Empowerment: More Examples!

Ulfah Arts from Birmingham UK

Ulfah Arts, a UK based Arts organization, has been in existence since September 2004 and is committed to the following vision:

To raise the understanding and appreciation of the arts, by giving access to people (particularly women) who - due to their religious/cultural beliefs - would not otherwise have the opportunity to engage with the arts, either as an audience member or as an artist/performer.

"Ulfah" is the Arabic word for "harmony", and as such, is one of the Islamic qualities that form the basis of Ulfah's work

As an organization it aims to be innovative in everything it does, both in the way it respects and works with cultural beliefs and in its approach to the work it delivers.

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Ulfah Arts encourages women who, because of the lack of provision for their specific cultural needs, have not necessarily had the choice to engage with the Arts before. Ulfah sets about addressing how access to the arts can be made easier for these women.

For example, for some who practise faiths such as Islam, mixing freely amongst men is not allowed, or it may be that performing or demonstrating a talent is not possible. As it is a central belief of Ulfah that the arts world should be made accessible to all, numerous ways of helping have been identified so all women can enjoy it.

This can be as simple as allocating women designated seating areas in theatres, making prayer spaces available or providing transport and childcare. Ulfah Arts believes that by not engaging in the arts, these women are denied an important learning opportunity.

By creating the right environment, women can meet others from different backgrounds and cultures, thereby learning from each other, breaking down stereotypes and developing their social skills. This not only helps on an individual level, encouraging mental and emotional well-being, but also ultimately contributes to a better, more inclusive society.

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On specific project is The Ulfah Collective, known as the first practising Muslim female band, is a group of women from different backgrounds brought together by Ulfah Arts. (Including predominantly practising Muslim women, however we do have some non-Muslim members).
These women have committed their time and energies to developing their artistic talent and have been meeting regularly over the last year. Amongst the group they have been developing singing in Urdu, Arabic and English, comedy performances, rapping and creative writing.

The Ulfah Collective perform to a mainly women only audience. Some members have varying beliefs so it is possible on occasions to perform to a mixed audience depending on the opportunity.

Its achievements to date include:

۞ Raising the awareness of the needs of Muslim women. It has campaigned for women only opportunities in the arts. As a result it has convinced many mainstream festivals to have a women only element.

۞ It has demonstrated a gap in the artistic products available and given examples on how to address this.

۞ Its work has captured the interest of mainstream arts venues who are more keen to programme islamically inspired work.

۞ It has helped to provide opportunities for over 50 different female and male artists, developing the women it works with emotionally, socially and economically by using the arts as a medium.

> For more information, visit their website here

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