Bradford’s Civic Future: the Art of Kirkgate Market

This event looks at how the city of Bradford is working with artist Bernd Trasberger to creatively develop the civic architecture of the city.

Like much post-war architecture, Bradford’s Kirkgate Market holds a prominent place in the collective memory of the city’s people.

Within the internal architecture of the market are murals by William Mitchell and tiles by Fritz Steller. They are powerful examples of post-war collaboration between artists and architects, inserting art into civic buildings.

Joining us to introduce this series of talks are Shanaz Gulzar, Creative Director of Bradford Capital of Culture 2025, and Councillor Simon Cunningham. Together they will outline the city’s exciting civic plans for creative place-making and culture-led regeneration.

Afterwards, art and architectural historians Dr Dawn Pereira and Christopher Marsden will discuss the history and context of the market’s William Mitchel murals and Fritz Steller tiles.

In the final talk of the day, artist Bernd Trasberger will explain his artistic project, which involves repurposing Steller’s work.

Following the talks and tours we will be serving William Mitchell-inspired ice creams, courtesy of Edible Archives’ artists Harry Jelley and Sonia Sandhu.

This event is a collaboration between Bradford UK City of Culture 2025 and the Henry Moore Institute.

About the speakers

Shanaz Gulzar

Shanaz Gulzar is known for her skillset as an artist, producer and for her creative vision. With a commitment to the arts and to creating work that pushes boundaries of cultural expression, Gulzar has emerged as a prominent leader in the UK cultural sector.

Her career spans film, visual arts, theatre, public art and media, and she has delivered ground-breaking projects nationally and internationally, most recently as a producer at Manchester International Festival.

In her capacity as Creative Director at Bradford 2025, UK City of Culture, Gulzar is co-leading a transformative cultural renaissance, with initiatives that celebrate diversity, artistic innovation, and community engagement.

Christopher Marsden

Christopher Marsden is an artist and dogged architectural history and public art researcher, who surprises himself pursuing disregarded post-war sculpture, murals and buildings.

Dawn Pereira

Dr Dawn Pereira is a writer, researcher, teacher and artist. Pereira has lectured and written extensively about post-war public art themes, particularly sculpture, murals, architecture, and modern materials such as concrete and glass-fibre.

Bernd Trasberger

Bernd Trasberger is a German artist mainly concerned with architecture, public space and the design of urban places. His engagement with this often requires intensive, long-term research with a sociological, architectural-historical or political background.

Trasberger is currently undertaking a project involving repurposing the Fritz Steller tile work from Kirkgate Market.