17 Jan – 27 Apr 2025
Cartwright Hall Art Gallery
Fighting to Be Heard
British Library
Boxing, calligraphy and the collections of the British Library.
Boxing and calligraphy connected in an exhibition featuring rare items from the Arabic and Urdu collections of the British Library.
The ancient art of calligraphy and the noble art of boxing are an unlikely pairing, but they share a surprising amount of common ground. This free exhibition explored the connections between the two disciplines through the eyes of a group of British South Asian Muslim men living in Bradford today.
Razwan Ul-Haq is an acclaimed calligrapher and one-time boxing trainee. Tasif Khan is a world champion boxer and founder of Bradford’s Tasif Khan Community Boxing Academy. Together with boxers and trainers from the Academy, including head coach Nissar Hussain and trustee Sohail Ahmed, they chose a selection of rare items from the British Library’s Arabic and Urdu collections, and from the collections of Bradford District Museums & Galleries – from ninth-century calligraphy to extraordinary contemporary work.
Fighting to Be Heard also featured the men’s personal stories and their reactions to the collections – offering fascinating new perspectives on these objects.
The public programme included calligraphy workshops, mehndi designs, recitals by young people from the Al-Mustafa Centre in Girlington, and the chance to try boxing skills with the Tasif Khan Community Boxing Academy.
Image: Part 25 of a Qur'an in 30 parts, written in gold Muḥaqqaq script and dedicated to Sultan Öljaitü in 710 AH/1310 CE in Mosul, modern-day Iraq © British Library
‘Writing to Be Heard’ © Razwan Ul-Haq
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