Where It Began – Osman Yousefzada

Cartwright Hall Art Gallery
3 May – 13 October 2024
Free – no booking required

Osman Yousefzada takes a deeply personal look at migration, identity and community in Where It Began, a special solo exhibition that forms part of the countdown to Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture. 

Where It Began invites us to consider themes of class, immigration and colonialism. The title serves as a metaphor that spans across timelines, from the historical relationships between the British Empire and South Asia to the arrival in Bradford of Yousefzada’s father during the wave of Commonwealth migration in the 1960s. It also speaks to the history of labour at Crofts Engineers and ideas of belonging, identity and home.

Where It Began presents work both inside and outside Cartwright Hall Art Gallery. The hall will showcase handcrafted textiles, sculptures and new wrapped artworks – while outside in Lister Park, Yousefzada is giving Diana the Huntress an unexpected new adornment. 

Bringing together works from Yousefzada’s recent solo show at the V&A with new works created especially for Bradford, Where It Began is the first of several events presented by Bradford 2025 leading up to our year as UK City of Culture. 

Where It Began is presented in partnership between Bradford Museums and Galleries and Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture. 

Image: Possession 1, © David Lindsay

Find out more about Osman Yousefzada at osmanstudio.com

Please note: Cartwright Hall Art Gallery is closed on Mondays. For full opening times and access information, please visit bradfordmuseums.org

• Step-free access
• Accessible parking
• Accessible toilet
• Baby changing facilities

If you have any questions about accessibility at this exhibition, please get in touch at [email protected].

Explore the exhibition through our audio described tour.

Listen to a detailed description of the exhibition spaces and the artworks in them, from the installation outside Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, into the ground floor, and up to the first floor.

You can also read a full transcript of the audio tour below.