Seen & Heard: Here & There – Bradford 2025

Loading Bay, 1 Duke St, Bradford BD1 3QR

An afternoon of illustrated talks about how words and images can jointly explore themes of journey, exile, identity and the search for home, drawing on stories presented in the venue’s current exhibition about Polish and Ukrainian migration to Britain. Featuring talks by Michał Iwanowski, Barbara Hladowski, Tim Smith and Rob Perks. A free in-person event with refreshments.

Programme:

12pm – Loading Bay opens – opportunity to view the Tu i Tam/Tyt i Tam/Here & There exhibition.

2pm – 3pm – Michał Iwanowski’s work brings together photography, text, archival materials, and performative elements – most notably long-distance walking. Work drawn from his photobooks ‘Clear of People’ and ‘Go home Polish’ both feature in the exhibition. Michał will present an overview of his practice, and discuss why the intersection between photography and writing offers a unique perspective on migration and identity.

3.30pm – 4pm – Barbara Hladowski will talk about her own family’s epic journeys, from Poland to Bradford via Siberia and the Middle East, and how the exhibition uses their astonishing stories to represent the collective experiences of tens of thousands of Poles who settled in Britain.

4.30 – 5.30pm – Tim Smith and Rob Perks in conversation about their joint work with the Ukrainian communities in 1980s Bradford, their 1991 trip to Ukraine as it became independent of the Soviet Union, and how the stories that they documented then are relevant now. Tim Smith is a photographer and co-curator of the exhibition. Dr Rob Perks MBE was Project Co-ordinator at the Bradford Heritage Recording Unit in the 1980s before a long career as Lead Oral History Curator and Director of National Life Stories at the British Library.

6pm –  Event ends, Loading Bay closes to public.

Details and free tickets: Seen & Heard: Here & There | Bradford 2025