Bradford Students Support Large-Scale Textile Installation for World Heritage Site

A group of Bradford School of Art higher education students were given the opportunity of a lifetime after being selected to support one of America’s most distinguished visual artists.

We Will Sing is a new, large-scale, site-responsive installation by renowned artist Ann Hamilton, commissioned for Salts Mill as part of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture. The artist’s first UK show in over 25 years – and her largest to date -the project is inspired by the history and regeneration of Salts Mill and the district’s rich textile heritage.

Drawing on the origins of the textile processes that once filled the huge space and working with artefacts from the Mill, Hamilton’s installation brings together song, printed word, cloth, raw and woven wool. The textiles are sourced from local companies in Bradford, including H Dawson, founded in 1888 and now based at Salts Mill, and William Halstead, which this year celebrates its 150^th anniversary.

As part of the incredible project, 16 students enrolled on either the Bradford School of Art Foundation Degree (FdA) in Textiles Practice or the BA Textiles Practice degree experienced working as Fabrication Assistants. Over three weeks, students constructed large-scale textile elements for the installation and worked directly with Ann Hamilton and her studio. 

The first stages of fabrication took place at Bradford College in specialist textile workshops and performance spaces, before being carefully relocated to the vast top floor of Salts Mill, where students continued to work on the project in situ.

Described by Hamilton as a work of memory and imagining, the installation features immersive, site-specific soundscapes developed in collaboration with vocalist and world champion whistler Emily Eagen from recordings made on site and in workshops with local schools and community groups. 

Hannah Lamb, Bradford School of Art Programme Leader (BA/FdA Textiles Practice), said:

“Being involved in this project has been a profoundly rewarding and inspirational experience. For several weeks in April, we played host to Ann Hamilton and her studio team at Bradford School of Art. A group of our students assisted with the making of huge wool panels, which now form part of Ann’s immense installation work at Salts Mill.

“Bradford 2025 has described this project as one of their stand-out projects for UK City of Culture, so this was an incredible opportunity for our higher education students. The opportunity for us to work alongside an artist of this calibre has been a dream come true and will continue to inspire us for years to come.”

Ann Hamilton (b.1956) is acclaimed for her large-scale multimedia installations, public projects, and performance collaborations. She has created major commissions for institutions around the world, including Park Avenue Armory and The Museum of Modern Art, New York.  

Ann Hamilton said:

“We Will Sing began the moment I first opened Salts Mill’s large wooden doors […] I immediately sensed this as a place of transformation committed not just to its architecture but to the future of a community and to imagination’s transformative power. 

“I hope my project is a small part of envisioning this possibility. It has been an honour to work with the community, to find openness and generosity, and, like all touch, to be touched in return. This exchange, this sharing, is the heart of We Will Sing.”

Engagement with the public is central to the making and sharing of the work.  Hamilton is extending an open invitation to write a letter to the future, addressing the question at the heart of We Will Sing: “what does the future need to know?” A selection of letters submitted will be included in a gallery newspaper, and others will be posted in a digital archive and form part of a daily public programme of readings and events in the roof space.  

Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture is supported using public investment from HM Government, City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, West Yorkshire Combined Authority and through National Lottery funding from Arts Council England, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, National Lottery Community Fund, British Council, Spirit of 2012, as well as private investment and donations from a number of trusts, foundations and corporate sponsors.

We Will Sing is additionally supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.