Artists announced for Metal Works public art residencies at Bedminster Green

Two artists, Liam Taylor-West and Leeza Awojobi, have been selected for two new eight-month residencies at Metal Works, funded by Watkin Jones plc as part of the wider regeneration of Bedminster Green.

Bristol City Council has been working with Ginkgo Projects, a public arts commissioner, to bring forward these residencies. Ginkgo has described these residencies as ‘an invitation to think differently about public space – and to imagine new ways of living, making, and being together in the city.’

Metal Works is the first of Bedminster Green’s buildings to be occupied, with 819 students having moved in last September. The residencies are part of Futureweave – a long-term public art strategy developed by Ginkgo Projects in collaboration with local residents and city-based partners, commissioned by Bristol City Council.

About the artists

Leeza Awojobi
Residency: Common Threads

Common Threads invites a closer look at the evolving dynamics and diverse cultures that define Bedminster Green today.

Leeza Awojobi is a Bristol-based restorative poet who’s writing explores what it means to be human and understand across differences. A keen learner of culture and theology, Leeza gets excited when she sees connections extend within and across both.

Leeza started her professional journey with the Creative Youth Network who commissioned her debut piece, A Meal Around Bristol and in 2021, was awarded £10,000 from Arts Council England to explore poetry and materials. She’s interested in what makes us tick, especially how our different perspectives affect the way we solve problems and interact with our surroundings. With her community mediation training, Leeza uses her skills to facilitate well-crafted gatherings which get people creatively engaged and eagerly talking about what’s most important to them.

Leeza is Poet-in-Residence at Bridges for Communities, where she performs at their Peace Feasts and engages their Listening Spaces.

Liam Taylor-West
Residency: A River’s Path

This residency focuses on the green and blue spaces that flow through and around Bedminster Green, exploring natural ecologies, local histories, and social relationships with the landscape.

Liam Taylor-West is a composer and audiovisual artist who works primarily with live musicians and new technology. His compositions and artworks are built around the resulting behaviour of large numbers of active elements, often featuring audience interaction and random events. Liam is interested in colour, light, rhythm and movement.

In 2018, Liam received the Ivors Composer Award in the Community or Educational Project category for The Umbrella, performed by the National Open Youth Orchestra. He holds a doctoral degree in composition from the Royal College of Music, in London, and has worked with several orchestras including regular collaborations with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Concert Orchestra.

Liam is an advocate of the use of creative technology in composition and performance and is a Resident at Watershed’s Pervasive Media Studio in Bristol.