Built By Sound

Read about our latest immersive installation created in collaboration with Dialled In, for Bradford City of Culture 2025

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Built by Sound

Mixed Reality

Installation

Format

Mixed Reality

Year

2025

Runtime

60min

Producer

No Ghost, Dialled In

Co-Producer

Bradford 2025 City of Culture

Official Website

A mixed reality installation where memory moves to a beat.

Built by Sound is an immersive MR exploration of British South Asian communities in the 1970s and ’80s finding joy in defiance, community and music – from the thump of dhol drums in parish halls to pirate radio buzzing through walls.

Stories of the past. Technology of the future.

Created by No Ghost and Dialled In with Bradford 2025, this interactive exhibition built from archival footage, personal testimonies and spatialised rhythms, recreates a momentous era for South Asian communities in the UK – and particularly in Bradford.

Built By Sound takes us back to a time when young South Asians carved out new space in society, soundtracked their resistance against oppression, and stood up to the fascist rhetoric of the National Front – not in silence but in celebration.

Blending the physical and digital

Commissioned to celebrate the culmination of Bradford 25: City of Culture and funded by the BFI, Built By Sound expands the horizons of multi-user attractions. Designed to be highly accessible, BBS blurs the lines between physical and digital, past and present. An experiential documentary that’s built to be shared.

A mixed reality installation where memory moves to a beat.

Scripted by Nikesh Shukla and directed by Shehani Fernando, Built by Sound is a tribute to the power of collective memory as a force against racism and erasure. For anyone who’s ever felt unheard – and turned the volume up anyway. Whether you lived it, or it’s the first time you’re hearing it – this is your invitation in. A story of resistance through a rhythm that feels close, urgent, and alive.

Recognition

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Credits

Cerative Director

Shehani Fernando

Script Writer

Nikesh Shukla

Narrator

Anita Rani

Composer

Provhat Rahman

Executive Creative Director

Shanaz Gulzar

Executive Producers

Kye Dorricott, Luke Gibbard, Dhruva Balram, Annabel Grundy, Kate Moore, Luke W Moody

Senior Producers

Joana Malagueira, Jodie Noble

Producers

Sylvan Shen, Samia Ahmed, Kat Boon

Consulting Producer

Moss Sheikh, Mick Chandsoor

Film and Production Executive

Hannah Bush Bailey

Head of Business Affairs

Suzanne Alizart

Doc Society Head of Film

Shanida Scotland

Doc Society Director

Sandra Whipham

Production Coordinator

Kit Colbourne

Head of Marketing

Mahnoor Hussain

Development Producer

Sparsh Ahuja, Ahad Elley, Ahsan-Elahi Shujaat

Archive & Engagement Producer

Hafsah Naib

Archive Producer

Jo Stones

Accessibility Consultant

Daniel Watts

Studio Coordinator

Poppy King

CG Supervisor

Thomas Flavelle

UX Director

Lawrence Bennett

Development Supervisor

Jack Straw

Lead Unreal Developer

Fionna Tanner

Unreal Developers

Matthew Warshaw, Seonjeong Park, Patryk Ponichtera

Tech Artists

Michal Firkowski, Elliott Kajdan

3D Artist

Sarah Zimmerman

UI / UX Designer

Marianne Thomas

Visual Identity

Marianne Thomas, Shankho Chaudhuri

Concept Artist

Jota Sadoval

Production Designer

Shankho Chaudhuri

Spatial Sound Design

Oliver Kadel

ADR / Narration Recording

Itzel Gonzales Estrada

Lighting & Audio Effects Design & Consultancy

Neuron Audio Visual

Additional Audio Support

Misbah Uddin

Video Editor

Prince Yiadom

Prop Supervisor

Kash Odedra

Workshop Consultant

Aamta Tul Waheed

Creative Technologist

Matt Allen

Contributors

Abdul Bashir, Aneela Ahmed, Champak Limbachia, Davinder Singh, DJ T, Eddie Charles, Hamid Butt, Hardeep Sahota, Hummera Ahmed, Inder Goldfinger, Kulvinder Randhawa, Mick Chandsoor, Moey Hassan, Moss Sheikh, Rani Kaur, Shanaz Gulzar, Smirti Kotecha, Taira Khaliq

BHRU Archive Interviews

Tony Walker, Marsha Singh

Archive photographs and other material

Belle Vue photos and archive recordings courtesy of Bradford District Museums & Galleries, Bradford Local Studies library, Eddie Charles, Ishaq Kazi, "Jind Mahi" Written and Performed by Channi Singh (Alaap) Published by Fairwood Music (UK) Ltd (P) 1985 Sargam Productions, Mick Chandsoor, Moss Sheikh, Oriental Arts, Report Digital, Tim Smith

With special thanks to:

Leonard Bertoia, Colin Waddell, DJ Khalida, Dipak Mistry, Elizabeth Llabres, Ellen Oakden, Espen Bale, Farena Bashir, Girish Mistry, Graham Relton, Gurj Kang, Haafiz Zahid Butt, Holly Taylor, Kooj Chuhan, Migration Studios, Mary Dowson & Jonathan Pinfield, Bradford Community Broadcasting, Olivia Johnstone, Rashad Khan, Simon McCallum, Stephanie Molloy, Tim Walker

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