Latest news with #Bradford2025UKCityofCulture
BBC News
25-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Crowd to pull the strings for BD: Festival tightrope act
Tightrope walkers will take to the high wire in Bradford city centre later - with members of the audience asked to help keep the rope act Cie Basinga will stage its high-wire show in City Park as the two-day BD: Festival gets under way, marking the group's first UK directors Jan Naets and Tatiana-Mosio Bongonga will walk along the 25m (82ft) wire which will be suspended more than 4m (13ft) above the members will pull on a rope connected to a pulley system to keep the wire taut, and Bongonga said: "It's a question of trust and just doing something together." Naets, 48, who is also the group's technical manager, is originally from Belgium but is now based with the troupe near Montpellier in the south of said: "We perform our show Soka Tira Osoa which means 'a game of pulling the rope'."We are asking the audience to get the tension in the wire to make it possible for Tatiana and myself to walk on the line." He added: "We need 2.2 tonnes of tension at certain moments in the show."It's them (the audience) pulling these 2.2 tonnes all together."You'll see all these small hands on the front row pulling it."We can't do this performance by ourselves, we need others to do it."And that is one of the themes of the performance." Councillor Sarah Ferriby of Bradford Council said: "This performance promises to be absolutely amazing."It is powerful in its choreography, music and message that by working together we can do anything - something we can all relate to."The BD: Festival is a free event run by Bradford Council in collaboration with the Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture team. It features live performances in City Park as well as food and drink stalls, and art workshops. Saturday's highlight act is Zee and the City, featuring a 4m puppet which will make its way through the city centre. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Yahoo
Bikers sought over Brontë country trail vandalism
Police investigating damage caused by vandals to an art trail in Brontë country have appealed for help finding four suspects. Two marble butterflies, part of an installation of dozens of similar sculptures at Penistone Hill Country Park, near Haworth, were smashed in the attack, with the damage reported to have happened between 19:45 BST and 20:15 BST on Monday. Officers said they wanted to trace a group of four people thought to have been in the area on motorbikes or e-bikes at about the time the damage took place. CCTV inquiries into the vandalism were continuing and Keighley Neighbourhood Policing teams would be carrying out patrols in the area, a West Yorkshire Police spokesperson said. Shanaz Gulzar, creative director of the Bradford 2025 City of Culture team which was behind the trail, previously described the vandalism as "sad and disappointing". However, she added that the trail would still open to the public on 24 May as planned. The butterflies which were damaged were part of the Wild Uplands arts trail– a temporary exhibition due to run until October. Commissioned by Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, the trail features the works of four artists. The damaged sculptures near a pond had already been repaired, Ms Gulzar said. The 75 butterflies are the work of Pakistani-born artist Meherunnisa Asad, in collaboration with Peshawar-based atelier Studio Lél, known for reviving centuries-old stone-work techniques. When the planning application for the trail was considered last year by Bradford Council, there was one objection over concerns it would be targeted by vandals. However, planners said that was not a valid reason for a refusal of a part of Bradford's City of Culture 2025 celebrations. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North. Brontë country art trail hit by vandals Country park arts trail for City of Culture agreed
BBC News
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Bradford culture group hopes £3m revamp will boost footfall
A Bradford charity has been awarded £3m to transform its building into an arts and culture African Caribbean Achievement Project (ACAP) received a capital grant from Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, partly funded by Bradford cash will go towards renovating ACAP's building on Claremont, in the Great Horton area, to provide space for music, dance, visual arts and McFarlane from ACAP said the group hoped to create "somewhere really visually pleasing" to attract more people through its doors. She said: "Although the state of the building doesn't put people off accessing it, with a newly refurbished space you can see how much more appealing that would be."Ms McFarlane said the revamped facility would help "put our culture on the map".She said: "As African and Caribbean people, we have contributed a lot to the city in terms of arts and culture so it's an opportunity for us to highlight some of the things that we've been doing in that space." 'Momentous year' Councillor Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council's executive member for healthy people and places, said: "It's clear that this funding is going to have huge benefits for ACAP's current users and attracting new visitors and audiences."We look forward to the scheme being completed and flourishing."Dan Bates, executive director of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, added: "It's thrilling to see the growth of Bradford's creative infrastructure as we progress through this momentous year for the city and district."The work that ACAP do with communities of African and Caribbean descent across Bradford will be able to expand even further with this renovation, and we're proud to be a part of this next chapter in their journey." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Anita Rani's Brontë documentary to be screened free at Pictureville
A new television programme will explore the impact of the Brontë sisters on millions of readers - with a free screening in Bradford planned. The Brontës by Anita Rani: Sisters of Disruption will look at the influence of Anne, Charlotte, and Emily Brontë on readers over the years - including Anita Rani herself. The programme is partly autobiographical, tracing Rani's relationship with the Brontës as she returns to her hometown of Bradford. She recalls her first encounter with the sisters at school and her experience of growing up with the landscape of Haworth and the moors on her doorstep. Rani also meets fellow Brontë fans and literary experts to discuss how and why these sisters became ground-breaking 'literary disruptors' (in the words of a spokesperson), whose work still feels relevant and influential today. Executive producer Mark Robinson said: "The legacy of the astounding work of Anne, Charlotte, and Emily Brontë continues to reverberate around the world - they were challenging the patriarchy two hundred years ago. "The worlds the sisters created have influenced culture across the centuries - from Kate Bush to Taylor Swift, Game of Thrones to Saltburn. "As well as looking at how they inspired her, Anita will also discover just what made them so subversive – and very different to the timid image so frequently associated with them." Rani said: "These strong, unearthly sisters fed into my psyche and made me think anything was possible. "I related to the darkness and tragedy in the Brontës' had as much impact on me as Neneh Cherry, The Smiths, and Goldie. "In this film I'm going to explore how these women - so full of rage - changed my life, and the world. "Growing up, romance wasn't on the cards. "Bollywood felt distant. "But he could have been Indian - dark hair, dark would he not be?" Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture and Sky Arts have announced a free screening of the programme on May 7 as part of the Creative Cities Convention. This will be followed by a panel discussion with Rani and Shanaz Gulzar, creative director of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture. The programme will then be available to watch on Sky Arts, Freeview, and streaming platform NOW from May 20. Tickets for the free screening, which will take place at Pictureville Cinema, are available at The free screening event begins at 7pm, with a 6.30pm arrival time.
BBC News
19-04-2025
- General
- BBC News
Bradford libraries target male readers in five-year plan
More men are being encouraged to use libraries following a review of Bradford's Council said its plans for the next five years included creating a City of Culture legacy by providing more reasons for under-served communities to visit its council's draft library strategy said men made up only a third of registered library membership across Bradford and young people were also underrepresented."While there are higher numbers of males making unregistered use of the library service, it is clear we need to do more to serve this part of the local population," a council report said. The council hoped the UK-wide project The Big Tasty Read, part of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture and Bradford Literature Festival, would encourage more men to use libraries, according to the said: "Our Arts Council England-funded project The Big Tasty Read will focus particularly on engaging male audiences in reading and using libraries during the City of Culture year and beyond."The Big Tasty Read is a UK-wide campaign using books featuring food to encourage more people to read.A draft libraries strategy published by the council, and currently out for public consultation, suggests the service could apply for Arts Council England funding to help support libraries in the future.A key way to improve the library service would be to "appeal to new audiences," the document added: "Teenagers and young people aged 18-25 are also underrepresented as library users, and we need to do more to engage them and co-produce the library services of the future with them, to meet their needs."To do this we need to use our City of Culture 2025 projects to engage with audiences who are currently underrepresented."City of Culture provides an unparalleled opportunity to showcase the libraries' role as cultural and community hubs."A recent review of the library service found despite a decrease in staffing levels and funding, the service had seen a rise in the number of events held in libraries in the past five year, Bradford Council approved £175,000 cuts and reduced opening hours, according to the Local Democracy Reporting according to a report, there had been a 65% increase in the number of events in libraries in the past five years – up from 2,982 in 2019-20 to 4,936 in than £800,000 has been invested in the library service in the five-year period, with 10 of the 12 council-run libraries refurbished. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
