Sarah Salim

Associate Artist

19 May

Sarah Salim, a British-Pakistani visual artist, is one of UKCCA’s Associate Artists and founding director of ALIF New Beginnings (formally Wo Rassta), an arts organisation which aims to celebrate and promote Islamic arts and culture across all art disciplines. Sarah set up her Community Interest Company in 2019 with support from UKCCA’s artist mentoring programme.

“I was inspired by the beautiful large-scale costumes that were part of Luton International Carnival’s colourful parade watched by thousands of people every year. Although I was told by many in my community that carnival is not for ‘us’ when I saw the Muslim Women for Peace group, dressed in vibrant blue costumes by Mahogany Carnival Designs. I realised that there is a place in there for me and that Luton International Carnival is for everyone.

A few weeks later, I went to UKCCA, where I met the Artistic Director Clary Salandy, who took me for a tour around the building and introduced me to Steve Hoyte and other artists; since then, there has been no turning back!

I’m so grateful for the opportunity UKCCA offered me. I feel privileged to have the opportunity to create work that represents my community. My ambition is to introduce this art form and artistic expression to my community, focusing on women and girls. I also aim to open new opportunities and access to Islamic influenced arts to a broader community.”

Sarah has a BA (Hons) degree in Interior Architecture which informs her understanding of structures, scale and surface design. She loves carnival arts as it allows her to work with new materials like wire, rods and fabric, and learning new skills and experiment with different techniques such as painting. Sarah is also homing her craft in project management through UKCCA’s artist mentoring programme and has led several UKCCA projects.

With the support of the Luton Rising Fund, Sarah has now embarked on her first partnership project with UKCCA, which will see Sarah working with the community to create Luton’s first Eid parade in Luton town centre in July 2022. This pivotal project will see Sarah progress her artistic vision and showcase her organisation's work.