Tape Letters

Tape Letters looks back on life in Bradford for new arrivals in the days before technology connected us all in an instant. This free exhibition unearths the practice of recording messages on cassette and sending them to friends and family, popular with Pakistani migrants to the UK from the 1960s to the ’80s – and gives us a unique insight into this long-lost method of communication. 

The project began when artist Wajid Yaseen discovered his own family’s history of sending personalised cassette tapes to relatives in Pakistan. Initially focused on the north, Tape Letters has now sourced cassettes and completed oral history interviews with people from right across England and Scotland – including Bradford, the focus of this exhibition. Listen to original cassette recordings, hear oral histories, read transcripts, see portraits – and journey back decades to a very different world. 

Loading Bay is a brand new pop-up arts venue in Bradford City Centre for Bradford 2025.

It’s set to open in March 2025 with an action-packed programme – join us on Duke Street as we bring a true Bradford 2025 buzz to the heart of the city.