An example is the Ulfah Collective Choir, which incorporates Muslim women and non-Muslim women who have the choice of performing to women-only audiences or mixed audiences. Some Muslims believe it’s against their faith to listen to music, so we have to find ways for their engagement in the project and have voice-only (without instrumental) music. The women we have engaged are from different cultural backgrounds, bringing richness in stories, culture and traditions. Having had success at grass roots in diverse Muslim communities, the challenge moves to ensuring that audiences don’t perceive our work to be exclusive. This is a tough one, but one that we as an organisation need to have an answer for. The success in this is from the outset, how you think about the project and inform its processes. It requires thinking on different spectrums from the niche community perspective to the wider community. Ulfah Arts achieved this with Sacred Quran – Enjoy Wightwick Manor and Gardens through the verses of the Quran. In the project 60
The Ulfah Collective, a group of Muslim women from a variety of backgrounds across several continents Photo, Ulfah Arts
we worked with a group of Muslims who extracted Quranic verses to access parts of the history and heritage at Wightwick Manor. From the outset, the idea and process were designed so that any sacred text would be accessible to all faith communities. We also used text from Shakespeare’s plays and Harry Potter to relate to different parts of the property. Diversity should not be about categorising communities; it should be about cooperation between different social groups and understanding from each other’s culture. A Diwali Mela, for example, doesn’t cater to all Asians. The decision-makers need to understand this simple fact to achieve diversity in the true sense. The arts sector will also have to break from the mould of social-group specific art and move towards arts practices which bring together people from all walks of life, irrespective of cast, creed, religion or race.