This workshop was part of a multi-disciplinary, district-wide project by calligrapher Razwan Ul-Haq. The project aimed to bring Bradford’s environment to life. Starting in 2024, Razwan began extracting ink from Bradford city’s resources – bricks from Bradford’s iconic architecture, soil from Bradford City Football Club, rocks and stones from the rivers of Bradford, and even certain plants. All of these inks were then used to make brand new, homegrown artworks that were exhibited in Bradford in summer 2025.

Razwan delivered a talk and an Arabic calligraphy workshop where audiences could try one of the inks and take part in shaping the exhibition. They learned about the diverse ways inks can be made for traditional Arabic calligraphy and how this has fed into their project.

This project was supported by the Bradford 2025 Artist-led Project Awards programme.

Find out more about this programme and the projects we supported below.