OUR TURN: Practice Bradford
OUR TURN: Practice Bradford is a group exhibition showcasing new work from four exciting emerging Bradford artists. Launching OUR TURN, a new visual arts festival and major milestone within the city of culture celebrations, the exhibition opens at Loading Bay from 18 September–19 October 2025. OUR TURN: Practice Bradford will present ambitious new works by artists Joanna Byrne, Atiyya Mirza, Liv Preston and Saba Siddiqui.
The exhibition is the culmination of Practice Bradford, a new artist development programme led by Yorkshire Contemporary and Bradford Producing Hub, in collaboration with Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, designed to support and nurture artistic talent in the region. The programme provides tailored mentoring, peer support, talks and funding to enable artists to take creative risks and expand their practice. It builds on Yorkshire Contemporary’s longstanding programmes and commitment to developing contemporary art talent across the county.
OUR TURN: Practice Bradford marks the start of OUR TURN, a brand-new visual arts festival. Taking place between 18th September – 28th January 2026 across the district; OUR TURN will shine a spotlight on art that is made and created in Bradford through an exciting programme of events, exhibitions, workshops, learning opportunities and more. OUR TURN promises to be bold, experimental and authentically Bradford, optimising a time when the world’s visual arts community looks to Bradford as it hosts the Turner Prize 2025 this autumn. OUR TURN: Practice Bradford builds on this momentum, ensuring that early-career artists are supported to develop, experiment and shape the city’s cultural future.
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.
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.
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
Join us for the 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. This free event is open to the public, but spaces are limited. Booking details will be announced soon.
Follow @yorkshirecontemporary and @bdproducinghub on Instagram for updates on the artists and exhibition.
Notes to editors:
Listings information
OUR TURN: Practice Bradford
18th September–19th October 2025
Loading Bay, 1 Duke St, Bradford BD1 3QR
Open Thursday to Sunday, 12.00–4.00pm
Admission free
Image Caption information
1. Joanna Byrne, To Remember 记得, 2025. Image courtesy of the artist
2. Atiyya Mirza, Great Women Chilling, 2024, Textiles. Image courtesy of Sunny Bank Mills.
3. Liv Preston, Dog Quest, 2020, Cast of miners graffiti from Pen Yr Orsedd mine, lead alloy. Image courtesy of the artist
4. Saba Siddiqui, Engl~ish, 2024. Image courtesy of Sunny Bank Mills.
About Yorkshire Contemporary
Yorkshire Contemporary is an arts organisation based in Leeds. We work across the region creating exciting opportunities for people to experience ambitious and inspiring contemporary art for free, through exhibitions, commissions and public programmes. Artist-centred in all we do, we provide professional development activities for early career artists, creating national and international networks. We champion art and play, supporting our communities to be creative. Between 2013 and 2023 we were known as The Tetley, where we supported over 1200 artists including co-commissioning Tai Shani’s Turner Prize winning exhibition Semiramis.
Practice Bradford is part of Yorkshire Contemporary’s artist accelerator programme, Practice. It supports emerging contemporary artists in the region with funding, mentorship, and professional development at pivotal stages in their careers.
About Bradford Producing Hub
Founded in 2019, Bradford Producing Hub is an arts development organisation that tests radical new approaches to producing work, supporting talent, developing a local arts workforce, and partnering with communities across Bradford to reimagine the city as a thriving creative hub. Bradford Producing Hub supports artists, producers, and small companies through funding, grants, mentoring, training, development, and networking opportunities to establish Bradford as a city that nurtures homegrown talent.
In 2023, Bradford Producing Hub was appointed as the Cultural Capacity Partner of Bradford 2025, UK City of Culture.
www.bdproducinghub.co.uk
About Bradford 2025
Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture (Bradford 2025) runs from January 2025 to December 2025 and is a celebration of Bradford city and district, taking place across its city, towns, villages and greenspaces. It will showcase the rich history of the area and spotlight its dynamic contemporary culture in all forms; dance and theatre, music and film, visual arts and crafts, food and sport.
Bradford 2025 is created for, with and by the people of Bradford – and it has young people at its heart. With more than a quarter of its population aged under 20, Bradford is one of the UK’s youngest cities. Bradford 2025 is proudly reflecting this youth across all aspects of its programme, from education, skills and training projects to new artistic commissions centred on the lives, concerns and ambitions of young people today.
The City of Culture designation has already brought significant investment to the region and been a catalyst for development. It is set to have a lifelong impact through its reshaping of the local curriculum, skills and training programmes, investment in existing and new creative spaces, and open up opportunities for cultural participation.
Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture is delivered by Bradford Culture Company, a charity supported by public investment from HM Government, Bradford Metropolitan District Council, West Yorkshire Combined Authority and through National Lottery funding from Arts Council England, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, The National Lottery Community Fund, Spirit of 2012, British Film Institute and a number of trusts, foundations and corporate sponsors.
bradford2025.co.uk/
About South Square Centre
South Square Centre is a collection of 19th Century Grade II workers cottages in the old Yorkshire village of Thornton just 5 miles from the City of Bradford. Renovated as a community arts and heritage centre in 1982, South Square Centre is now home to ten studio spaces for a variety of artists, an art gallery, community spaces, archive, fine art framers, bar, and cafe.
South Square Centre plays an important part in the cultural life of Thornton and the wider Bradford district by providing community exhibitions, events and workshops alongside a contemporary arts programme. It is committed to providing a platform and opportunities for new artists and curators.
southsquarecentre.co.uk
About OUR TURN
OUR TURN is an ambitious new artist-led festival designed by Bradford artists, organised by South Square Centre in collaboration with Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, Bradford Producing Hub and Yorkshire Contemporary.
southsquarecentre.co.uk/ourturn
Contact information for media enquires
Helina Bassey, Marketing and Development Coordinator helina.bassey@yorkshirecontemporary.org
Images
An image sheet can be downloaded here
Images for press and social media use can be downloaded below
