“GROTTO” 2016

A collaboration with staff and students from BA (Hons) Visual Communication, Leeds Arts University - led by Marianna Springham.

For three days in early December 2016, students transformed a former shop unit in central Bradford into “Grotto” - a unique seasonal browsing experience. Students were asked to create designs which responded to the pre-Christmas period in a vibrant and ethnically diverse city where a high proportion of the population do not actively celebrate Christmas. The results were extremely varied, focussing on themes including: family and community, consumerism, homelessness, sustainability, sharing and celebration.

Over three days several hundred people visited the event. Students were amazed by the variety of people who came into the space and how long they spent looking at the work and the interest they showed in what it was all about.

The space was generously provided by ReBooted a Bradford-based arts organisation.