Bradford's year as City of Culture needs to reach all communities in the district to be a success – a meeting has heard.
And one Councillor claimed residents of his ward were left “perplexed” by one arts event that he argued was obviously developed by people outside the area.
Members of Bradford Council’s Bradford South Area Committee were given an update on cultural events in the District, including the 2025 City of Culture, at a meeting on Thursday.
Nic Greenan, lead for cultural partnerships in the District, said: “There is much work to be done to make sure the offer reaches all communities of Bradford. The bid was that it would reach all parts of the District, not just focus on Bradford city centre.”
Members were given a report on the numerous cultural and artistic events held in the Bradford South area in the past year, as well as work by groups such as the Cultural Voice forum.
Chair of the Committee Councillor David Green (Lab, Wibsey) said it was important people not normally involved in arts and culture weren’t detached from what was going on.
He said: “Having a Cultural Voice sounds wonderful, but if I don’t know much about it, how is Mrs Miggins going to know about it?
“If 2025 is going to be the success we want it to be, then schemes like the Cultural Voice need to be out there in every shape or form.
“Have this information out in community centres and libraries, let people know how they can connect with it.”
Mrs Greenham said: “I’ve been here two years and I’ve worked hard to improve our cultural service. It wasn’t in a great state, and we’ve put a lot of effort into changing that.
“It doesn’t happen quickly, but we’re all incredibly committed to bringing something incredible to the District.”
She said one of the biggest challenges of the City of Culture will be to find talent in the District that hasn’t been heard yet – not just supporting the established arts groups.
She added: “We need to find where the talent that we don’t know about is, where the amazing projects that we haven’t heard about because they don’t have the experience of things like applying for grants.”
Councillor Matt Edwards (Green, Tong) said any arts and culture events needed to connect with Bradford communities, rather than be imposed on them.
He said: “We recently had a big event in Holme Wood, I won’t say which one, and when it was done a lot of people seemed very happy with themselves over how it went.
“But the community there were perplexed by it. It was clear that someone had come from outside and decided that this was what was needed.
“We need to change things in our communities and get more people on board.”
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