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Changing the Narrative

Changing the narrative for Muslims in the UK to one that is confident, diverse and just

Given their socio-economic circumstances, Muslim levels of engagement in creative activity are inevitably low as a result of financial and other barriers which Amal has documented in consultation with Muslim communities.

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The Situation

Muslims are the largest minority in the UK, 6.5% of the population and growing rapidly. Collectively, they are in the worst socio-economic position – in education, employment, housing and health.

Discrimination is a principal cause of this disadvantage, discrimination that arises from a dominant narrative around Muslims in the UK which is negative, monolithic and stereotyping. The British public feels much more negatively towards Muslims than it does towards any group except Gypsy and Irish Travellers. “Across policy domains, from employment, education and criminal justice to housing, healthcare and hate crime, Islamophobia has a significant negative impact on the life chances and quality of life enjoyed by British Muslims.” (All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims.) If this situation is to change, the dominant negative narrative about Muslims must be changed – to one that is confident, diverse and just.

Photo:

Does My Bomb Look Big in This, Tamasha Theatre

Our Response

Amal has worked since 2017 to help change the narrative.  We do so by growing opportunities for Muslims in the UK to fully realise and express their creative potential.

We enable a multitude of stories to be told and heard and build towards a community of practice in the arts and cultural sector that fully represents Muslims as audiences, participants, artists, workers and leaders. Amal is the only initiative using a multiple arts and location approach focusing specifically on Muslims.

Given their socio-economic circumstances, Muslim levels of engagement in creative activity are inevitably low as a result of financial and other barriers which Amal has documented in consultation with Muslim communities. To overcome these barriers, opportunities must be made much more accessible to Muslim communities, both in terms of place and of content.  Amal works with communities, Muslim artists and mainstream arts organisations to grow opportunities for engagement and build shared learning and mutual understanding.

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How your donation will help
  • £50 can contribute towards the general running costs of Amal
  • £75 can help support our work in one of our hub locations
  • £250 can support our evaluation and learning and strengthen our impact and advocacy
  • £625 can ensure more Muslims participate in high-quality co-created arts projects

Monthly donations
  • £20 can provide more cross-community activities and engagement
  • £30 can strengthen our advocacy and impact
  • £50 can support monitoring, evaluation, and learning
  • £83 can help us build capacity across our work streams


Modelling a community of practice in the arts that fully represents Muslims

At the heart of our work (initially in Birmingham and Bradford) lie high-quality arts projects that are co-created by Muslims and creative professionals and showcased within the wider community. These projects provide Muslims with opportunities they would not otherwise have to express their creativity in ways that matter to them.  Their work is also shared in cross-community encounters that embrace difference.

Our portfolio of projects allows for experimentation between Muslim artists and communities and models the ways in which the UK’s cultural mainstream could more fully and authentically represent and engage its Muslim communities.The results are that more Muslim stories are told and are heard, the arts sector becomes more representative and inclusive of Muslims and the story around Muslims in the UK changes to one that is more confident, diverse and just.  Your donations will enable more stories and more encounters to take place.  Please join us in changing the narrative.


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