Latest news with #BradfordExhibition
BBC News
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Exhibition tells stories of Poles and Ukrainians in Bradford
Photographs which chart the lives of Bradford's Polish and Ukrainian communities feature in a new exhibition in the i Tam/Tyt i Tam translates respectively as "Here and There" in Polish and Ukrainian and the images are on display in the Loading Bay arts space from 3-27 July. The exhibition documents Polish and Ukrainian migration over the decades with particular focus on those who settled in the Bradford photographer Tim Smith and Polish curator Marta Szymańska were commissioned to create the show by the Bradford 2025 City of Culture team. Mr Smith said: "There were big Ukrainian communities, big Polish communities that came over to Britain in the aftermath of World War Two. "And a lot of them came to Bradford because Bradford needed people to work in the textile mills. "I started photographing Poles and Ukrainians in Bradford some 40 years ago, so there's a lot of that black and white photography featured."But also there's an amazing collection of pictures here from about eight or nine different photographers; British photographers, Poles, Ukrainians."I think our work spans about the last 40 or 50 years." The exhibition ends with images of those who have fled the war in Ukraine during the past three years. Marta Szymańska is curator of the Łódź Fotofestiwal in Poland, where the Polish part of the exhibition was previewed before coming to said: "We have been working on the exhibition for two years. "All of these stories are close to me. "Even though my family doesn't have the migration history, we have the experience of the war, of course, of displacement and changing homes. "This is something that I have to say is a very, very common experience for everyone living in central or eastern Europe." More than 150,000 Poles and 35,000 Ukrainians were resettled in the UK after ended up working in West Yorkshire's woollen industry, which was short of labour. These large communities were eventually joined by recent economic migrants after Poland joined the EU, and refugees from the war in to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Reclaiming the story of Bradford's 1904 Somali village
In summer 1904, millions of people descended on Bradford for arguably the biggest festival it has ever seen. Along with typical fairground fun and examples of the city's industrial might, Bradford Great Exhibition's biggest draw was also its most bizarre - a living and breathing Somali village. More than 120 years on, a team of historians are piecing together the stories of those who lived within the walled compound and helping the UK Somali community reclaim the narrative. Reportedly attracting about 350,000 paid visitors in total, the exhibit transplanted about 100 Somali men, women and children from the Horn of Africa and put them on public display in Lister Park for six months. "It has resonance as a story of colonised and racialised people who still gazed back and resisted in their own way and had fascinating lives," says Prof Fozia Bora, from the University of Leeds. "We are really keen to share the story with Bradfordians and the country at large." "Even though the Somali community has existed in different parts of the UK for over 150 years, nobody knew anything about the Somali village in Bradford," says Zainab Nur, chair of the recently founded Somali Village charity. "That's why it needs to be told and shared." Together with an online history project, Ms Nur is attempting to reframe the event - "not as a footnote of imperial display, but as a significant episode in the longer history of Somali migration, cultural expression and resistance". Ms Nur, who was born to Somali parents and whose forefathers came to the UK during the industrial revolution, says learning about the exhibit raised several key questions. "I was like, what is this? Are they being exhibited? Were they forced? Was it similar to human zoos?" The collaborative project and associated charity were officially launched at a recent event at Cartwright Hall, near where the village was located. The project also aims to trace people who may be descendants of the original village residents, as little is known about what happened to them after the exhibition packed up and left. Records reveal the group lived in self-built huts and gave daily demonstrations including dancing, spear throwing and archery. Villagers also displayed their weaving and blacksmithing skills, selling their wares to visitors. One official report at the time said "they maintained their attractive character throughout, and under the trying conditions of the Yorkshire climate behaved in a most creditable manner". Prof Bora, an associate professor of Islamic history, says the team is determined to "reverse the gaze of looking at the other as exotic, strange, weird, even inferior". "That is the range of lenses through which the Somalis would have been viewed, as well as fascination and admiration," she says. "The project tries to really look at the experience from the Somali point of view." Community historian Yahya Birt says the episode challenges some misconceptions about Bradford's multicultural identity. Discussing his own involvement, he says: "It began with a simple question - who were Bradford's first Muslims? "We found out that this community wasn't from South Asia but actually from the Horn of Africa." The team acknowledges it is a delicate story to tell, especially through a 21st Century lens and contemporary discourse around migration and decolonisation. But they believe the retelling is vital and will have particular resonance during Bradford's UK City of Culture year. "There are many aspects of this story that are definitely uncomfortable," adds Mr Birt. "The best history happens when you're made to feel uncomfortable because it makes you question your own assumptions." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North. City names first black, hijab-wearing Lord Mayor 'Nothing is impossible' says graduate refugee A Somali Village in Colonial Bradford
BBC News
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Reclaiming the story of Bradford's 1904 Somali village exhibition
In summer 1904, millions of people descended on Bradford for arguably the biggest festival it has ever with typical fairground fun and examples of the city's industrial might, Bradford Great Exhibition's biggest draw was also its most bizarre - a living and breathing Somali village. More than 120 years on, a team of historians are piecing together the stories of those who lived within the walled compound and helping the UK Somali community reclaim the attracting about 350,000 paid visitors in total, the exhibit transplanted about 100 Somali men, women and children from the Horn of Africa and put them on public display in Lister Park for six months. "It has resonance as a story of colonised and racialised people who still gazed back and resisted in their own way and had fascinating lives," says Prof Fozia Bora, from the University of Leeds. "We are really keen to share the story with Bradfordians and the country at large." "Even though the Somali community has existed in different parts of the UK for over 150 years, nobody knew anything about the Somali village in Bradford," says Zainab Nur, chair of the recently founded Somali Village charity."That's why it needs to be told and shared."Together with an online history project, Ms Nur is attempting to reframe the event - "not as a footnote of imperial display, but as a significant episode in the longer history of Somali migration, cultural expression and resistance".Ms Nur, who was born to Somali parents and whose forefathers came to the UK during the industrial revolution, says learning about the exhibit raised several key questions."I was like, what is this? Are they being exhibited? Were they forced? Was it similar to human zoos?"The collaborative project and associated charity were officially launched at a recent event at Cartwright Hall, near where the village was located. The project also aims to trace people who may be descendants of the original village residents, as little is known about what happened to them after the exhibition packed up and reveal the group lived in self-built huts and gave daily demonstrations including dancing, spear throwing and archery. Villagers also displayed their weaving and blacksmithing skills, selling their wares to official report at the time said "they maintained their attractive character throughout, and under the trying conditions of the Yorkshire climate behaved in a most creditable manner".Prof Bora, an associate professor of Islamic history, says the team is determined to "reverse the gaze of looking at the other as exotic, strange, weird, even inferior"."That is the range of lenses through which the Somalis would have been viewed, as well as fascination and admiration," she says. "The project tries to really look at the experience from the Somali point of view." Community historian Yahya Birt says the episode challenges some misconceptions about Bradford's multicultural his own involvement, he says: "It began with a simple question - who were Bradford's first Muslims?"We found out that this community wasn't from South Asia but actually from the Horn of Africa."The team acknowledges it is a delicate story to tell, especially through a 21st Century lens and contemporary discourse around migration and they believe the retelling is vital and will have particular resonance during Bradford's UK City of Culture year."There are many aspects of this story that are definitely uncomfortable," adds Mr Birt. "The best history happens when you're made to feel uncomfortable because it makes you question your own assumptions." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
