Wild Uplands: The Artworks

Shanaz Gulzar, Creative Director of Bradford 2025 and the curator of Wild Uplands, invited four leading national and international artists – Monira Al Qadiri, Meherunnisa Asad with Studio Lél, Vanessa Da Silva and Steve Messam – to create new works during Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture.

In this digital version of Wild Uplands you can learn about the artists and their work, with exclusive interviews, insights and thoughts directly from the artists as well as bespoke videos, photos and audio descriptions. You can also listen to the compositions and poetry from the Earth & Sky soundwalk.

99 Butterflies

Meherunnisa Asad with Studio Lél

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Curving path lined with scattered pink marble butterfly sculptures near a calm pond, set against dense greenery and a hill topped with shrubs and trees under cloudy skies.

The Children of Smokeless Fire

Monira Al Qadiri

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Panoramic view of a grassy landscape dotted with colorful sculptures inspired by medieval animal illustrations, featuring fantastical hybrid creatures stretching across the frame, with stone walls and farmland in the distance.

Muamba Posy

Vanessa da Silva

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Three abstract sculptures in pastel and bright colours, featuring looping, organic forms and bulb-like shapes, displayed in grassy moorland with stone walls and distant farmland in the background.

Tower

Steve Messam

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Large stacked oblong shapes, making an arch sculpture made from wool, standing alone on open moorland under a partly cloudy sky with hills in the distance.

Earth & Sky

Opera North

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A hillside scattered with large rocks is intersected by thin illuminated light strips, creating a striking contrast against the natural landscape and moody skies.