Helping keep magical Mela memories alive (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Helping keep magical Mela memories alive

8:25am Wednesday 10th June 2009 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
•  

Community photographer Tim Smith has photographed every Bradford Mela since it first began on a small football pitch in Great Horton in 1988.

This year’s event takes place in Peel Park this weekend, and the organisers and Fabric, Bradford’s art development organisation, have commissioned Tim to choose a selection of his photographs to illustrate the evolution of the event.

They will be exhibited in the Mela marquee, where there will be a recording booth for visitors to leave messages and reflections. These, together with Tim’s photographs, will be used for a commemorative book later in the year.

Tim says: “Looking through thousands of pictures has brought back many magical memories for me. I hope the exhibition does the same for others and prompts them to share their memories as part of this important project to document the history of the Mela since 1988.

“It was prompted by a desire to celebrate the city’s cultural heritage in general and its Asian communities in particular. It’s been fascinating to see how a relatively small event has evolved. It has moved from the margins to the mainstream.”

Dusty Rhodes, a director of arts events organisation Raise The Roof, and Allan Brack, now an artist in Cornwall, were two of the men behind the Mela, which means ‘meeting place’ or ‘fair’. It was conceived as part of the second Bradford Festival which grew into a fortnight of events.

Dusty says: “If you asked Allan or any of the others involved why the Mela started in the first place, you’d get a lot of answers.

“In my mind, Allan and I came out of battling against racism in the city. We thought the Mela was about people living in the city and bringing them together.”

The Bradford Mela is at Peel Park on Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free.