Bradford Arts Centre, formerly known as Kala Sangam, is relaunching this October

Bradford Arts Centre, formerly known as Kala Sangam, is relaunching this October with its new name, building and brand after significant, in-depth consultation with local communities, artists and partners.

Renamed to represent the city and be open to all, Bradford Arts Centre offers a welcoming creative home for performance, artistic development, meetings, education and community workshops spotlighting the city’s brilliant culture and heritage. The opening programme includes premieres from Jaivant Patel Company, Mobius Dance, and Natalie Davies. This flagship £7.9million capital redevelopment project, opening during Bradford’s year as UK City of Culture 2025, is supported by DCMS through the Arts Council England administered Cultural Development Fund, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Garfield Weston Foundation, Foyle Foundation and Bradford Council.

Ifty (Mohammed Iftikar), Facilities Manager, said: “It has been a dream and a vision for many years to see our theatre space on the ground level. I love my colleagues, I love the atmosphere, I love the vibe. I love coming to work every morning with a smile on my face. My city makes me proud – I'm a born and bred Bradford lad. We have one of the oldest Grade II listed buildings, and I feel privileged to be managing such a building in the heart of Bradford.”

‍Bradford Arts Centre is the new name for Kala Sangam, founded in 1993 and resident in the former General Post Office since 2008. Following its multi-million pound redevelopment, Bradford Arts Centre returns to its newly restored Grade II listed home this October, with its new name and a significantly enhanced offer to artists, communities and partners. 

This newly modernised building will offer state-of-the-art facilities, including a 170-seat theatre, five purpose-built rehearsal studios, four meeting rooms, a conference venue, office space for creative businesses, and a home for BCB Radio. Bradford Arts Centre's unique model of providing artists with over 650 days of free, unconditional rehearsal space is subsidised through hiring high-quality meeting rooms and conference space. It will now have increased capacity and more flexible spaces to accommodate the multi-media and diverse art forms that many contemporary artists are employing. It is the only centre in the North of England offering free performance studio space alongside tailored, one-to-one support for artists.

Inside the restored building, there is a new and informal space to meet and relax, the ‘Sangam Lounge’, which honours the legacy and history of the centre as Kala Sangam. Three new commissioned artworks by Bradford-based artists have been installed in the new building. Razwan Ul-Haq worked with the staff team to develop a new piece of calligraphy, ‘Bradford Symphony No 8’, using tinctures made from the bricks of the building itself. Turbynes (Rosie Freeman and Marf Keane) have created a new soundscape incorporating materials from Bradford Arts Centre’s 30-year archive, reflecting on the history and life of the building, and Eve Wright, a final-year student from Bradford College, has created a sculpture. A series of artworks created as part of the Arts and Heritage Community Project with members of the u3a and Womenzone community groups will be displayed throughout the building.

‍Marie O’Reilly, Interim Chair, Bradford Arts Centre Board, said: “We want Bradford Arts Centre to be a place where everything is possible and everyone is welcome to come in - whether it is to join a Bollywood dance class, meet up, explore the building or devise your next performance artwork.” 

At the heart of everything they do, the team at Bradford Arts Centre works to deliver a warm welcome, respect, and a commitment to authentic connection. This is practised and evident throughout performance seasons, artist development, dance classes, education and community programmes. The continuous strands that underpin the performance programming and artists' support reflect three themes: ‘This is Bradford’, placing the city and its people at the core, ‘South Asia Now’, which spotlights new British South Asian artists, and ‘British Diversity’, exploring what it means to live in contemporary Britain.

‍Amer Sarai, Head of Community Engagement, Bradford Arts Centre, said: “Through our schools and community programmes, we have been building strong relationships so that when we open, people feel they can just pop in and join in with activities, see a show or hang out. Our core philosophy is centred around trying to say ‘yes’ to people as much as we can.” 

Bradford Arts Centre delivers the ‘Kala Sangam commission’. A £10k biannual commission, supporting the development of new work using Classical Indian dance, music or theatre artforms, it was launched to mark the organisation's 30th anniversary. The first round of the ‘Kala Sangam commission’ was awarded to Akshay Sharma and Meera Patel. The next commissioning round is in early 2026.

‍Ella Tighe, Artist Advisory Group for Bradford Arts Centre, said: “Bradford Arts Centre have been pivotal in the development of my career as a choreographer. Thanks to Bradford Arts Centre, my first full-length show will tour nationally. The team believes in the work of artists, and they offer support when other organisations/funders may need more proof of concept. Artists need time and space to allow an idea to grow and evolve and to pursue their work, and this is what Bradford Arts Centre gave me.”

‍The Autumn programme includes 17 events, 6 premieres, 4 building takeovers, 5 City of Culture support programmes and 12 Bradford Arts Centre development-supported shows. 

Spotlighting a broad range of work and events spanning all the programming strands, the season commences with the world premiere of ‘ASTITVA’ from Jaivant Patel Company (JPCo), a Partner Company that Bradford Arts Centre has supported since 2016. Acting solely as choreographer for the first time, this new dance work explores Jaivant Patel’s experiences growing up as a queer Indian man. ‘ASTITVA’ is told in four episodes: ‘Seeking, Desire, Acceptance, and Love’, exploring universal emotions and navigating sexuality under the weight of cultural expectations. 

‍Jaivant Patel said: “It is truly incredible to be the first company to perform on Bradford Arts Centre’s new stage and in its reopening season with ‘ASTITVA’, especially as it has been such a long-term supporter of our work. Bradford Arts Centre is a key player both in the regional and national landscape that allows trust and faith in the artistic vision of South Asian voices who have something to say about diverse voices sitting at the intersectionality of lived experiences in contemporary UK society.”

In the opening weekend, new Associate Company Bradford South Asian Festival hosts a full building takeover with workshops and activities celebrating South Asian culture, including the popular 'Little Foodies' sessions, an exploration of wedding traditions and the return of Disco Dewanney. Supported by Bradford Arts Centre over four years, Deborah Pakkar Hull, Emma Adams and Old Bird Productions present a new theatre show ‘Otherhood’, exploring what it means to be child free, either by choice or circumstance. Associate Company Mobius Dance will perform its contemporary dance premiere, ‘The Long Summer Day’, a celebration of queer joy and experience with poetry from Andrew McMillan. 

‍Gianluca Vincentini, Artistic Director and CEO, Mobius Dance, said: “Bradford Arts Centre has been instrumental in our growth, providing vital studio and office spaces, mentorship, and hosting our world premieres. Through their backing, we’ve achieved international recognition, taking our innovative work beyond borders and establishing ourselves as a cross-European company.”

‍BRAVE festival is a two-day celebration of dance and multi-art form events with Black roots. It includes workshops and performances in African Drumming, the Lindy Hop, Breakin’ and Mask making, and is a Bradford City of Culture 2025 commission. A celebration of Bradford's clubbing scene is explored in ‘Bring It Back’ by Bradford-based writer and actor Natalie Davies (‘Full English’), also a Bradford City of Culture 2025 commission. Using spaces throughout the new building for this theatre show, audiences will be immersed into the story. In a new Kala Sangam Commission, Akshay Sharma presents the premiere of his new choreography work ‘What Did The Fire Burn?’. This contemporary dance work shares a story and theme of queerness and home with strong Indian Classical dance influences and Carnatic vocals.

Further shows include ‘Voices’ from Zoe Katsilerou’s MOV, with the Roma community exploring the power of collective vocals and movement. A new audio installation by Turbynes, the collaborative duo of Rosie Freeman & MARF, has been commissioned by Bradford Arts Centre as part of the heritage interpretation within the building. ‘Sunny Side’ is a new contemporary dance-theatre work about working class men's mental health by the Calderdale based Northern Rascals. Acclaimed choreographer Nina Rajarani brings Sristhi Dance Creations to the city for a performance of traditional Bharatanatyam work ‘EkatA.'

‍Tranquil Productions hosts a weekend of Breakin' with its ‘Techstyles International Festival’. Premiering at and commissioned by Transform in Leeds, Akeim Toussaint Buck choreographs ‘Free’, a new contemporary dance piece exploring Black experience. Zahir Abbas Qawwal, whose first ‘Qawwali’ performance was at Bradford Arts Centre (Kala Sangam) in 2017, is now building an international reputation. He presents an evening of music and song that also incorporates contemporary elements.

‍Commonwealth hosts the ‘29% Festival’, a festival curated by and with young people from across Bradford. Created by and for Blind and partially sighted people to make Indian Classical dance accessible to Blind and visually impaired audiences, Meera Patel premieres her new work ‘Attuning’, a Kala Sangam Commission. Created especially for families and using technology, Joss Arnott Dance presents ‘Meet the Hatter’, inspired by Alice in Wonderland.

‍

Bradford Arts Centre offers performances on a ‘Give What You Decide’ basis. This means booking shows is free, but there is an option provided for people to donate after the show if they would like to.