Fayakunu Art Studio: Empowering the community

Aim: Northern England’s First Studio Space Fusing Islamic Arts, Pottery, Carbon Fibre, STEM & Design all under one roof. Help us open this winter

🔥 A First for Bradford: Fayakunu Art Studio is Opening Winter 2025

(as seen on BBC Look North & Islam Channel)

The first creative art studio in Northern England, where Islamic heritage meets digital design, ceramics, and carbon fibre.

Time’s running out to finish Bradford’s first creative hybrid studio — this is the last hurdle.

📌 The Project

This is Northern England’s first not-for-profit creative infrastructure of its kind — combining Islamic heritage arts, woodworking, ceramics, STEM education, carbon and hemp fibre casting, automotive work, and digital design under one roof.

We are located in BD5, one of the most under-resourced areas in Europe, and designed to serve those excluded from the creative industries. Fayakunu opens doors where they’ve historically been closed.

(Founder, Kasim Tariq meets King Charles III in 2025 at Bradford Live)

It’s not just a workshop. It’s a foundation, a platform, and a movement. It proves that creative businesses can operate in ways that benefit their communities, not through charity, but through well-designed, sustainable social business models that honour culture, create opportunity, and generate lasting value.

🛠️ What we'll deliver

With your support, we will:

• Install final fire safety systems and lighting
• Remedy internal walls and lime wash
• Finish remaining electrics and our Hydroponics plant space 
• Commission a custom-built website for workshop booking and membership
• Certify and prepare machines for public use
• Stock essential tools and materials: wood, clay, glazes, hand tools, safety equipment
• Decorate, Furnish and Stock TUC-SHOP
• Make the space safe, legal, and ready for public programming

The backbone is already in place: bandsaws, kilns, CNCs, pottery wheels, 3-phase power, new concrete floors, restored stone, and high-speed internet. Alongside this, we're deep into extensive building work: fitting bathrooms, constructing internal partitions, installing an outdoor drainage system, and integrating a hydroponics plant space with proper plumbing. We're also rebuilding sections of the structure using reclaimed materials, including Yorkshire stone and bricks over a hundred years old, giving the space both strength and soul. Every wall, wire, and workstation is being shaped by hand to create a safe, functional, and inspiring environment. Now we just need to cross the finish line.

(Woodturning Bubinga wood)

As we gear up to open our doors this Winter, Fayakunu is preparing to deliver over 270 days of programming each year — a vibrant mix of workshops, open studios, and hands-on learning.

Across four themed quarters, we offer:

• Woodworking & Joinery - From open bench access to heritage techniques like Kumiko pattern-making and charpai builds.
• Pottery & Ceramics - Throwing, glazing, firing, and hand-building — designed for total beginners and returning makers alike.
• Carbon & Hemp Fibre Casting
• Eco-conscious design using cutting-edge materials and traditional mould-making skills.
• STEM & Engineering - Radial engine models, automotive tuning, carbon fibre casting and prototyping built on real mechanics.
• Islamic Heritage & Sacred Craft - Geometry, calligraphy, and architectural projects — including building a handcrafted mihrab and minbar for the mosque above.
• Specialist Seminars & Guest Artists - Monthly sessions covering biomimicry, design thinking, and the deep links between art, culture, and environment.

(Design of the Fayakunu Hydroponics Tucshop & Coffee space)

🧰 Why it's a great idea

...and why it’s needed — urgently.

Too many culturally diverse and economically disparaged artists in Bradford are working in isolation — without studios, mentorship, or access to equipment. Fayakunu exists to change that.

This space doesn’t gatekeep. It trains. It equips. It uplifts.
And it does so in a culturally grounded, faith-conscious, environment where identity and heritage are not barriers but assets.

We are the only studio in the North where:

• Islamic art
• Woodworking
• Ceramic traditions
• STEM and mechanical design
• Carbon and hemp fibre fabrication
• Automotive engineering

...collide under one roof, forging a bold new future from timeless craft.

This isn’t a central gallery — it’s an Urban Community Powerhouse, rooted in working-class Bradford, open to all. With your help, over 6,000 participants will gain access in our first year.

(Pottery wheel and tools)

👷️‍💼 Who are you?

I’m Kasim Tariq — designer, builder, and founder of Fayakunu.

My skillset spans construction, classic car restoration, woodwork, ceramics, fibreglass, Jesmonite casting, and digital fabrication. I’ve worked with stained glass artists, blacksmiths, and engineers to bring complex builds to life, always combining heritage with innovation.

(Kasim Tariq working on the studio space 2023)

I was raised in this building. Long before it became Fayakunu, it was a girls' school. I remember when my father bought it in the mid-90s and turned it into a bustling carpet shop. I spent my teens loading carpet racks, serving customers, and fitting flooring across Bradford. I wasn’t just watching — I was working, learning the trade, and absorbing what it meant to build something from the ground up.

This space taught me how buildings breathe, how businesses serve, and how community begins with action. When the recession hit, my father’s health declined, and the business had to close. He converted part of the building into a mosque, but much of it remained untouched. Today, he still humbly manages the mosque in Bradford whilst also running a school and orphanage in Pakistan, continuing his lifelong commitment to community.

(Fayakunu Building, 2021)

I’ve spent over 14 years in flooring and construction, working from the ground up. I later earned a degree in Interior Architecture and Design from Coventry University, where I was awarded Most Experimental Project for pushing the boundaries of spatial design. It only made sense that I focus my efforts on this community building with so much potential in a community that needs it. 

Above the studio, sits the mosque my father helped establish — a humble space that’s quietly served the community for decades. It, too, deserves to be uplifted. As part of Fayakunu’s mission, we’ll be running workshops to design and hand-build a new mihrab and minbar, crafted with care, rooted in tradition, and built by the very people who use the space. It’s a way to restore not just the structure, but the spirit of a place that continues to hold our community together.

(Reclaimed windows installed at Fayakunu Art Studio 2025)

🏗️ What we’ve achieved so far

(The Bekun Light sculpture at BDis:LIT23 at City Park, Bradford, 2023)

In 2023, I designed and fabricated The Bekun — a large-scale light sculpture unveiled in City Park during the BD:isLITfestival. It was a proud moment for our studio — drawing public attention and proving what’s possible when underrepresented creatives are given the tools.

Our work was first recognised by King Charles in 2022, and again in 2025, when I had the honour of meeting His Majesty for the second time to share Fayakunu’s vision — a dedicated creative space blending Islamic art, STEM, design, and traditional craft. We spoke about the power of arts, heritage, and community transformation, and discussed the potential for collaboration with The King’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts to help preserve and advance Islamic artistic heritage in the UK. That exchange reaffirmed why purpose-led cultural infrastructure matters, especially in underrepresented communities. What began as a personal mission has become a recognised, legacy-building studio rooted in heritage and built to equip future generations.

(One of the stained glass panels designed and crafted for the Bekun)

What is a Waqf?

Historically, waqfs shaped entire communities, supporting education, design, and the arts. Fayakunu carries that legacy forward.

In 13th-century Cairo, the Qalawun Waqf built a hospital that treated thousands for free—centuries before public healthcare.

In Ottoman Istanbul, waqf-funded kitchens fed the poor daily.

In Fez, the Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque and University, built by a woman through waqf, still stands as the world’s oldest university.

These weren’t donations. They were permanent systems: self-sustaining, community-owned, protected by law.

Fayakunu revives that model.

We’ve built a creative infrastructure in Bradford—training in heritage arts, design, and technology.

From ceramics to carbon fibre, Islamic geometry to CNC machining. Our waqf is hands-on, high-impact, and here to stay.

📃 How we’ll spend the money

We are asking for £25,000 to complete the final phase:

How we’ll spend the money

We are asking for £25,000 to complete the final phase:

Fire safety system installation - £3,500

Lighting & electrics - £3,200

Website, Marketing & CRM management - £2,800

Hydroponics space, Coffee station and Tucshop - £1,600

Community Garden Space including Outdoor Stone Oven - £2,000

Tools, consumables, materials - £6,500

Labour, skilled installation & logistics - £5,400

We must complete the installation by September to begin workshops in October. Your support will allow us to finish earlier and to an incredible standard.

Any overspend will go directly into expanding community programming and subsidising workshops for low-income participants.

(Kasims Pottery work, circa 2018)

🚪 This is the final stretch

With your support, we can complete the essential systems—security, fire safety, access control—and open the doors of Fayakunu Art Studio to the public.

This isn’t just about finishing a building. It’s about unlocking a space that will serve generations: a first-of-its-kind creative waqf in the North, rooted in heritage, innovation, and community.

Your support will turn years of groundwork into a permanent legacy—one that belongs to the community and grows with it.

We’ve come this far through personal sacrifice, professional grit, and the belief that Bradford deserves something better.

Your contribution now will tip the balance.
It will make sure the tools are in place, the lights are on, and the next generation walks in ready to build, learn, and transform.

Help us reach the finish line. Donate, spread the word, and follow our journey on social media.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 22nd August 2025 at 11:53am