All_2gether_Now

Although she was born in Pakistan Bibi's family moved to the UK when she was just three years old to join her father who was already living in Leeds.

From 1964 to 1982 her father worked long hours in foundries and Bibi hardly ever saw him.  

Good wife and mother

"I remember that Asian girls were prepared for married life from quite small. They were taught to be good wives and mothers. It worked for some women but I went through an abusive arranged marriage and had four children to bring up alone.

I had little time to put aside for my art studies. Anyway art was not considered to be a worthwhile vocation in life, it doesn't bring in the pennies, 'Art is about playing,' I was told."

After years devoted to bringing up her family Bibi realised a dream in 2003 when she completed an Art degree at Leeds Met. 

A theme running through much of her art is the image of chapattis.

Angry

"It all started when my university tutor said that chapattis are a 'dull domestic thing'. That made me really angry. This stable food means so much more than that to me.

I also noticed that every chapatti is different, similarly every woman is different with a range of qualities and skills that need to be expressed."

Latex chapattis

Bibi also created latex chapattis which she pegged onto a tiny washing line:

"For me the chapatti is very important - even sacred. It should be valued, not discarded. These latex chapattis on my washing line won't ever decay."

Another aspect of her work is a video entitled 'Nursery Rhymes',

"The rhyme is repeated because I wanted to show that teachings and beliefs go on and on, regardless of how modern society has become. It's about how about women are alone.

The images that appear on the right represent colonialism which slowly creeps into minds, hearts, spirits and cultures. The piece goes on and on and on - as has domination. It needs to be turned off. It needs to stop."

"This video disturbs and upsets people and that's what I set out to achieve."

The future

"I have lots of ideas for the future to develop my chapatti theme. For me chapattis also have a positive side.

Making chapattis is a skill but because women make chapattis this skill hasn't been valued. Nowadays you can buy chapattis in the shop, they are two a penny. Now I have a choice, my lifestyle has changed; if I choose to put time aside to make chapattis for my family then my efforts are appreciated."

"I want to celebrate the skill of making chapattis by setting up the 'International Federation of Chapatti Makers' and creating special tee shirts with this printed on. I also want to run chapatti making workshops.

For many first and second generation Pakistanis living in Leeds traditional food is part of their identity, a thread leading them back to their past. I think it's sad that nowadays some Pakistani girls who leave home and go to college don't know how to cook Pakistani dishes and how to make chapattis.

One of my aims in life is to put the pride back into making chapattis."

To find out more about these workshops email: chapattisr.us@btinternet.com

This is user-generated content (i.e. external contribution) expressing a personal opinion, not the views of BBC Leeds.