Bradford Visual Arts Festival
OUR TURN is designed and led by artists and delivered by South Square Centre in collaboration with Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, Yorkshire Contemporary and Bradford Producing Hub. The festival is supported by Arts Council England, Yorkshire Visual Arts Network and commissioned by Bradford 2025.
OUR TURN was the first visual arts festival of its kind in Bradford, running from 26th September 2025 to 28th January 2026. Artist-led and rooted in the city’s creative community, the festival was designed by Bradford-based artists and delivered by South Square Centre in collaboration with Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, Bradford Producing Hub and Yorkshire Contemporary.
Bold, experimental and authentically reflective of the city, OUR TURN brought together a wide range of artforms—from print and painting to sculpture and textiles—showcasing both emerging and established artists across venues and unexpected spaces throughout the Bradford district.
The festival achieved significant reach and impact. It featured work by 135 artists, including 21 newly commissioned artworks, and delivered 44 exhibitions and events across the city. Alongside this, 15 events engaged new audiences, while a further 14 exhibitions and events were highlighted through a joint marketing programme, enveloping wider activity from the city.
Beyond its public programme, OUR TURN played a vital role in strengthening Bradford’s visual arts ecology. It created meaningful commissioning opportunities that enabled artists to develop their practice, increase ambition and gain new skills. The festival also supported professional development through training, talks and learning opportunities, helping to nurture a new generation of cultural producers.
A key focus was accessibility and inclusion. The programme actively engaged underserved communities, new audiences and dedicated arts participants, creating opportunities for people across Bradford to connect with work made in their city. By fostering participation, dialogue and collaboration, the festival strengthened relationships between freelancers, organisations and artist-led initiatives.
Importantly, OUR TURN took place during a moment of national attention on Bradford’s art scene, aligning with Turner Prize 2025. This helped amplify local voices and demonstrate the strength, diversity and ambition of the district’s visual arts sector, reinforcing the case for continued investment.
OUR TURN celebrated Bradford’s rich, counter-cultural identity while creating a platform for artists and audiences at every stage of their creative journeys and advocating for the artist-led visual arts sector.
About South Square Centre
South Square Centre is a collection of 19th Century Grade II workers cottages in the old Yorkshire village of Thornton just 5 miles from the City of Bradford.
Renovated as a community arts and heritage centre in 1982, South Square Centre is now home to ten studio spaces for a variety of artists, an art gallery, community spaces, archive, fine art framers, bar, and cafe.
South Square Gallery plays an important part in the cultural life of Thornton by providing community exhibitions, events, and workshops alongside a contemporary arts programme; it is committed to providing a platform and opportunities for new artists and curators.
In March 2020, South Square Centre received £1.3m investment from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council England and Garfield Weston Foundation to undertake a capital refurbishment and a three-year programme of heritage activities which will highlight local industrial heritage, Thornton as the birthplace of the Brontë’s, and South Square’s own history as a grassroots cultural arts centre.
About Bradford 2025
Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture (Bradford 2025) runs from January 2025 to December 2025 and is a celebration of Bradford city and district, taking place across its city, towns, villages and greenspaces. It will showcase the rich history of the area and spotlight its dynamic contemporary culture in all forms; dance and theatre, music and film, visual arts and crafts, food and sport.
Bradford 2025 is created for, with and by the people of Bradford – and it has young people at its heart. With more than a quarter of its population aged under 20, Bradford is one of the UK’s youngest cities. Bradford 2025 is proudly reflecting this youth across all aspects of its programme, from education, skills and training projects to new artistic commissions centred on the lives, concerns and ambitions of young people today.
Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture is delivered by Bradford Culture Company, a charity supported by public investment from HM Government, Bradford Metropolitan District Council, West Yorkshire Combined Authority and through National Lottery funding from Arts Council England, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, The National Lottery Community Fund, Spirit of 2012, British Film Institute and a number of trusts, foundations and corporate sponsors.
About Yorkshire Contemporary
Yorkshire Contemporary is an arts organisation based in Leeds. We work across the region creating exciting opportunities for people to experience ambitious and inspiring contemporary art for free, through exhibitions, commissions and public programmes. Artist-centred in all we do, we provide professional development activities for early career artists, creating national and international networks. We champion art and play, supporting our communities to be creative. Between 2013 and 2023 we were known as The Tetley, where we supported over 1200 artists including co-commissioning Tai Shani’s Turner Prize winning exhibition Semiramis.
About Bradford Producing Hub
Bradford Producing Hub (BPH) is a charity and arts development organisation on a mission to create a fairer, more representative arts ecology in Bradford. They support artists, creative freelancers and micro-organisations across the district through funding, training and development, mentoring and care.
In 2023, they were appointed Cultural Capacity Partner for Bradford 2025 to help the sector's continued development before, during and after our UK City of Culture year.