Bradford College is proud to announce its collaboration with Bradford 2025 City of Culture through the BD:Walls project – a powerful initiative bringing internationally acclaimed street artists to our city.
Our ATC building, home to our Progression to Learning and Work students, has been chosen as the canvas for a striking new mural by Shamsia Hassani, the first female graffiti artist from Afghanistan. Now based in the USA, Hassani is celebrated worldwide for portraying Afghan women in a male-dominated society, using art to challenge perceptions and amplify voices too often unheard.
This mural carries particular significance for our community. Alongside our ESOL learners, Afghan refugees, and asylum seekers, our Creative Arts students at the Bradford School of Art will play a central role in shaping the conversation. Their perspectives, creativity, and lived experiences will inform the artwork – ensuring it truly reflects the concerns and hopes of Bradford’s young people.
For many women and girls in Bradford, the city centre and surrounding areas can feel unsafe. Through engagement sessions with students in early September, Shamsia will gather these voices to ensure the mural becomes more than art – it will be a bold public statement about empowerment, safety, and belonging.
Visible to thousands travelling past the College each day, the mural will stand as a daily reminder of resilience and solidarity, while shining a global spotlight on Bradford’s local stories. Live installation begins 24th of September.
Alina Khan, Vice Principal for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, said “We are truly privileged to welcome Shamsia Hassani to Bradford College. Her art tells powerful stories of courage and change, and we know her work here will resonate with our students and our city – especially women and girls who too often feel unsafe in public spaces. By listening to their voices and those of our diverse communities, this mural will reflect not just art, but activism, and a vision for a safer, more inclusive Bradford. This collaboration is more than a mural. It is a conversation on the walls of our city – a lasting legacy for Bradford“
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