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Innovative graffiti scheme for Burnley

2:10pm Monday 15th September 2008 in News Photograph of the Author By Jon Livesey, Reporter

MESSAGE OF UNITY: Renowned graffiti artist Mohammed Ali with workshop participants Scott Connolly, C.Jay, Pinky and Anthony King MESSAGE OF UNITY: Renowned graffiti artist Mohammed Ali with workshop participants Scott Connolly, C.Jay, Pinky and Anthony King

AN INNOVATIVE artist who fuses graffiti with Islamic script will paint his trademark spiritual murals on Burnley walls.

Birmingham-based Mohammed Ali, who has just returned from working in Toronto, Canada, is spend-ing three days in Burnley as part of the Love and Etiquette Foundation’s Jamaal project.

The “urban spiritual art”will be used to cover up daubings on the walls of buildings, in an area where there is a problem with graffiti.

Mohammed, who is due to exhibit his work in Melbourne, Australia, in the near future, said he will be painting a “message of unity” in Burnley.

He said: “One of my aims is to work on and not overlook grassroots projects like this one.

"The Love and Etiquette Foudation first invited me to Burnley a few months ago and I found them to be really good - for such a humble organisation they are focussed on using art to bring communities together and that’s what I’m all about.”

Rizwan Iqbal, of the Foun-dation, added: “The aim is to provide young people with an opportunity to produce two pieces of art that reflect a positive message from within Burnley.”

The project was launched by the artist with a presentation and seminar at Northbridge House Business Centre, Elm Street, Burnley, yesterday.

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Anyone aged between 16 and 25, who wishes to paint with Mohammed is urged to contact the Love and Etiquette Foundation, which is supported by The Princes Trust, and found at website www.loveetiquette.com.

What do you you think of this idea? Add your comments below.

Comments(19)

RAyzer says...
7:07pm Mon 15 Sep 08

what a country!!!if i see it il paint over it!!!were in ENGLAND remeber,stuff like this causes trouble..AND IT WILL..for 1 we dont want graffitti on walls and 2 we certainley dont want islamic graffitti..WHOS IDEA WAS THIS!!!

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RAyzer says...
9:16pm Mon 15 Sep 08

how many people do you think want this graffiti on walls???ZERO!!!has any 1 been consulted???as usual,no!!!..YOU COULDNT MAKE THIS UP!!hopefully itl get national paper recognition as most hair brain idea..EVER!!

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ganja man says...
10:24pm Mon 15 Sep 08

we welcome projects like this to bring the communities and the good burnley youth together.

Good luck to all to help all youngsters in a positive way.

Ignore the bigots, the ignorant, the prejudiced and the downright "thickos"

We all know who they are.

Anyone damaging it give him 1000 lashes and place in the stocks in burnley town centre and be pelted with paint!!

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akon says...
1:05pm Tue 16 Sep 08

credit crunch,stabbings,hig
her fuel bills,cost of living going through he roof,job losses,businesses collapsing ,pensioners going to jail can't pay the poll tax,floods , I know ,lets paint a wall.Get a grip Burnley council ! REF ganja are you mentally ill ? you are gibbering again....

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RAyzer says...
5:23pm Tue 16 Sep 08

keep your shira law and islamic graffiti..labour out and England returns to a christian country..as for bringing people together it does the opposite..and 90% of burnley would agree..

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RAyzer says...
5:27pm Tue 16 Sep 08

how will graffiti bring communitys together??answer that???what next removel of union jacks,banning of xmas??labour are trying but in next election it all changes..hang on to your thread of changing this country..and dont play the race card,dummys usually do!!!

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Rhys says...
10:45pm Tue 16 Sep 08

This project I feel has two brilliant messages in the heart of the Asian community and if you bother to go and look at the work it is something that can only help people work together in Burnley. Asian and non-asian youths have come together to paint 2 large murals with positive community messages. One focusing on 'health' for a health centre and the other 'unity' for a youth community centre-this is in response negative graffiti already done by asian youth in the area. This work is professional and of a high standard. So please dont write something because the words Islam have been used. If young people can work together irrespective of their background surely that is a positive example of how modern methods of art can positively portray human as well as Islamic and spiritual messages. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder! and there are lots of beautiful things Islam has brought to modern civilisation-you just need to educate yourself and not believe in what you read in the SUN newspaper or mere heresay. Lets educate ourselves and stop being DUMBED down! Peace-Respect-Love

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ganja man says...
10:12am Wed 17 Sep 08

Well said "Rhys Burnley" you hit the nail on the head with your excellent summary of the REAL facts behind the project.

"akon" and "RAyzer" clearly do not obtain the facts before posting comments on something they clearly know nothing about (ie the purposes and aims of the project)

NO, "RAyzer" Christmas will NEVER be banned and UNION JACKS have NEVER been banned AND NEVER will be banned.

"Akon" how interesting that you have NOT commented on the numerous attacks on WHITE people by WHITE people over the last 7 days in East Lancashire?

The words "asian" and "islam" And "immigrants" seem to attract you very much.
I wonder why that is?

Go see the murals and talk to people in the area and the young people in particular.

You will be enlightened

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RAyzer says...
3:49pm Wed 17 Sep 08

i knew youd play race card ganja man!!!islam-immigran
ts=a lot of trouble,am i right or wrong??im not being racist,as youd like to say im just noticing what a LOT of people in this country think!!but darent say it because its "RACIST"its not ive asian friends,i just dont want to see arabic/islamic graffiti in this/OUR country..mine and yours buddy..but lets remember its a christian/english speaking/writing country...

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RAyzer says...
3:54pm Wed 17 Sep 08

and if you consulted burnleys people 80% would agree pal..were tired of having this rammed down our throats,and a lot of asians threatning attacks on our country because of some idiotic war monger and some numb m.ps..lets live together by the rules of the house that have been here years..we dont want change,islam and all,,like i said your welcome on our terms..thats why labour will lose next election,because they went to war,because of immigration and because there trying to wipe out our history and heritage

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duke bar says...
5:13pm Wed 17 Sep 08

Strange how only 3 or 4 Asians were chraged with violence for the Burnley riots when over 60 whites were chraged.Must have been 150 asians of them causing problems near the duke of york.Strange how videos of these Asians has never appeared .Maybe it did not happen maybe it was the locals of the duke of york who burnt the pub down.

Tell this artist we dont want artists in Burnley we have enough **** artists allready.

I think mister Malik must have used his magic,maybe this bloke painted over the police video cameras .

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Rhys says...
5:54pm Wed 17 Sep 08

It is pretty obvious that some of the posted comments are lacking any sense-Burnley does not represent the rest of the country and neither does our opinion. Facts are facts-black and white. No one is here to take away anyones heritage or culture-and is this still a Christian country? many people I know have stopped going to church and stopped being proud of Burnley because they are too busy playing the victim! both sides! I agree you have to respect the law of the land, but if anyone was to track their Anglo Saxon heritage then it may not be anyones country-many of us come from different backgrounds and countries in Europe because of various wars and invasions-read HISTORY! 'Nothing has been rammed down anyones throats' the work has taken place in an asian area were people from all backgrounds pass through! We as humans do not own anything apart from the very mere possessions we house and keep with us and more importantly our inner heart and mind. We are only here for a short time and we must make the most of it our own selfish/ignorant and uninformed comments and get beyond what happened a few years ago in the riots! It is an English speaking country.yes, as for whos country? So what about my friends who are christian, jewish, and muslim and of other backgrounds who were all born here? - does that mean because they come from a different background or colour-they do not belong here? Get a life Burnley residents! get out and actually see how good, bad and ugly this big world we live in is! then perhaps we will have less to whine about! peace out! nuff luv for Burnley!

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duke bar says...
6:11pm Wed 17 Sep 08

Rhys a long boring comment.Burnley is about Burnley ok.We do not need some clown painting murals .Get a life you say.
Sounds like your living on a different planet.What means something to most Burnley folk is the football team ,not some bloke painting pictures in a different language.



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RAyzer says...
9:31pm Wed 17 Sep 08

to right duke bar,the guy above is a brain washed we can all live side by side clown...we can by our terms(christian,our laws,our bileifs)stop tring the"MULTI CULTRAL"rubbish,beca
use weve had enough..im happy to live side by side as it was years ago without change..churches have closed due to familys collapsing because of corrupt governments,taking every penny people have,and making people reliant on benefits..like i said with no answer,could i go to pakistan and mention christianity or ask for a christian shrine being built???you know the answer

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Rhys says...
11:17pm Wed 17 Sep 08

some people will not change and sad to say you could be those people > churches have not closed because of families breaking up because of a corrupt UK government-that is the most outrageouse conspiracy I have heard. Football and Burnley? well footbal is not for everyone either! or is that as exciting someones life can get in Burnley? the Burnley football team-WOW-they really pay for my bills dont they and feed me my three meals a day? you too are on a different planet-you go and ask how many people can afford season tickets? you go and ask how many people suffer from alcohol abuse and yet still spend their money on alcohol-a major contributor to violent behaviour and domestic abuse! which in turn breaks up families and creates young trouble making idiots who have been deprived of a normal life of love and care from their families! quality life-hmmm-yes? -you go and ask how people can't be bothered to get off their backside and educate themselves let alone spell! you go and look at the statistics that the majority of benefits cheats are white families! or where you going to blame that on muslims and not on law abiding christians? a government that opts to spend billions £ on a case for war that was fabricated >FACT> the artist (not clown) has written the mural in english !!! ENGLISH - want me to repeat that- ENGLISH! he spent his time doing something worthwhile with a young team made up of predominantly white young people...you spend your time festering over issues which you can only make up as you go along-Disneyland stuff! if you want to build a christian shrine (which I think they call a church over here) in pakistan then go and do it! why are you sat in Burnley in front of a cosy PC and writing then next advert for the BNP and opposing multiculturalism? try it there is only one way to find out>>>peace out! and my last comment! wont be reading your sad replies as moving on to something a bit more productive like the next Burnley conspiracy theory...bye bye

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duke bar says...
8:55am Thu 18 Sep 08

Another boring boring reply from Rhys.Wake up and take a tour of the pubs in Burnley ask people what they think about some Asian doing murals .

The answer will be what a load of rubbish.Football is not for everyone but 14 ,000 were on the turf the other night.Thats a big percentage of Burnley population.I am sure that you would be lucky to get 140 people who agree that some muslim should be coming to burnley doing his drawings.Tell him to do his murals in bagdad not burnley

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RAyzer says...
4:19pm Thu 18 Sep 08

burnley have one of biggest supported clubs in leauge..per head per population..like duke bar said ask the majority,il bet you as much as you like we dont want no paintings!!??rhys obviously welsh background,do it in wales..by the way football is the second biggest sport in the world..and if you watch the news are countrys 3rd most overpopulated place in the WORLD..WERE FULL UP..NO MORE!!!dont play the race card most immigrants now are white europeans!!!comprend
a???SAME AS US..SO YOU CANT USE RACE CARD

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ganja man says...
5:46pm Thu 18 Sep 08

Well said "Rhys". These people have their own agenda of **** bashing and derive pleasure out of doing it.
TRUE SADDOS.

As for race card "RAyzer" you are free in this country to say you do not like blacks and asians as a private individual.

We all know the contributors who support this view and are free to hold such views as long as they are NOT rammed down our throats continuously.

As for views from pubs hoe representative are they of the population? Visiting the pub to get an earful of bigoted,ignorant and prejudiced views is a dying trade i have to say.How many pubs have closed no doubt due to these types of individuals inhabiting them.
God help us after all "we all" attend church regularly.
Peace and love 2 all my bretheren.
Pass me my pipe now!!

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RAyzer says...
12:28pm Fri 19 Sep 08

3/4 of burnley support my veiw...remember the riots??a small minority kicked off but as i say 3/4 of burnley are sick of new labour and push the english working class to back of que,YOU ARE THE MINORITY..pubs are closing because of the smoking ban and expensive prices,nothing else..you probably dont watch or take part in sport,as your not allowed to enjoy yourself..move on,dont be brainwashed...

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