Artists chosen to be part of city's light festival

Light Fall is part of an art installation made by Naomi Parker and Rachel Hyde

Four artists have won funding to create illuminated installations for Bradford's light festival.

The artworks will be displayed as part of the BD: is LIT 2025 festival, which returns for the third time on 7-8 November.

Bradford Council said the festival would "light up the city centre streets" to celebrate the Bradford district in its UK City of Culture year.

More than 50,000 people have attended the festival since 2021 and this year the theme is "The Colour of Light".

Each commission is worth between £5,000 to £7,500, the council said.

The artists chosen are Nicola Murray, Cat Scott, The Leap group, and a team comprising Naomi Parker and Rachel Hyde.

Nicola Murray curated a piece called Listening Lights, which is inspired by the Japanese Wind Phone, where people continue conversations with loved ones who have died.

It invites participants to step inside a softly illuminated, soundproof telephone booth and speak words of love, memory, and celebration into a telephone handset.

Cat Scott brings Bradford an installation called Flow (of the Broad Ford), which encourages reflection on the role water plays in our daily lives, the climate and our wellbeing.

A TukTuk van from The Leap, which commissions art projects in Bradford

The Leap group put forward BD Dazzler, a fusion of traditional Pakistani art forms with contemporary lighting design in the form of an illuminated tuk-tuk and van.

And lastly Naomi Parker and Rachel Hyde made Light Fall, a walkabout act with a soundtrack by local composer Dan McGlade and two performers, one on stilts.

It is inspired by the mirror pool in Bradford's City Park.

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council's executive member for healthy people, said: "Our local artists have risen to the challenge and designed some amazing interactive, fun and innovative light creations that can be viewed and enjoyed by a range of audiences.

"We are delighted to be able to fund these artists so they can take part in BD: is LIT which is one of the highlights of autumn."

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