Nationally acclaimed exhibition comes to North Yorkshire market town
In a coup for Settle, a national acclaimed exhibition is set to open in the market town.
Kehillah, Hebrew for community, opens at the town’s Quaker Meeting House on February 15 with a public launch at noon.
Muslim woman Nudrat Afza spent years recording Bradford's dwindling community of practising Jews in a moving photographic series which has had earlier showings in prestigious northern galleries such as Bradford’s Cartwright Hall.
Embodying Bradford's notable Jewish-Muslim friendship, Afza captures moments of Jewish tradition, history and quiet endurance using her signature grainy textures and her beautifully balanced tones.
The exhibition tells an extraordinary story of interfaith solidarity. When Bradford's Reform synagogue faced closure in 2013 due to the need for costly repairs, the city's Muslim community and the Bradford Council of Mosques rallied to raise funds alongside a Lottery grant, ensuring the building's survival.
This remarkable act of neighbourly compassion forms the backdrop to Afza's work, which began in 2012 when she photographed the newly closed Orthodox synagogue before it was demolished.
The late Rudi Leavor, a Kindertransport refugee and the synagogue's nonagenarian chairman, later granted Afza unprecedented access to photograph the Reform synagogue's interior and its congregation, resulting in images that transcend documentary photography to become meditations on belonging and change.
Born in Rawalpindi in 1955 and moving to Bradford in 1965, Afza is a self-taught photographer dedicated to documenting overlooked communities in her city. National media coverage of Kehillah's earlier exhibitions (2019, 2020, 2025-6) highlighted the exceptional bond between Bradford's Jewish and Muslim communities, with Afza observing that "in Bradford, people from different communities respect each other."
"Settle Quakers are honoured to host Kehillah in our Meeting House," organisers said. "As with last year's 'The Flower Show' exhibition supporting the Shalom Salaam Trust, Afza shines a light on reconciliation and cooperation across faiths and cultures. Kehillah is a further signpost towards peace and hope for the world."
The exhibition runs daily from February 15 to April 12, open 9am until dusk, and admission free. Settle's Quaker Meeting House is on Kirkgate opposite the Victoria Hall and a five-minute walk from the station.