Gloves Off: Stories from Cultural Collections & Galleries at the University of Leeds

Death of a Poet Episode IV: A Poet-Poacher

John Nicholson takes an epic trip through space and time in his first book of poetry, Airedale in Ancient Times. Amid riots and shootings in Bradford, The Bingley Byron a

Death of a Poet Episode III: The Summer of his Life

The Bingley Byron is the toast of the Bradford arts scene, but trouble’s brewing as he sets out his stall as an establishment rhymer. And back in the present, a descendan

Death of a Poet Episode II: Life is Wasting, Death is Hasting

Grief pulls John Nicholson back to his family’s devout Methodism – for now – as The Bingley Byron turns the loss of his young bride into art that retains the power to con

Death of a Poet Episode I: Birth of a Poet

Also known as The Orpheus of Bradford and The Airedale Poet, John Nicholson was a Methodist preacher and a tormented drinker, a rambler on Rombald’s Moor and a champion o

Contemporary Conversations: AI and the Creative Industries – Brace or Embrace?

“I think there’s never been a more exciting time to be a human being…”   In this special instalment of Contemporary Conversations, produced in partnership with the Cultur

Curating Class 5: Them & [uz]

How does the art world invite, or restrict, the expression of working-class identity? What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a “fugitive” from the mainstream?

Curating Class 4: Samantha Manton on ‘Lives Less Ordinary: Working-class Britain Re-seen'

“This wasn’t an exhibition of ‘working-class art’, but an attempt to reframe working-class experience by utilising a gaze from within, bringing together a plurality of wo

Curating Class 3: Beth Hughes on Class Biases in Curatorial Practices

“The role of an organisation is not to force the artwork to adapt to the conventions of the institution, but to adapt its methods to the needs of the artwork… “Curating

Curating Class 2: Laura Claveria and Simon Marginson on Curating and Researching [uz], [uz], [uz]

“Being faithful to the diversity of the artists involved; avoiding tropes; challenging stereotypes... Celebrating the enormous vitality and creativity of artists from wor

Curating Class 1: Dr Rebecca Starr on Working Class Art Histories

Dr Rebecca Starr, Lecturer in History of Art in the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies, University of Leeds, gives an overview of art history’s relat

Contemporary Conversations: Cultures of Memory

How can art resist forgetting, or question state-endorsed histories? Can memories articulated through art enable us to think about and create possible futures? How does a

Contemporary Conversations: Notions of Care - A Response to the Turner Prize 2025

How does art care? How do artists embody care within the creative act of making and how does their work project care in all its multiplicities, its potential ethical and

Selling Sentiment 1: Comfort and Joy

Take a twinkling trip back to Christmas Past with the first podcast in a new series from our 2024 Bedford Fellow Dr Ruby Rutter. Ruby leaves the festive bustle of Leeds’