Exhibition breaks out to show city in a different light

A guided walking tour of Bradford is the sort of thing that might elicit snorts of derision from some quarters, but the art world has always been ahead of the curve in terms of what is culturally cool.

Tonight and a fortnight from today, a series of walks will take place around the much maligned city, as part of an art exhibition that is keeping Bradford at the forefront of the region’s more interesting art.

Leeds will always punch in a higher weight category than its less glamorous brother city down the road, but the smart money has for a little while now been on Bradford when it comes to the more interesting art in the region. The cognoscenti know that it is the place to find artists making challenging work.

One of the reasons for this is the energy being generated in the city by art charity Fabric. Led by Gideon Seymour, the charity has provided a central point for artists and makers to come together, share their practice, often to show their work and simply give artists a chance to work together.

Ann Rutherford is creative programme manager for Fabric. For the past two years she has led the artistic programme at the Pop-Up space in the city centre. The Centenary Square venue hosted artists of all kind in an empty shop unit in a venue that, as the name suggests, acted as a temporary space into which artists could drop their work.

Last year Fabric took lease of a much bigger temporary space, the old HMV building, a stone’s throw from Centenary Square. The ground floor features art and craft work sold directly by the makers, while upstairs on the first floor is Bradford’s newest exhibition space. All this month and until October, the gallery space is exhibiting work under the title Journeys and Migrations. For a town built on the sweat of strangers who migrated to Bradford from around the world, it is an apt title.

“When we moved to this space I wanted to broaden out the work we were showing to include lots of different types of art,” says Rutherford, who has curated the exhibition.

“Thanks to Arts Council funding, we’ve been able to show the work of around 20 different artists in this exhibition, some of them paintings that hang on the wall, but a number who are working in different mediums, like photography and film.”

Artists who work in what you might call immersive soundscapes also feature.

One of these is Phill Harding, who is leading a walk from the Hand Made in Bradford base, around the city.

“He calls them silent walks, with those taking part wearing headphones and going on a route around the city which he has carefully planned out. It makes you see the city in a whole different way.”

A similar event takes place on September 8 when a walk will be lead around the Manningham area of the city while audiences listen to the story of an immigrant to the town.

Walks around Bradford

Phill Harding’s Sound Walk: a chance to experience Bradford in a way that will alter your perception of the city while you are guided around corners you are previously unlikely to have seen. Today, starting from Hand Made in Bradford, at 3pm, 5pm and 7pm.

Walk to the Best End of Town: A specially commissioned walk with sound and live action explores the story of William Rothenstein, a Jewish immigrant who settled in Bradford at the turn of the century. Lumb Lane Sweet Centre, Sept 8, 7pm.

Booking and details on www.fabricculture.co.uk or 01274 370 291.