Artist looks to work with residents for community arts project in Bailiff Bridge

Local history project, ‘Landscapes of Loss: Re-valuing Labour, Re-Making Community’, is a collaboration with artist Catherine Bertola and Dr Lisa Taylor, Head of Media at Leeds Beckett University.

Both from Bailiff Bridge, this project aims to bring together former Firth Carpet’s workers with newer residents of the area to remember and rebuild the community in the village.

Catherine Bertola is an Artist who makes site specific installations, drawings and films that address the invisible histories of people and places whose roles and contributions to society are overlooked and undervalued. Her work gives voice to untold narratives, excavating the past to confront contemporary inequalities that still exist.

Catherine recalls, “I lived in Bailiff Bridge from the age of about 3-12 and attended Cliffe Hill Primary School. Firth’s is the backdrop that frames many of my childhood memories from growing up in the area; from after school trips to the sweet shop and library, and long summers taking off on bikes to play in the Wyke Beck. It is strange returning as an adult it feels both familiar and yet so very different to the place I remember.”

When talking about the aims of the project Catherine explains, “Initially we’d just like to talk with former factory workers from Firth Carpets and the newer residents of Bailiff Bridge about their memories and experiences of living and working in the village. Ultimately, we hope to bring these people together in May 2021, to meet, talk and share ideas about the village, it’s past, present, and future. If we’re allowed, we’ll even throw in a cuppa and some biscuits!”

Participants in these socially distanced workshops will get to share their stories or hear about the life of the different factory workers and learn some of the hand gestures and movements associated with working on the factory floor. These exchanges will make the basis of a new artwork that will celebrate and commemorate the pride of carpet making at the centre of life in Bailiff Bridge, which will be exhibited in the village in September/October 2021.

When asked what the artwork will be, Catherine said, “The idea will grow out of the meetings with the local residents so that I can respond to what comes up in those sessions.”

Anyone interested in getting involved can read more on the project Facebook page: www.facebook.com/rememberingfirths.

Or contact the project directly via email on [email protected] or call 0113 812 7727.