Artspace

An art installation for Refugee week accessible from the State Gate.

Secret transactions with God in prayer have life-changing consequences. Within worship and prayer, sorrow can be turned to joy, tension to peace. Alison Thistlethwaite’s paintings aim to capture some of this process in paint. Her paintings are not just depictions, or recollections, of encounters with God through the Spirit. They are themselves painted in encounter with God, much like the prayers of any one of us, but in physical form.

Alison comes from both an art and music background. Her art training specialised in colour, and her music training (for voice and music therapy) had a strong emphasis on improvisation. Sung worship is also very important to her. With abstract paintings these different streams combine. She hopes that these paintings for Lent, Easter and Pentecost will encourage personal encounters with Christ.

Ali Thistlethwaite lives in Gloucestershire and this is her second exhibition at the Cathedral.

Encounters with Jesus.

This is an open mic event. An opportunity for anyone who would like to perform poetry, music, song, movement or anything else in the magnificent space of Bradford Cathedral.

Serenity Event.

Common Threads met whilst studying textiles in Bradford and came to know its buildings, culture and history. The consecration of the Cathedral a century ago cemented its place at the heart of Bradford’s society. The exhibition looks at this textile city through its own medium, reflecting growth and change, wealth and poverty, exclusion and diversity. It is a tribute to a remarkable, relevant presence.

The Visual Commentary on Scripture, TheVCS.org, is the first significant online project to introduce visitors to the entirety of Christian Scripture in the company of art and artists. Celebrated with a launch event in November 2018 at Tate Modern, TheVCS.org seeks to connect the worlds of art and religion as a one-of-a-kind resource for scholars, educators, churches and interested readers looking for insightful, original explorations of art and the Bible.

In this talk, Canon Ben Quash, the project’s director, will share some of the challenges and discoveries he has encountered so far in this ambitious undertaking.

Whether you are a born and bred Bradfordian, or a newcomer to this great city, then don’t miss the opportunity to be part the ‘Bradford on Film’ archive screening. This flagship Bradford Cathedral Centenary event is brought to you by the Yorkshire Film Archive who have delved into their vaults to curate a special journey through Bradford’s rich film heritage, revealing the sights, sounds, faces, places, changing landscapes and industries, great events and everyday lives of people in Bradford from the 1890s to the 1990s.

Chris Czainski has been painting icons for about ten years, as part of her general artistic practice using contemporary techniques. For the last two years, she has been receiving training in the traditional method of iconography using the ancient medium of egg tempera on gesso-ed wood with gilding. Examples of both styles are in the exhibition.

Icons.

This exhibition of photographs by Tim Smith and the UNHCR tells the story of Rohingya people forced to leave Burma. It charts their journey from refugee camps in Bangladesh to Bradford, and shows the work done by Horton Housing Association to support their new lives in the city.

Burma Exhibition.

Touchstone: Extraordinary Drawers! Opening up insights in to faith, culture and journey 

From Touchstone comes a photographic exhibition that uses the hidden life contained within drawers to share insights into the everyday lives of ordinary people. Personal stories are so often private, but we invited people to share something of their ‘hidden’ lives by taking a photograph of a drawer that says something about them. We were given ordinary stuff that tells some extraordinary stories of life, faith and culture in Bradford.

Eva Mileusnic’s installation, Counter-Flow, represents pairs of migrants’ feet. Each of the 100 pairs of slip cast porcelain pieces has been decorated with ceramic decal transfers of the world’s textile patterns. The work references current global demographic shifts and the subsequent spread of cultural identities all around the world and celebrates the rich and diverse communities of Bradford. The feet will be on display in the Artspace during January and will then perambulate around the Cathedral. 

Counter Flow.