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AW
July 2018
Meet the Brummie boxer who runs his own sweet shop The world of professional boxing has produced its fair share of sugary superstars, including Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Shane Mosley and Sugar Ray Leonard. Now, meet Mussab Abubaker, the Birmingham Boxer, who runs his own sweet shop. The 25-year-old boxer makes the confectionary, puddings and ice-cream sundaes himself. Working at Bubble Rolls, which is located in Birmingham’s Ladypool Road, the shop has become a successful business for the young boxer. However working in a sweet shop can be tempting, especially for an athlete who has to stick to a strict diet. “That’s the worst part,” confesses the unbeaten lightmiddleweight. “Customers will look at the ice creams and ask which one I prefer. I have to tell them, ‘To be honest, I haven’t tried any of them’. “I’m very disciplined. “In fact, sometimes, when you’re surrounded by sweets all day, it actually makes you want to eat them even less,” Mussab from Small Heath, opened the sweet shop, with his two brothers in 2017 and it has
proved to be successful. The business has helped the boxer to become a sweet sensation at the box office, too. Customers snap up tickets for the confectioner’s contests. There is now a veritable Abubaker Army. “It’s about fitting the shop around training,” says the pastry-making puncher. “I’ve a big following. A lot of people in my community are less active in the sense of sport. “I’m trying to change that.”
However, Mussab wants his fans to still eat the sticky delicacies he conjured up at Bubble Rolls, and he even tries to persuade them to run off the calories afterwards. Mussab recently peeled off his second win at a major Genting Arena show. “I didn’t really have any amateur experience,” says Mussab. “I had a couple of white collar fights and decided to dive in the deep end.
Slaves of fashion: New works by the Singh Twins A new exhibition Slaves of Fashion: New Works by The Singh Twins, highlights current debates around ethical trade and consumerism through an exploration of the history of trade in Indian textiles as a global story of Empire, conflict, enslavement and luxury lifestyle that has modern day parallels. This latest body of 20 works, which was featured recently on the BBC’s Civilisations stories: The Empire, represents a fascinating new direction in the artists’ creative practice - combining the traditional hand-painted techniques for which they are known with digitally created imagery. Eleven of these, featuring life-sized portraits of historical figures on backgrounds packed with symbolic detail, are digital fabric artworks displayed on lightboxes. Each one highlights a different theme relating to the global story of trade in Indian textiles. Collectively they reveal not only the beauty, renown and craftsmanship of Indian fabrics but also the interconnected political, social and cultural significance of their histories. One of these exceptional portraits, Cotton: Threads of
Change depicts key social, political, economic, technological and cultural changes linked to the story of cotton. It focuses on Lancashire as the centre of global cotton textile manufacturing and trade in an age of Empire and the Industrial Revolution driven by British interests during the 18th and 19th centuries to take over the lucrative consumer markets for Indian textiles. Central to the composition is a portrait of the British-born Indian Princess and leading Suffragette, Sophia Duleep Singh whose personal life connects to the complex narrative of cotton, as part of the wider story of trade in textiles and Empire built on conquest and enslavement. A further nine artworks in the Slaves of Fashion series are works on paper, which explore how historical narratives represented in the lightbox artworks connect to current debates around ethical trade and legacies of Empire. These include satirical portraits of politicians Theresa May, Angela Merkel and Donald Trump which draw on the tradition of satirical cartoons. The King is Dead: Long Live the King (featuring Donald Trump, enthroned
on a catwalk) explores how colonial attitudes and labour exploitation associated with the historical trade in cotton, lives on in today’s fashion industry. An audio-visual poem by The Singh Twins offers a further, artistic response to the interconnected Slaves of Fashion themes. Also, on display, is material relating to the artists’ creative process. Namely, original drawings and painted works, time-lapse videos and historical prints from The Singh Twins’ personal archive. In addition, are highlights from over 30 objects from the collections of National Museums Liverpool and Wolverhampton Art Gallery that have informed the Slaves of Fashion series -
“I’ve got the right people around me and will go as far as I can. “To be honest, ever since I’ve started boxing I’ve had no issues about keeping in shape. I’m ready and raring to go. “I have some of my customers coming to support me, and I don’t intend to let them down.” And if his boxing career fails, then Mussab still has his confectionary business to fall back on.
including jewellery, historic costume, ceramics and books. Academic insights into some of these objects are provided by the University of Liverpool’s Professor Kate Marsh, specialist in European colonial histories. A unique feature of the exhibition is an augmented reality app, enabling visitors to interact with one of the lightbox artworks in detail through their mobile device. The app, titled SINGH TWINS: Art in Motion is available for free download on IOS and Android app stores as well as via The Singh Twins’ website. https://www.singhtwins.co.uk/ app-.html Marguerite Nugent, Wolverhampton Art Gallery Manager for Arts and Culture, said, ‘The Singh Twins have a well-deserved international reputation and we are delighted to have the opportunity to show their latest work in the City of Wolverhampton. “It has been an exciting collaboration with The Singh Twins, National Museums Liverpool and Creative Black Country to work together and make this exhibition possible for locals, residents and other visitors to see.” The Singh Twins said: “A key aim of Slaves of Fashion is to reveal how historical trade practices, linked to colonialism, conflict and enslavement which
Woman dies after being struck by a car
Noreen Akhtar, 38 who was knocked down by a car on a busy Birmingham road has died of her injuries. The 38-year-old woman was struck by a vehicle outside the Cravings Cafe on Stratford Road, Sparkhill. She was taken to a local hospital, where she was treated for serious injuries. During the time of the incident, police said that the driver did not stop his car. However, police say that he or she may not have realised that they hit someone. Police are appealing for witnesses and also anyone with a dash cam or CCTV footage. Detective Sergeant Paul Hughes, from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “I am appealing directly for the driver of the car which hit the woman outside the Cravings Cafe to come forward and speak to us. “It may be that the driver didn’t even know they had hit someone. “Specialist officers from our dedicated Family Liaison Team are supporting the family. The road was closed for a while, as the police examined the scene. A number of bystanders including a doctor ran to the woman’s aid and provided her with towels and blankets until the paramedics arrived. One woman called Saba said that she and her husband had just left the cafe and were sitting in their car when they heard a ‘loud bang.’ “Me and my husband ran out of our car, and I went straight over are looked back on as unethical today, actually still continue. “In relation to current debates around fair trade and sustainable consumerism the artworks highlight how we as consumers are all part of the problem but also the
to see the lady lying in an unconscious state having sustained a head injury,” she said. “She was bleeding quite a bit and unresponsive when I tried to talk to her. I got some towels and applied some pressure to her wound. “There was a doctor and myself and a few other people who were attending to her. There were a lot of bystanders though.” Her funeral was held at Banbury Mosque. Her brother Akhmad Afsar told the local newspaper: “We are devastated because it was such a shock, it was not something that was expected in the family.” “She was a very nice, helpful person. She helped everyone in the community but it was her time to go, Allah’s taken her just to check the patience we have in the family.” “But she’s left a big hole in our lives. She was quite good in the community as in, whoever needed help turned to her.” “There’s no words I can use to describe her - she covered all angles, she ticked all boxes for us as in the whole family, she was one of the first ports of call.” “Whenever anyone needed help, any trouble, any sort of problem, they used to turn to her she was very strong - I would say she was the backbone of the family.” “To me personally she was like a mother, she brought me up like a mother, more than a sister she was a mother to me - God always take the nice people away from us just to test us.” Her cousin Talip Hussain said: “This is probably something we’re going to suffer for the rest of our lives.”
solution, since we have the power to effect positive change through the choices we make.” The exhibition runs at Wolverhampton Art Gallery from Saturday, July 21 until Sunday, September 16.