Looking At Leeds

Episode

Title

First
Broadcast

Comments

Jeremy Dyson

20231212

The world of magic and enchantment that Jeremy Dyson remembers from the Leeds of his childhood are epitomised by the three intricately carved clocks with life size human figures that still keep time in the Edwardian and Victorian shopping arcades in the city centre, now hemmed in by shopping malls and fast food outlets. From discussing the three clocks, he takes us back to the Victorian architectural splendour and status of the city, with its bronze and stone carved animals in Leeds Central Library and a plea to remember the value of spending money on public art.

Jeremy Dyson is the co-creator and co-writer of the multi-award winning comedy show The League of Gentlemen, the BAFTA-nominated comedy drama Funland and the Rose-d'or winning all female sketch show Psychobitches. His play Ghost Stories, co-written with Andy Nyman was nominated for an Olivier award);

Writer/reader, Jeremy Dyson

Jeremy Dyson takes us back to the Victorian architectural splendour and status of Leeds.

The city of Leeds seen through public art - past, present and future. Jeremy Dyson takes us back to the Victorian architectural splendour and status of the city.

Malika Booker

20231211

Malika Booker considers an architectural sculptural frieze located on Abtech House, 18 Park Row, Leeds (formerly West Riding Union Buildings) created in 1900 by the stonemason and sculptor Joseph Thewlis. The sculpture depicts emblematic figures related to Leeds commerce at the time, linked to the abundance of textile industry and mills in Yorkshire and Leeds.

As a member of the Caribbean community living in Chapeltown, she is particularly interested in the Minerva Goddess presiding over these figures, as well as the figures depicting the bank's relationship with empire. She is caught by the multicultural portrayal of figures representing different aspects of Industry and the world, but of particular interest is the depiction of an enslaved African figure lifting and bending over bales of cotton.

This essay explores the importance of this frieze to black bodies in this city – from the representation of the American plantation system and cotton growing, to Frederick Douglas's visits to the north of England in 1845 to promote the abolitionist cause, his talks to mill workers and the Caribbeans who migrated here during 'Windrush'. This lyrically poetic essay considers the changing visual, political, social and environmental changes that the sculptural frieze has witnessed and the ways in which the world has moved away from this depiction of black bodies.

Malika is an international writer, double winner of Forward Prize for Poetry and Douglas Caster Cultural Fellow at University of Leeds.

Writer/reader, Malika Booker

Malika Booker considers a 1900 frieze by stonemason and sculptor Joseph Thewlis.

The city of Leeds seen through public art - past, present and future. Malika Booker considers an architectural frieze created in 1900 by stonemason and sculptor Joseph Thewlis.

The city of Leeds seen through public art past, present and future. In this edition, Malika Booker considers an architectural sculptural frieze located on Abtech House, 18 Park Row, Leeds (formerly West Riding Union Buildings) created in 1900 by the stonemason and sculptor Joseph Thewlis. The sculpture depicts emblematic figures related to Leeds commerce at the time, linked to the abundance of textile industry and mills in Yorkshire and Leeds.

Malika is and international writer, double winner of Forward Prize for Poetry and Douglas Caster Cultural Fellow at University of Leeds.

Contains some historical racial terminology.

The city of Leeds seen through its public art past, present and future.

The city of Leeds seen through public art past, present and future. Malika Booker considers an architectural frieze created in 1900 by the stonemason and sculptor Joseph Thewlis.

Jeremy Dyson

20231212

Writer/reader, Jeremy Dyson

Jeremy Dyson takes us back to the Victorian architectural splendour and status of Leeds.

The city of Leeds seen through public art - past, present and future. Jeremy Dyson takes us back to the Victorian architectural splendour and status of the city.

Michelle Scally Clarke

20231213

In her essay, Both Arms, Michelle Scally Clarke writes about the statue of that name by William Kenneth Armitage CBE, a Leeds sculptor known for his semi-abstract bronzes.  It is a powerful public image of compassion, support and welcome, created as a monument to friendship. It resonates for Michelle about her own life journey as a mixed race care leaver who was welcomed and held by Leeds as a child and now an adult.

‘Both Arms ? also holds great pride and nostalgia for Michelle, a visual symbol of Leeds as a city of hope for now and the future. Her essay explores Leeds as a city of welcome in multiple contexts - adoption and adaptation; migrants and refugees; traders and artists; students; and Nelson Mandela's iconic visit to the city in the 1990s.

Michelle Scally Clarke is a writer and performer of drama, creative writing, and poetry. Work includes BBC Contains Strong Language 2023, Space2 2016 performance and workshop focusing on mental health ‘Suitcase', 2018 cross-cultural play ‘Jeans, Whose Genes?' and now peer-led Clear Out Your Closer poetry group, focusing on writing for wellbeing.

Writer/reader, Michelle Scally Clarke

Michelle Scally Clarke talks about William Kenneth Armitage's statue Both Arms.

The city of Leeds seen through public art - past, present and future. In her essay, Both Arms, Michelle Scally Clarke talks about the statue of that name by William Kenneth Armitage

Ian Duhig

20231214

In his essay, Paradoxopolis, Ian Duhig is inspired by a painting by 'Leeds's Lost Modernist', the reclusive Joash Woodrow, and the former local synagogue, now the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, both sited on the road north out of Leeds, built by Blind Jack Metcalf, iconic Leeds roadmaker of the Victorian era.

Ian says: 'When I first moved here about 50 years ago, Leeds was still advertising itself as The Motorway City of the Seventies and as much as its natural resources of clay and coal, its central location between London and Scotland. and England's east and west coasts, was a major influence on its development. Immigrants, itinerant labour and roadmakers have built this city and its economy, something I propose to show by inviting you all to join me now on a virtual poetic journey through it on one road, Blind Jack Metcalf's due north where we will come to understand something of that extraordinary civil engineer and what Virginia Woolf meant when she once wrote in a TLS review: “Personally, we should be willing to read one volume about every street in the city, and should still ask for more ?.

The essay touches on the many different populations that have lived and still live in Leeds - Jewish, Irish, Caribbean, Indian, Russian, Polish, Portuguese and their rich cultural manifestations.

Ian Duhig became a full-time writer after working with homeless people for fifteen years. He has published eight collections of poetry, held several fellowships including at Trinity College Dublin, won the Forward Best Poem Prize once, the National Poetry Competition twice and been shortlisted four times for the T.S. Eliot Prize. His New and Selected Poems was awarded the 2022 Hawthornden Prize for Literature. He is currently finishing his next book of poetry, ‘An Arbitrary Light Bulb', due from Picador in 2024.

Writer/reader, Ian Duhig

Ian Duhig takes us on a virtual poetic journey along Blind Jack Metcalf's road.

The city of Leeds seen through public art - past, present and future. Ian Duhig takes us on a virtual poetic journey along Blind Jack Metcalf's road due north out of the city,

05 LAST

Khadijah Ibrahiim

20231215

Khadijah Ibrahiim's essay, A Journey of Things Past and Present, looks at how Leeds's built environment has changed and what that tells us about it as a society. Leeds is a rich north England city in a beautiful rural setting, but only the former is reflected in its physical development. The starting point is a much-loved mural that Khadijah contributed to as part of a school art project about the city's historical and modern architecture.

Khadijah still lives in the city and has watched as the skyline has become blotted out by high rise buildings, changing the view and creating a sort of forest of grey trees. She is struck by how beautiful the countryside is around the city, as are many of its historical buildings.

The essay will consider what the built city tells us about its identity and why/how the landscape is developed, then move us into the future, talking about the imminent David Oluwale memorial sculpture by Yinka Shonibare, Hibiscus Rising, in currently empty open space down near the river.

Khadijah Ibrahiim is a literary activist, theatre maker and published poet/writer. She is the Artistic director of Leeds Young Authors, and executive producer of the award-winning documentary ‘We Are Poets'. Recently work includes writing and directing ‘Sorrel & Black cake' A Windrush Story, a Heritage Lottery funded program as part of GCF. ‘Dead and Wake' Opera North 2020 Resonance and Leeds Playhouse Connecting Voices.

Writer/reader, Khadijah Ibrahiim

Khadijah Ibrahiim looks at what changes to Leeds's environment tell us about its identity.

The city of Leeds seen through public art, past, present and future. Khadijah Ibrahiim looks at what changes to the city's built environment tell us about its identity.

Episodes

Episode	Title	First Broadcast	Comments
	Jeremy Dyson	20231212	The world of magic and enchantment that Jeremy Dyson remembers from the Leeds of his childhood are epitomised by the three intricately carved clocks with life size human figures that still keep time in the Edwardian and Victorian shopping arcades in the city centre, now hemmed in by shopping malls and fast food outlets. From discussing the three clocks, he takes us back to the Victorian architectural splendour and status of the city, with its bronze and stone carved animals in Leeds Central Library and a plea to remember the value of spending money on public art. Jeremy Dyson is the co-creator and co-writer of the multi-award winning comedy show The League of Gentlemen, the BAFTA-nominated comedy drama Funland and the Rose-d'or winning all female sketch show Psychobitches. His play Ghost Stories, co-written with Andy Nyman was nominated for an Olivier award); Writer/reader, Jeremy Dyson Jeremy Dyson takes us back to the Victorian architectural splendour and status of Leeds. The city of Leeds seen through public art - past, present and future. Jeremy Dyson takes us back to the Victorian architectural splendour and status of the city.
01	Malika Booker	20231211	Malika Booker considers an architectural sculptural frieze located on Abtech House, 18 Park Row, Leeds (formerly West Riding Union Buildings) created in 1900 by the stonemason and sculptor Joseph Thewlis. The sculpture depicts emblematic figures related to Leeds commerce at the time, linked to the abundance of textile industry and mills in Yorkshire and Leeds. As a member of the Caribbean community living in Chapeltown, she is particularly interested in the Minerva Goddess presiding over these figures, as well as the figures depicting the bank's relationship with empire. She is caught by the multicultural portrayal of figures representing different aspects of Industry and the world, but of particular interest is the depiction of an enslaved African figure lifting and bending over bales of cotton. This essay explores the importance of this frieze to black bodies in this city – from the representation of the American plantation system and cotton growing, to Frederick Douglas's visits to the north of England in 1845 to promote the abolitionist cause, his talks to mill workers and the Caribbeans who migrated here during 'Windrush'. This lyrically poetic essay considers the changing visual, political, social and environmental changes that the sculptural frieze has witnessed and the ways in which the world has moved away from this depiction of black bodies. Malika is an international writer, double winner of Forward Prize for Poetry and Douglas Caster Cultural Fellow at University of Leeds. Writer/reader, Malika Booker Malika Booker considers a 1900 frieze by stonemason and sculptor Joseph Thewlis. The city of Leeds seen through public art - past, present and future. Malika Booker considers an architectural frieze created in 1900 by stonemason and sculptor Joseph Thewlis. The city of Leeds seen through public art past, present and future. In this edition, Malika Booker considers an architectural sculptural frieze located on Abtech House, 18 Park Row, Leeds (formerly West Riding Union Buildings) created in 1900 by the stonemason and sculptor Joseph Thewlis. The sculpture depicts emblematic figures related to Leeds commerce at the time, linked to the abundance of textile industry and mills in Yorkshire and Leeds. Malika is and international writer, double winner of Forward Prize for Poetry and Douglas Caster Cultural Fellow at University of Leeds. Contains some historical racial terminology. The city of Leeds seen through its public art past, present and future. The city of Leeds seen through public art past, present and future. Malika Booker considers an architectural frieze created in 1900 by the stonemason and sculptor Joseph Thewlis.
02	Jeremy Dyson	20231212	The world of magic and enchantment that Jeremy Dyson remembers from the Leeds of his childhood are epitomised by the three intricately carved clocks with life size human figures that still keep time in the Edwardian and Victorian shopping arcades in the city centre, now hemmed in by shopping malls and fast food outlets. From discussing the three clocks, he takes us back to the Victorian architectural splendour and status of the city, with its bronze and stone carved animals in Leeds Central Library and a plea to remember the value of spending money on public art. Jeremy Dyson is the co-creator and co-writer of the multi-award winning comedy show The League of Gentlemen, the BAFTA-nominated comedy drama Funland and the Rose-d'or winning all female sketch show Psychobitches. His play Ghost Stories, co-written with Andy Nyman was nominated for an Olivier award); Writer/reader, Jeremy Dyson Jeremy Dyson takes us back to the Victorian architectural splendour and status of Leeds. The city of Leeds seen through public art - past, present and future. Jeremy Dyson takes us back to the Victorian architectural splendour and status of the city.
03	Michelle Scally Clarke	20231213	In her essay, Both Arms, Michelle Scally Clarke writes about the statue of that name by William Kenneth Armitage CBE, a Leeds sculptor known for his semi-abstract bronzes.  It is a powerful public image of compassion, support and welcome, created as a monument to friendship. It resonates for Michelle about her own life journey as a mixed race care leaver who was welcomed and held by Leeds as a child and now an adult. ‘Both Arms ? also holds great pride and nostalgia for Michelle, a visual symbol of Leeds as a city of hope for now and the future. Her essay explores Leeds as a city of welcome in multiple contexts - adoption and adaptation; migrants and refugees; traders and artists; students; and Nelson Mandela's iconic visit to the city in the 1990s. Michelle Scally Clarke is a writer and performer of drama, creative writing, and poetry. Work includes BBC Contains Strong Language 2023, Space2 2016 performance and workshop focusing on mental health ‘Suitcase', 2018 cross-cultural play ‘Jeans, Whose Genes?' and now peer-led Clear Out Your Closer poetry group, focusing on writing for wellbeing. Writer/reader, Michelle Scally Clarke Michelle Scally Clarke talks about William Kenneth Armitage's statue Both Arms. The city of Leeds seen through public art - past, present and future. In her essay, Both Arms, Michelle Scally Clarke talks about the statue of that name by William Kenneth Armitage
04	Ian Duhig	20231214	In his essay, Paradoxopolis, Ian Duhig is inspired by a painting by 'Leeds's Lost Modernist', the reclusive Joash Woodrow, and the former local synagogue, now the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, both sited on the road north out of Leeds, built by Blind Jack Metcalf, iconic Leeds roadmaker of the Victorian era. Ian says: 'When I first moved here about 50 years ago, Leeds was still advertising itself as The Motorway City of the Seventies and as much as its natural resources of clay and coal, its central location between London and Scotland. and England's east and west coasts, was a major influence on its development. Immigrants, itinerant labour and roadmakers have built this city and its economy, something I propose to show by inviting you all to join me now on a virtual poetic journey through it on one road, Blind Jack Metcalf's due north where we will come to understand something of that extraordinary civil engineer and what Virginia Woolf meant when she once wrote in a TLS review: “Personally, we should be willing to read one volume about every street in the city, and should still ask for more ?. The essay touches on the many different populations that have lived and still live in Leeds - Jewish, Irish, Caribbean, Indian, Russian, Polish, Portuguese and their rich cultural manifestations. Ian Duhig became a full-time writer after working with homeless people for fifteen years. He has published eight collections of poetry, held several fellowships including at Trinity College Dublin, won the Forward Best Poem Prize once, the National Poetry Competition twice and been shortlisted four times for the T.S. Eliot Prize. His New and Selected Poems was awarded the 2022 Hawthornden Prize for Literature. He is currently finishing his next book of poetry, ‘An Arbitrary Light Bulb', due from Picador in 2024. Writer/reader, Ian Duhig Ian Duhig takes us on a virtual poetic journey along Blind Jack Metcalf's road. The city of Leeds seen through public art - past, present and future. Ian Duhig takes us on a virtual poetic journey along Blind Jack Metcalf's road due north out of the city,
05 LAST	Khadijah Ibrahiim	20231215	Khadijah Ibrahiim's essay, A Journey of Things Past and Present, looks at how Leeds's built environment has changed and what that tells us about it as a society. Leeds is a rich north England city in a beautiful rural setting, but only the former is reflected in its physical development. The starting point is a much-loved mural that Khadijah contributed to as part of a school art project about the city's historical and modern architecture. Khadijah still lives in the city and has watched as the skyline has become blotted out by high rise buildings, changing the view and creating a sort of forest of grey trees. She is struck by how beautiful the countryside is around the city, as are many of its historical buildings. The essay will consider what the built city tells us about its identity and why/how the landscape is developed, then move us into the future, talking about the imminent David Oluwale memorial sculpture by Yinka Shonibare, Hibiscus Rising, in currently empty open space down near the river. Khadijah Ibrahiim is a literary activist, theatre maker and published poet/writer. She is the Artistic director of Leeds Young Authors, and executive producer of the award-winning documentary ‘We Are Poets'. Recently work includes writing and directing ‘Sorrel & Black cake' A Windrush Story, a Heritage Lottery funded program as part of GCF. ‘Dead and Wake' Opera North 2020 Resonance and Leeds Playhouse Connecting Voices. Writer/reader, Khadijah Ibrahiim Khadijah Ibrahiim looks at what changes to Leeds's environment tell us about its identity. The city of Leeds seen through public art, past, present and future. Khadijah Ibrahiim looks at what changes to the city's built environment tell us about its identity.