‘Ways of Looking’, a new festival of photography in Bradford opens on 1st October 2011. Exploring the theme EVIDENCE, the festival includes premières of newly commissioned works by internationally renowned Magnum photographer Donovan Wylie, and Turner Prize winning artists Douglas Gordon and Jeremy Deller.
Inspired by the theme EVIDENCE, the festival will address, overturn, and playfully interact with photography’s assumed status as ‘evidence’ in a range of arenas including history, politics, science, law, and conflict. In contrast to other photography festivals, ‘Ways of Looking’ does not advocate a lead curator, but instead offers multiple curatorial approaches ranging from museum institutions to grass-roots collectives. Many of the works have been specially commissioned for the festival and will be shown for the first time in Bradford.
Highlights include Douglas Gordon’s large-scale window installation taking inspiration from the former glories of Bradford’s iconic Gaumont cinema, and Jeremy Deller’s personal take on Bradford’s civic photography collection. Photography’s relationship to surveillance is explored by Donovan Wylie, who travelled to Afghanistan to document military watchtowers, whilst Simon Ford and Colin Lloyd have drawn on CCTV technology and scientific imaging techniques to examine the validity of optical evidence. Red Saunders’ epic photographic tableaux vivants recreate momentous but overlooked events from Britain’s struggle for democracy, whilst Alan Dunn investigates the archive of West Yorkshire Police to re-examine crime photographs from the 1950s.
Based entirely in Bradford’s compact city centre, with its wealth of dramatic nineteenth century architecture, the whole festival can be easily accessed by visitors. As well as museum and gallery venues, photography will be on display in public spaces and on billboards, whilst a specially commissioned interactive digital game will transport participants on an intriguing journey through the spaces and histories of ‘hidden’ Bradford.
An accompanying events programme will offer talks by photographers, portfolio reviews, and film screenings. Unmissible events include a series of debates ‘Photography on Trial’ at City Hall’s spectacular Victorian Court Room, and a major conference ‘Media and Conflict Interchange’ at the National Media Museum.
Anne McNeill, Director of Impressions Gallery and co-founder, said ‘Ways of Looking is a boutique festival – small but considered. We believe it has the potential to grow to become a key biennial on the international circuit of photography festivals’.
Nicola Stephenson, Director of The Culture Company and co-founder, said ‘a bit like Berlin, Bradford is edgy, post-industrial, and home to some fantastic art spaces. Its cosmopolitan and diverse population make it a great destination for festival goers’.
Colin Philpott, Director of National Media Museum, said ‘Ways of Looking draws on Bradford’s amazing wealth of photographic activity and world-class collections. It epitomises Bradford’s renaissance as a cultural centre, and perfectly complements its new status as the world’s first UNESCO City of Film’.
‘Ways of Looking’ is organised by Impressions Gallery, National Media Museum, and The Culture Company, with partners Bradford Grid, Bradford Museums and Galleries, Fabric, Gallery II University of Bradford, and Leeds Metropolitan University Gallery and Studio Theatre. The festival is funded by Arts Council England through the National Lottery Fund and supported by Bradford Metropolitan District Council.
Jeremy Deller at Bradford 1 Gallery
2 September – 27 November 2011
Turner Prize Winner Jeremy Deller has created a new exhibition especially for Ways of Looking, drawing on the extensive photographic archives in the collections of Bradford Museums.
Bradford 1 Gallery, Centenary Square, Bradford BD1 1SD
Tues to Fri 11am to 6pm, Thurs late to 8pm, Saturday 12pm to 5pm, Sundays throughout October
12pm to 5pm FREE
Tel. 01274 437800
Web www.bradfordmuseums.org
Hidden by Red Saunders at Impressions Gallery
28 September to 10 December 2011
Saunders’ epic photographic tableaux vivants (‘living pictures’) recreate momentous but overlooked events in the struggle for equality and democracy in Britain. The show
includes the world premiere of three new Yorkshire-based works, set at the time of the Civil War and the Swing Riots, specially commissioned by Impressions Gallery and The Culture Company.
Impressions Gallery, Centenary Square, Bradford BD1 1SD
Tues to Fri 11am to 6pm, Thurs late to 8pm, Saturday 12pm to 5pm, Sundays
throughout October 12pm to 5pm FREE
Tel. 01274 473843
Web www.impressions-gallery.com
Outposts: Donovan Wylie Bradford Fellowship 2010/11 at National Media Museum
30 September – 19 February 2012
In this world premiere, Magnum photographer Wylie continues to interrogate the
architecture of conflict through a systematic survey of military outposts in Afghanistan’s Kandahar Province. Specially commissioned by the National Media Museum, Bradford College and the University of Bradford, the exhibition also features the acclaimed bodies of work Maze, British Watchtowers, Police Stations, and Green Zone.
National Media Museum, Bradford, BD1 1NQ
Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 6pm FREE
Tel. 0844 856 3797
Web www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk
The Tracker Chronicles by Simon Ford and Colin Lloyd at Gallery II, University of Bradford
1 to 28 October 2011
Combining surveillance technology with data collection, digital print and re-imagined objects, The Tracker Chronicles plays with an array of information gathering devices, exploring their possible meanings and applications. Live camera feeds and data streams are overlapped and interfered with, movement is mapped across a public atrium space occupied by a CCTV tower and a time travelling chandelier. The Tracker Chronicles explores the complex connections between looking, listening and reading, in different times and spaces.
Gallery II, Chesham Building and Richmond Atrium, Richmond Building, University of Bradford BD7 1DP
Mon to Fri 11am to 5pm; Saturday and Sunday 12pm to 3pm FREE
Tel. 01274 233365
Web www.brad.ac.uk/gallery
Daniel Meadows: Early Photographic Works 1972-1987 curated by Val Williams at National Media Museum
1 October 2011 – 19 February 2012
This major retrospective includes Meadow’s major projects, as well as recently discovered work from his archives. Meadows was one of a group of photographers who spearheaded the independent photography movement in the early 1970s. Working in a collaborative way via interviews with his subjects, his complex, passionate and sometimes deeply autobiographical work forms an astonishing record of urban society in Britain. The project has been funded and supported by a partnership between the National Media Museum, Ffotogallery, Cardiff, Birmingham Central Libraries, Photography and the Archive Research Centre, University of the Arts London,
and Photoworks UK.
National Media Museum, Bradford, BD1 1NQ
Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 6pm FREE
Tel. 0844 856 3797
Web www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk
Case Open at Pop Up
30 September to 30 October 2011
Responding to the theme EVIDENCE, the winners of this national open call have been selected by director of Impressions Gallery and Chair of Ways of Looking Anne McNeill, National Media Museum curator Greg Hobbs, curator of South Square Gallery David Knowles, and Programme Manager of Pop Up Ann Rutherford.
Pop Up, Centenary Square, Bradford BD1 1SD
Tuesday to Saturday 10 am to 6 pm FREE
Tel. 07780 917320
Web www.creativebradford.co.uk
Makeshift Monuments by Diane Bielik at The Old Hungarian Club
Friday 30th September to Sunday 30th October
An exhibition of photographs made during the run up to the closure of the Hungarian club in Bradford which shut its doors in the summer of 2010 due to diminishing membership. Diane Bielik’s father, Attila, is Hungarian and was an active member of the club for many years. The news of its closure was the impetus to begin photographing the club as there was a desire to ‘capture’ this place before it was gone. The photographs will be incorporated onto the walls and the viewers will need to move through the rooms of the disused social club to see the exhibition.
An Impressions Gallery off-site project
The Old Hungarian Club, 4 Walmer Villas, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD8 7ET
Friday to Sunday 1-6pm FREE
www.dianebielik.co.uk
• ART IN PUBLIC SPACES
‘Scene for a small crime’ by Alan Dunn at Bradford Interchange Station
14 October to 30 October
Alan Dunn’s ‘Scene for a small crime’ is a new billboard artwork produced in collaboration with the poet Roger Cliffe-Thompson, photographer Leila Romaya and West Yorkshire Police. Inspired by a 1950’s crime scene photograph found in the Police Archive in Wakefield, Dunn has orchestrated a crime scene photograph riddled with clues, odd timings and mirrored patterns.
Platform 3, Bradford Interchange, Bridge Street, Bradford BD1 1TU
Open during station opening hours
FREE (rail ticket may be required for station access)
Phone 0113 812 3130
Web http://www.alandunn67.co.uk
Self portrait of you and me (blue skies) by Douglas Gordon at Impressions Gallery
Douglas Gordon: 30 September to 30 October
Self portrait of you and me (blue skies) is a new public realm artwork produced by Douglas Gordon for the large windows of Impressions Gallery. Directly facing the former Gaumont Cinema, the fragile face of late 1960’s icon Syd Barrett is blown up, hangdog expression and collar upturned against the elements, his image then tragically and delicately pushed by the artist to the point of combustion.
Impressions Gallery, Centenary Square, Bradford BD1 1SD
Open during gallery opening hours
FREE
Phone 0113 812 3130
Web http://lostbutfound.co.uk/
1963 by Shanaz Gulzar at Bradford Interchange Station
30 September to 13 October
1963 is a new billboard created by the artist Shanaz Gulzar in collaboration with the Bradford & District Youth Offending Team and Nacro. Inspired by a mythical 1960’s pop moment in Bradford involving the Beatles, the Stones, Bo Diddley and Cilla Black, the young people create two new cinematic posters for an imaginary venue.
Platform 3, Bradford Interchange, Bridge Street, Bradford BD1 1TU
Open during station opening hours
FREE (rail ticket may be required for station access)
Phone 0113 812 3130
Web http://www.alandunn67.co.uk
RE:BRADFORD by Bradford Grid, outdoor exhibition in Bradford City Centre
Photography collective Bradford Grid have created new work in response to images sourced from local residents’ family albums and personal recollections of Bradford between 1950 and 2000. Investigating the photograph as a source of both information and inspiration, they explore how photographs act as historical ‘evidence’ through which the present can be viewed.
City centre, various outdoor locations
Open 24 hours FREE
Web www.bradfordgrid.co.uk
Evidence by Invisible Flock and Impressions Gallery, locations throughout Bradford city centre
1 October to 31 October 2011
Created especially for Ways of Looking this participatory game invites players on a series of journeys, transporting them on an interactive trail across Bradford and through time. Throughout the festival four different journeys can be undertaken, all offering glimpses of magic, intrigue and hidden histories; uncovering secret worlds and revealing the city in a whole new light. Armed with phones, cameras and a sense of adventure, players will be asked to help capture the city’s heart.
Online and during venues opening times.
Tel. 01274 473843
Web www.impressions-gallery.com
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