then invited back to the ‘Light Up The Night Walk’ to parade around town with their light up flowers, to help us all feel safer at night. I also visited Parkwood for the first time, guided by the Friends of Parkwood volunteer group, it’s a beautiful forest right in the middle of Keighley with an amazing history. I think it could be a great part of the Arts and Heritage project. I’m looking forward to start facilitating artistic sessions again with my groups this week, working towards making artworks for an exhibition at the end of the year.
The Kala Sangam Team at the Bradford 2025 Programme Launch
Alex, Alex, Jess and Amer all attended the Bradford 2025 programme, launch on the 12th of September. It was a great chance to preview all the fantastic things that are planned in 2025. Alex Corwin is most looking forward to seeing ‘Contains Strong Language’ and Alex Croft is really excited to see La Haine in January. Jess can’t wait for ‘Bassline Symphony’ and of course, the Turner Prize coming to Bradford!
Tenant Update from Dance United Yorkshire
“We are proud to announce our collaboration with the wonderful Akram Khan Company on a truly unique project called Memories of the Future. As part of Bradford’s tenure as City of Culture 2025, AKC will come together with participants from Dance United Yorkshire’s remarkable, transformative programmes, including some of Bradford’s most vulnerable individuals. The journey will culminate in a special one-off performance at the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, in July 2025.
Guided by the artistic vision of Akram and DUY’s Artistic Director Helen Linsell, the production will be choreographed by two specially selected Yorkshire-based artists Tallulah Shannon and John William-Watson, with an original score by long-time collaborator Vincenzo Lamagna.
This is Memories of the Future, and we look forward to sharing this extraordinary experience with you.”
Spaces at Bank House
As we enter the autumn season, please remember that we still have our fantastic spaces for hire at Bank House here in the city centre. So if you’re planning a meeting, conference or training session, why not get in touch for a quote and to check availability. Email us at steveoconnell@kalasangam.org
Volunteer Call Out
Volunteers! We want to hear from you!
Fancy getting involved in our exciting Arts and Heritage project with Kala Sangam, South Square Centre, Keighley Creative and Bloomin’ Buds Theatre Company?
We have plenty of benefits for volunteering with one of our amazing hubs!
Click here for more information
Dance Classes
Don’t forget that our Bollywood and Kathak Classes start in September at Bank House! You can find out about Bollywood classes here and Kathak classes here
Events from Bradford Producing Hub
Exhibition Speed Dating
Wondering where you can put on an exhibition in Bradford and how to go about it? Join us for Exhibitions Speed Dating to meet galleries and curators and expand your creative network to unlock your next exhibition opportunity. Book on here
Held Spaces for Writing
Bradford Producing Hub has recognised a need for writers of all kinds to have a held space to gain support with goal-setting and accountability to complete their writing projects.
Held Spaces for Writing is a free, supportive bi-monthly event to help you progress with any writing projects you have going on. You don’t need to be a playwright, poet or screenwriter, you could be writing an essay or report or funding bid. This is a space to support writing of any kind. Come with your laptops, pens, and notebooks and let’s get writing! Book your place here
Go See Trips!
At BPH, we’re keen to encourage creative connections, expand networks and see exciting work locally and nationally through our Go & See series. This October we have not just one, but three trips planned! Tickets are limited and places are competitive, so we offer tickets randomly through a ballot process as this is the fairest way to allocate them. We draw each ballot independently, so you can enter to attend as many trips as you like. All we ask is that you know you can definitely attend when you enter each ballot. Join the ballot here
Sustain: Dance Edition
Calling all artists, producers, choreographers and dance companies working in dance in the Bradford district! Take your work to the next level with our 8-month bespoke development programme. For more information, click here
