logo
Saltaire: New artwork takes over three floors of Bradford mill

Saltaire: New artwork takes over three floors of Bradford mill

BBC News17-05-2025
The top floor of a Victorian mill has been transformed into an art installation by a renowned American artist for Bradford 2025.The work by Ann Hamilton at Salts Mill in Saltaire is inspired by the city's textile heritage and includes wool fabrics made by local firms H Dawson and William Halstead.The artwork also includes a specially created composition including music by children from local schools, community groups and award winning whistler and vocalist Emily Eagen.Ms Hamilton said she began the project by responding to the "space and feel" of the mill.
She said: "One makes work to be outside oneself. It begins by responding to the space and the feel of entering the welcome and the beauty as you enter Salts Mill."You have to imagine that the space was once filled with the deafening roar of machinery. Now it's filled with this lyrical revolving sound that hits the wall and returns with the light."
The work, called We Will Sing, spans three rooms in the top floor of the mill, with hanging fabrics, visual images, sound and film. The installation is Hamilton's largest solo UK installation to date and includes a specially made film created by Bradford-based filmmaker Ali Lycett.The piece includes wool made in Salts Mill by H Dawson, and textiles from William Halstead, which operates at nearby Stanley Mills.Ms Hamilton said she had used the fabric as a reminder of the mill's historic past.She said: "The way it hangs on the architecture uses the structure, comes down, is knotted and tethered by a stone with a hook in it."That is a reference to the first warp weighted loom, so it's not literally a loom but it's an origin form for one of the processes that would have taken place in that room."Hamilton said the music - which includes compositions from students at Heaton St Barnabas Primary School and Titus Salt School - was the first "touch" viewers would experience in the installation. She said: "The deep structure of all this work is tactility and sound is vibration and is the first form of touch. "So you have a material centre, which is felt and cloth and paper, and things you can touch, but we're first affected by a quality of touch we experience through sound and music."
Joe Dawson, CEO of H Dawson Wool, said he felt "privileged" to have worked with Ms Hamilton on the project.He said: "She's a real force of nature. What's been lovely about working with Ann is her desire to link the raw material and the origins of the fibre all the way through to the presentation that she's made, this incredible project."We have a more recent history of looking backwards with misty eyes about the past, but wool is an incredibly clever fibre."It's probably a fibre of the moment, it's a sustainable, natural, biodegradable, renewable fibre and so it means we can be looking forward, from a historic setting, to create something valuable for the modern consumer."We Will Sing opened on 3 May and runs until 2 November.
Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Michael Sheen ‘worried' about opportunities for young people getting into acting
Michael Sheen ‘worried' about opportunities for young people getting into acting

The Independent

time21 minutes ago

  • The Independent

Michael Sheen ‘worried' about opportunities for young people getting into acting

Welsh actor Michael Sheen has said he is worried about how tough it has become for young people who are getting into acting. At the Edinburgh TV Festival, in conversation with TV producer and chief executive of Bad Wolf, Jane Tranter, he spoke about what it was like to attend youth theatre in Port Talbot and said a lot of the opportunities he had as a young person 'have gone'. He said: 'It is quite scary. I look back on my pathway of coming through, starting with a supportive family, coming from an area, you know it was old steel town and, sort of tough place to grow up in, not the sort of place you'd expect actors to come from but because we had Richard Burton that came from there and Anthony Hopkins … 'I again, one of the things I've realised as time has gone on is how important it is to see where you come from, represented on the world stage, and to know that it's possible. 'I never questioned whether you could be successful as an actor, because Burton and Hopkins were and they came from this town.' He said: 'It does worry me that, for young people who might want to get into this, if you are relying on the bank of mum and dad or… it's really tough to even just to go and move to London, or move to wherever these places are. 'That's why it's so important to get stuff out of London and around the country.' Earlier in the year, Sheen launched a theatre company called Welsh National Theatre, which is envisioned as separate from but complementary to Theatr Cymru, which was established in 2003 as the Welsh language national company. National Theatre Wales closed its doors in its current form as a theatre company in December 2024, after funding was withdrawn in 2023. On TV, Sheen has starred in series including US period drama Masters Of Sex, sitcom 30 Rock, and fantasy show Good Omens, alongside David Tennant. He has portrayed a number of real-life public figures including former prime minister Sir Tony Blair in 2006 film The Queen, journalist David Frost in 2008's Frost/Nixon, and the Duke of York in Prime Video mini-series A Very Royal Scandal. On stage he has played Welsh Labour Party politician Aneurin 'Nye' Bevan in the show Nye, which recently finished at the National Theatre.

Coleen Rooney hits back at mum-shamers as they slammed the WAG for taking her young sons to an Oasis concert in a now deleted post
Coleen Rooney hits back at mum-shamers as they slammed the WAG for taking her young sons to an Oasis concert in a now deleted post

Daily Mail​

time22 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

Coleen Rooney hits back at mum-shamers as they slammed the WAG for taking her young sons to an Oasis concert in a now deleted post

Coleen Rooney has hit back at mum-shamers on Instagram on Tuesday after trolls slammed her for taking her young sons to an Oasis concert. The WAG, 39, shared a sweet photo of her boys, Kit, nine, Klay, 12, Cass, seven, and husband Wayne, watching from a VIP box at Wembley Stadium. The couple's oldest son Kai, 15, wasn't pictured in attendance. Despite enjoying an 'unbelieveable' night at the gig watching Liam and Noel Gallagher, one fan slammed the I'm A Celebrity star and England football legend for taking their children. They wrote: 'Definitely something you should have done on your own. The kids being there is ridiculous. So many die-hard fans couldn't get tickets, and they wouldn't know them if they fell over them.' Coleen quickly hit back in a now deleted post, by resharing the follower's negative comment at 12:30am and wrote: 'He's a big fan' followed by a laughing emoji. Thousands of fans waited for hours in virtual queues to get their hands on highly coveted tickets for the band's reunion shows, however not everyone was successful. It comes after Coleen had the time of her life at Together Again Festival last month. The ITV star, who has previously revealed her down to earth holiday tastes with Butlin's a firm family favourite, and three of her children joined the crowd at the event held at Bolesworth Castle in Cheshire. The family enjoyed performances from Olly Murs, Jamie Webster and Dizzee Rascal, with Coleen seen singing away in the audience. Sharing a series of photos to Instagram, she gave an insight into their festival fun, where weekend tickets cost £199, and joined Jamie for photos backstage. She wrote: 'Thank you for looking after us Together Again Fest… fantastic set up!! 'And thanks for the photos and lovely to finally meet you Jamie Webster…. Kids had a ball. Elsewhere, Coleen's earnings have soared amid her huge TV projects as she looks set to become her family's 'main breadwinner '. The WAG reportedly boasts a net worth of £15million, with her hubby thought to be worth an enormous £170million thanks to his Premier League footballing days. But in the new phase of their lives, Coleen could be set to take over as the main breadwinner as her popularity soars. Coleen quickly hit back in a now deleted post, by resharing the follower's negative comment at 12:30am and wrote: 'He's a big fan' followed by a laughing emoji Amid her skyrocketing fame following her hugely successful I'm A Celeb stint, Disney announced on Monday a new premium access series titled The Rooneys focusing on her and Wayne's life. Thanks to her ventures, new figures for her firm, CWR 2021, up to September 2024 show the booming business already had £580,000 banked - and that was before I'm A Celeb and her Disney deal. Meanwhile former manager of Plymouth Arsenal Wayne was reportedly making £500,000, before leaving the club in December. A financial expert told The Sun: 'These earnings show that, even before Coleen signed up for I'm A Celeb, she was already bringing in more money than Wayne. 'On the back of her jungle stint, where she was incredibly popular with the viewing public, she's now likely to see her earnings soar even further - and the increased interest in Coleen after she did so well on the show is also likely to have sealed the deal on the Disney contract.' They added: 'Getting big bucks from a global streamer, plus her pay cheque from ITV, will no doubt swell the Rooneys coffers even further.' MailOnline has contacted Coleen's representatives for comment. In March, Coleen revealed that she has eclipsed Wayne in popularity after starring on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! Coleen took part on last year's series of the ITV show where she finished as runner up to McFlyn's Danny Jones after winning over a huge number of fans. And the mother-of-four has explained that she now gets even more attention in public than her famous footballer husband. Speaking to The Mirror at an event in Manchester, Coleen admitted she was humbled by the 'positivity' of people coming up to chat to her about her time in the jungle. She said: 'I didn't realise how big the audience was. I get parents come up to me saying "aw, we got our family back together on the couch to watch it" and that's lovely to hear.' Not being able to resist making a brutal dig at her husband, she then joked: 'Even on school runs, Wayne has passed his sell by date so no one has got a clue [about him] But then all of a sudden we get kids going "oh Coleen Rooney!"' Speaking of her popularity, Disney announced on Monday that a new premium access series titled The Rooneys is set to air, and filming is already underway. The ten part doc-series will delve into the footballer and WAG's lives 'like we've never seen them before'. It is set to see Coleen tackle 'new entrepreneurial endeavours' and Wayne stepping away from the football pitch to do school runs. The new show has 'unprecedented access' into their world and dives into their everyday life, including highs like holidays and celebrations as well as the lows.

Fuming Paddy McGuinness blasts ‘cowboy' builders over ‘job gone wrong' with his new artificial garden
Fuming Paddy McGuinness blasts ‘cowboy' builders over ‘job gone wrong' with his new artificial garden

The Sun

time22 minutes ago

  • The Sun

Fuming Paddy McGuinness blasts ‘cowboy' builders over ‘job gone wrong' with his new artificial garden

PADDY McGuinness has slammed a group of "cowboy" builders, calling their work on his artificial garden a "job gone wrong". The TV star has called out the company who fitted the lawn after it slowly became overgrown with weeds. Despite it having been "brilliant" for the past "year or two", the 52-year-old said it had now been taken over by weeds which have crept through the surface. Filming his own furious rant, Paddy showcased the extent of the weed growth, with more than 20 separate weeds visible in the clip. He said the weeds had begun to creep through around five months ago but had spread to almost all stretches of the artificial garden. A large number of the weeds shown in the clip appear to have grown in the space at the edge of the artificial turf and the tiling slabs that surround it. The star also slammed various discoloured patches and hollow bits around the edge, saying: 'Job's gone wrong.' Paddy said he attempted to get back in touch with the company but claimed they did not respond to phone calls or emails he sent. The infuriated TV star even labelled the workers as 'f***ing cowboys' in the clip from yesterday. A frustrated Paddy said in the video: "Why's everyone out to shaft you. "Can no one just offer a service and it be right? "Listen, if you've used a company who lay these kind of lawns and you're happy with it, let me know. 'It drives me wild, you just can't get rid of it' pro gardener reveals the nightmare weed every UK home is at risk of "I don't want to put it down again if it's going to be screwed in another year or two and changing colour and weeds everywhere and dips in it and all that pony." He added: "Please someone, I don't want it for nothing, do not want it for nothing, no tagging in, get in touch. "I'll pay you, do a fantastic job and be gone and let me know how to do the upkeep." This comes after the show Paddy and Chris: Road Trippin' - starring the TV icon and his former Top Gear co-host Chris Harris - was confirmed to be axed. The series has been cut after just one season, despite enjoying decent viewing figures when it aired on Sunday nights on BBC One last year. Despite attracting a reasonable 3.2 million viewers for its opener, the show will not be renewed for any more episodes. A TV insider said: "It certainly wouldn't have helped that just a few weeks before the show began on the Beeb, host Chris was slating the corporation following Freddie Flintoff's horror crash while they were filming Top Gear. "He said that he'd warned show bosses that someone could be killed or seriously injured on the show claiming producers were devising increasingly 'stupid and dangerous' stunts. "The timing was not great, but by that stage Road Trippin', which saw Chris reunited with Paddy without Freddie, had already been made and was ready to go out on air."

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store