Bradford: Peace Museum opening

The Peace Museum is opening in Bradford, Yorkshire, next Saturday.

The Peace Museum has teamed up with East Street Arts and The Brick Box to occupy one of Bradford's empty buildings. The former Costa Coffee space on Kirkgate will be transformed into the new 'A Piece of Peace Gallery' for special temporary exhibitions and events.

The new gallery will open for the first time on Saturday 7 July, 11am - 4pm, with family activities and the display of the popular temporary exhibition 'The Etiquette of the Arms Fair: Ten Years Drawing in Arms Fairs' by artist and activist, Jill Gibbon.

The Peace Museum's galleries at Piece Hall Yard in the city opened in 1998 and will continue to operate as its main site for the foreseeable future. Plans are underway to eventually move to larger, more accessible premises. The new temporary gallery space is wheelchair accessible and offers a fantastic opportunity for The Peace Museum, in its 20th anniversary year, to expand its reach across the city of Bradford and make its work more accessible to all. Shannen Lang, Learning and Engagement Officer said "We are delighted to be working in partnership with Brick Box and East St Arts and opening up a new accessible space for our visitors to enjoy".

The opening event will form part of a wider series of celebrations for the Peace Museum's 20th anniversary. A new travelling pop-up exhibition 'Pieces of Peace: A History of Peace in 20 Objects' is also set to go on display in the new space.

The occupation of the former Costa unit is part of a wider project by East Street Arts and Bradford-based art group, The Brick Box, to revitalise the city centre through coordinating the creative and charitable use of empty buildings.

Brick Box co-director Eleanor Barrett said: "We are delighted that Bradford's unique and prestigious Peace Museum will be able to share its work and collections with wider audiences by taking on a temporary space in the city centre. This opportunity will inform the museum's search for permanent alternative premises and supports our vision to develop innovative high quality pilots for empty buildings that could lead to permanent commercially viable use in the future."

Ella Cronk, temporary space coordinator at East Street Arts said: "This new partnership is set to bring something really special to Bradford and we're really pleased to be working with The Peace Museum on this project. We're dedicated to contributing to regeneration in Bradford and our work with The Brick Box is allowing us to support a variety of exciting projects and to inject creativity into otherwise empty spaces in the city."

Entry to the gallery is free and all are welcome. Keep an eye on The Peace Museum website and social media for further details about future events and opening times. www.peacemuseum.org.uk