BRADFORD, UK — A new community initiative, Culture Link, is using art, food, language, music and live performance to bring people from different cultural backgrounds together in Bradford, England.
Founded and curated by Nigerian-born UK-based Creative Wellbeing Curator and Combined Arts Producer, Oluwaseun Dosunmu, through The Care Inn Centre, the initiative seeks to strengthen social connections and promote meaningful community participation in the increasingly diverse city.
Dosunmu said cultural diversity alone does not necessarily translate into meaningful relationships among communities, making platforms such as Culture Link important for fostering understanding.
“Bradford is becoming increasingly culturally rich, with people from different countries and backgrounds making the city their home. But living alongside one another does not always mean that we understand one another,” he said.
According to him, Culture Link provides an informal space where people can meet, ask questions, share their stories, experience different cultures and build genuine connections.
“For me, culture is not something we should simply observe. It is something we can participate in. Through food, language, music, storytelling and performance, we can discover the things that connect us while developing a better understanding of our differences,” Dosunmu said.
The first Culture Link gathering featured a range of cultural and creative activities, including live music, language learning, storytelling and food tasting.
Bradford-based Afrobeat and Afro-hip-hop artiste, musician and rapper Q-Dee performed for participants, bringing local creative talent into the cultural exchange.
Dosunmu said showcasing Bradford’s creative community was central to the initiative, noting that music could create connections beyond conventional conversation.
“Bradford has incredible creative talent, and Culture Link gives us an opportunity to put local artists at the centre of community experiences. Music can sometimes communicate what conversation cannot,” he said.
The gathering also featured Sheilla from Kenya, who introduced participants to the Swahili language while sharing insights into her Kenyan heritage and Koyo cultural background.
Her participation enabled attendees to learn about Kenyan culture directly from someone with personal experience, rather than through assumptions or second-hand information.
The programme further explored Nigeria’s own cultural diversity through the experience of Bunmi, a Yoruba Nigerian professional married to an Igbo man who had previously lived in Kaduna, northern Nigeria.
Bunmi shared her experiences of navigating different Nigerian cultures and identities, demonstrating that cultural exchange can take place not only between countries but also among tribes, ethnic groups and communities within the same country.
“The Culture Link idea is brilliant, novel and very timely,” she said. “I had the opportunity to share my background and where I came from. Initiatives like this can help people understand one another better and challenge misconceptions about different communities.”
Food provided another avenue for cultural exchange, with participants given the opportunity to taste Ofada rice and its accompanying sauce, some for the first time.
Dosunmu said such seemingly simple experiences were central to Culture Link’s philosophy of building relationships through participation.
“I made new friends, learnt about different tribes and cultures, learnt some Swahili and tasted Ofada rice and sauce for the first time,” he said.
“These may sound like small experiences, but they are exactly what Culture Link is about. Sometimes building community begins with simply sitting around a table, sharing food and asking someone to tell you about where they come from.”
Beyond celebrating cultural diversity, Culture Link seeks to explore how creative and cultural participation can improve social connection and wellbeing.
The initiative aims to address challenges including loneliness, social isolation, limited community interaction and cultural misunderstanding by creating spaces where people actively participate rather than simply attend events.
Culture Link forms part of Dosunmu’s broader creative practice through The Care Inn Centre, which brings together arts, culture, creativity and wellbeing through participatory programmes.
His wider portfolio includes Sip & Paint, ArtWell, Rhythm Reset, Rest Contest, De-Stress for Artists and PaintConverse, as well as the developing Care Inn Global Creative Wellbeing Convention.
Dosunmu said Culture Link represents another dimension of his work by using culture as a bridge for social connection.
“My vision is for Culture Link to become a platform where people don’t just come to watch culture; they experience it, question it, celebrate it and share it,” he said.
READ ALSO: Igboho: Vindicated by reality
Africa’s Green Transition To Create 7.9m Jobs by 2030 – FSD Africa
“I want someone to leave Culture Link having discovered an artist, learnt a new word, tasted a new food, heard a story they had never heard before and, most importantly, met someone they might not otherwise have spoken to.”
Culture Link is a participatory cultural and community-building initiative founded and curated by Oluwaseun Dosunmu through The Care Inn Centre in Bradford.
About The Author
