Mukhtar Dar is a cultural activist, artist and archivist dedicated to social justice, anti-racism and anti-imperialism. In 1982, after a brutal racist attack by 13 thugs on an Asian restaurant, he co-founded the Sheffield Asian Youth Movement to defend communities against state-sanctioned racism and the onslaught of far-right violence. His activism extended through the Birmingham Asian Youth Movement and the Pakistani Workers’ Association, and he has been involved in numerous grassroots campaigns and organisations such as the Sheffield Defence Campaign, Manchester Black People’s Alliance and the South Asian Alliance.
In 2023, Mukhtar co-founded Kings Heath United Against Racism following an Islamophobic attack on a 73-year-old resident. Recently, in response to the racist riots and pogroms in 2024, he co-founded Asian Defiance, a national anti-racist, anti-fascist movement uniting South Asian communities to combat far-Right extremism and state racism and contributing to a national united front against the spectre of fascism. Mukhtar’s creative work includes serving as artistic director of the Drum Arts Centre and founding the Simmer Down Festival.
He now leads Kollaboration Arts, a radical Black arts development agency. His notable projects include Blacklash: The Struggle for Self Defence, an exhibition of his photographic and video archive at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and Partition of the Heart, an immersive musical theatre production performed at Mac in 2024, exploring the 1947 Partition of India and the enduring solidarity amidst the communal violence.
Mukhtar’s activism and artistry embody a lifelong commitment to unity, justice and resistance.
When asked about his views on anti-racism, Mukhtar said:
True anti-racism demands dismantling exploitation itself—reimagining society where power and wealth are shared, and liberation becomes the common inheritance of all humanity.
