OUR TURN: Practice Bradford is a group exhibition showcasing new work from four exciting emerging Bradford artists; Joanna Byrne, Atiyya Mirza, Liv Preston and Saba Siddiqui. The exhibition opens at Loading Bay, launching OUR TURN, a new visual arts festival and major milestone within the city of culture celebrations.
Curated by Yorkshire Contemporary, the exhibition is the culmination of Practice: Bradford, an artist development programme providing funding, mentorship, and professional development. The programme is delivered in partnership with Bradford Producing Hub and Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture.
The OUR TURN festival takes place across the district from 18th September – 28th January, organised by South Square Centre in collaboration with Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, Bradford Producing Hub and Yorkshire Contemporary.
Practice Bradford Artists:
Joanna Byrne
Artist Joanna Byrne works with film. Using both photography and moving image, she combines painterly, ecological and experimental techniques to address themes and subjects. Based in Bradford, Byrne is using the programme to explore a post-industrial site in Shipley through projections, photography, sculpture and field recordings. Utilising plants from the site to develop film, her work traces themes of rewilding, ecological resilience, urban memory and interstitial spaces.
Atiyya Mirza
British Pakistani artist Atiyya Mirza works with textiles and sculpture to explore womanhood, empowerment and cultural identity. Her vibrant 2D works and installations weave together traditional fabrics and found materials to create transgressive works that challenge cultural stereotypes. For OUR TURN: Practice Bradford, Mirza is creating an ambitious large-scale, textile installation that invites audiences to playfully engage with themes of domesticity, childhood and gender roles.
Liv Preston, originally from Keighley, uses sculpture, conceptualism and material culture within her practice, often in connection with underground features, hobbyist communities and industrial legacies. The exhibition shines a light on Preston’s research into Bradford’s subterranean waterways and sub-cultures, creating works that fuse historical research, site-specific materiality and speculative storytelling.
Saba Siddiqui
Working from her studio in Baildon, Saba Siddiqui uses textiles, sculpture and printmaking techniques to focus on themes of decolonisation, activism and museum practice. Her work draws on her South Asian identity, creating celebratory, multi-sensory installations that foreground communities and accessibility. During the programme, Siddiqui is delving into Bradford’s textile, migration and labour histories, developing a multi-layered installation that creates space to come together and engage in dialogue.
Launch Event
We will be holding an official launch of the OUR TURN festival and the opening of OUR TURN: Practice Bradford on Wednesday 17 September, from 5.30–8.30pm at Loading Bay, 1 Duke St, Bradford BD1 3QR. Although this is a free ticket event, spaces will be limited. Booking details to follow soon.
