As part of the Bradford City of Culture 2025 celebrations, in the early Autumn, five venues in the Bradford District will be exhibiting artworks held in the Methodist Modern Art Collection (MMAC).
The overall exhibition held across the five venues will open on Friday 5th September and run until Sunday 12th October. Whilst they all will have their own theme, they will all be linked via an Art Trail and the overall theme for the exhibition, “Everything is Connected.”
Artists and Titles shown above from the Methodist Modern Art Collection © TMCP, used with permission
The venues are:
Ben Rhydding Methodist Church – Peril in relation to the environment, climate change and the impact of conflict around the world. Title “Peril: Exploring People, Environment and Faith in Times of Peril.”
Bradford Cathedral – South Asian arts and heritage. Title “Jesus – Guru, Avatar, God?”
South Square Centre, Thornton – Women artists and the legacy of the Brontes. Title “It’s Wings Are Almost Free.”
St James Church, Thornton – Women in the Bible. Title “Women in the Bible”
Woodhouse Grove School Chapel – Hope and what that means to the school community on an international level. Title “Hope”
During the exhibition a series of reproductions of some works in the collection will be at the following bars and cafes on North Parade in Bradford:
The Record Cafe
Boar & Fable
The Brass Owl
The Peacock Bar
You can also see reproductions at Lefteris Cafe on Tyrrel Street and The Exchange Craft Beer House on Market Street in the city.
There is an Art Trail linking all five venues in the exhibition – an Art Trail leaflet provides more information for visitors on each venue and the associated programme of events (keep an eye on this page for details of that leaflet when they become available).
We have worked with local communities, organisations, schools and individuals who have creatively responded to the artworks on display.
Verity Smith, Faith and Arts Development Lead for the Yorkshire West District and manager of the project explains, “MMAC Bradford 2025 is enabling opportunities for a variety of creative activity, and we are thrilled to be able to collaborate with Imogen Joyce, Artist in Residence, and Becky Cherriman, Creative Writer in Residence, with funding from the Gibbs Trust. We are very grateful to the Gibbs family for their enthusiasm and encouragement in this project. If you have never visited the city of Bradford and the venues that will be displaying artworks, this is the year to do so. You will be very warmly welcomed!”
The District and MMAC Management Committee are also working with volunteers, who will be kindly giving their time to steward at venues, to promote the exhibition and facilitate creative activity over the coming weeks.
A full programme of events and activities accompanies the exhibition. Please visit https://itsoninbradford.co.uk/collections/everything-is-connected/
Verity Smith, Faith & Arts Development Lead
verity.smith@touchstone-bradford.org.uk