Wild Uplands, Bradford 2025 – Penistone Hill Country Park
24 May – 12 October 2025
I was lucky enough to be invited to visit the brand-new art installation, commissioned for Bradford 2025 on the moors of Penistone Hill Country Park.
The four new artworks are installed across the Country Park for the public to discover as they walk around the moors, transforming the area into an open-air gallery, from 24 May – 12 October 2025.
The moors are located high above Haworth – home of the Brontë sisters, their windswept tracks and panoramic views were the backdrop to many of the Brontë’s most-loved novels and have since inspired generations of artists, writers, and filmmakers.
99 Butterflies
Pakistani-born artist Meherunnisa Asad in collaboration with Peshawar-based atelier Studio Lél, known for reviving centuries-old stone-work techniques, showcases a vast installation contrasting with the rugged terrain of Penistone Hill composed of an abundance of intricate butterflies carved from pink marble sourced from Pakistan, inspired by Bradford’s stories of migration and movement and the resilience of its natural landscape.
Muamba Posy
Brazilian-born, London-based artist Vanessa da Silva has created a series of colourful, 5-metre-high interactive sculptures inspired by natural forms and plants found across the park, reflecting how nature at Penistone Hill has adapted and transformed over the years. The sculptures will offer a space for people to gather, rest, and connect with the landscape.
The Children of Smokeless Fire
Inspired by the tale of the Cottingley Fairies of 1917, when two Yorkshire girls created life-like cutouts of fairies which ignited debate about reality and imagination, scientific reason and spiritual belief, Berlin-based Monira Al Qadiri created sculptures of creatures reflecting on the interplay between fact and fiction.
Tower
UK-artist Steve Messam has built a 10m high tower exploring the natural building blocks of Bradford, reflecting on how the city of Bradford has been physically shaped by the natural landscape which surrounds it. The tower is inspired by stone drawn from the quarry of the country park and clad in the fleece of local sheep breeds, drawing on the role of wool in the industrial heritage of the district.
Immersive Sound Walk
As well as outdoor sculptures, Wild Uplands features an immersive sound walk Earth & Sky, commissioned in partnership with Opera North. Using geolocation technology via a phone app, this ever-changing sound work develops as visitors walk through the park, with sounds triggered by their journey through the landscape. Created by three international composers; the Italian Caterina Barbieri, Kenyan Nyokabi Kariũki and Welsh Gwen Siôn, the new sound work brings together a diverse range of musical influences with field recordings from the local area, poetry by Nabeelah Hafeez, and pieces by Bradford-born composer Frederick Delius, performed by the Orchestra of Opera North.
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This is a great walk, it certainly blew the cobwebs away!
I so rarely pick a ‘favourite’ piece in a collection like this, they’re all so different and enchanting in their own way, but The Children of Smokeless Fire really inspired me. I remember my parents telling me about the Cottingley Fairies when I was little, and wishing with all my heart that it was true.
Download the app
If you want to enjoy The Earth & Sky soundwalk to accompany the installations, the mobile app is available to download at the Apple App Store and Google Play Store – this is best done over wi-fi before you set off. Once you have the app you need to add the walk, it doesn’t take more than about 5 minutes.
The soundscape uses GPS meaning you have to be in range of the walk in order to start the audio.
There is a little car park just off Dimples Lane ///hardly.wished.muted which is a good point to take a circular route around the installations, there is a track that’s a bit uneven in places, so wear suitable shoes and allow about 50 minutes to walk around all four.
It gets quite blustery on the moor, even in summer, so I was glad I had my big jacket on. It’s worth the walk though, not just for the art installations, but for the view all across the surrounding countryside and down to Lower Laithe Reservoir, where the Brontë waterfall is.
When you get back to the car park, you could cross over the road and walk down the track to Haworth, past the Brontë Parsonage to Cobbles and Clay where you can enjoy some of the most delicious cakes this side of the Pennines!
By Sally Bendall, some content supplied.
