Nine-year-old Alia from Bradford has never met Ana, 11, from Portugal.

But self portraits of the pair appear side-by-side in a remarkable new piece of artwork which is to be unveiled in Bradford next week.

Children from schools in Bradford, Sweden and Portugal have been working together to produce a tapestry which will go on show at the Bradford Gallery.

Each of the youngsters was asked to draw or paint a self-portrait and a second picture entitled simply "my favourite thing".

The drawings produced by each of the 120 children were then scanned using a Jacquard loom computer, which reproduced the designs on tapestry.

When stitched together, the tapestry stretches an enormous 160 metres - and giant copies have been sent to Portugal and Sweden, where they will be hung in shopping malls.

The version which will be on show at the gallery in Bradford's Yorkshire Craft Centre has been divided into dozens of long strips so that it can be accommodated in the building.

Centre manager Vanessa Scarth, pictured, got the inspiration for the idea after visiting a textile museum in Sweden which featured artwork that had been produced by young children.

"Children's art work is always so innocent and from the heart," she said. "It was beautiful and I came up with the idea of trying to create a large artwork based on pieces by children of different countries."

Some of the Bradford youngsters' "favourite things" included plants, flowers, animals, a teddy bear, cars and a Playstation, while one of the Portuguese students drew a tractor.

The schools in all three countries - including Newby Primary and Belle Vue Boys and Girls in Bradford - were chosen because of their multi-cultural mix of pupils.

"We chose the schools because we wanted to enthuse these young people and make them more involved in the arts," explained Mrs Scarth. "They looked at other artists' work and were given the opportunity to spend time outside the classroom and even in their own studio.

"The things drawn by the children from the different countries were quite similar, which was one of the surprises."

She said she was delighted with the result of the project, which was funded with European Culture 2000 money.

"It does look incredibly impressive," she said. "It has given these youngsters a broader understanding of what art can be and the potential perhaps to go into a career in the arts.

"It is so stunning, delightful and inspiring that we have all this artistic talent in our city and the children have been wonderful to deal with."

And she said it was hoped to repeat the success of the project in the future.

"The organisers and teachers from each country are going to Portugal to meet up in the hope that we will be able to maintain these links," she said.

The Me, You, Us exhibition runs at the Yorkshire Craft Centre, Carlton Street, Bradford, from Friday, March 7, until Friday, May 2. It is open Monday to Friday between 10am and 4.30pm. For more details, call (01274) 433334.