Top television writer Kay Mellor is coming to Bradford to celebrate the launch of an major arts project.

The creator of the gritty drama Band of Gold, which was set in Bradford's red light district, will open the Year of The Artist in Yorkshire at the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television's Pictureville cinema tomorrow.

As part of the nationwide Year of the Artist - the largest arts project to date in the UK - the event will kick off with an evening of global dance and music.

Mrs Mellor said: "It is a great pleasure to be involved in the beginning of a year long celebration aimed at making life better and easier for existing and future artists, particularly those living and working in Yorkshire.

"Art is fundamental to all our lives - we just don't realise it or appreciate it enough. It is time the voice of the artist was heard."

The evening's diverse range of entertainment from across the world has been co-ordinated by Bradford-based South Asian arts organisation Kala Sangam.

It will feature classical Indian and Sri Lankan dance, a Chinese fiddle performance by artist Xiacchun Li and the Abasindi Women's Co-operative will play drums and do a number of African dances.

A Brazilian Samba will be performed by the Manchester School of Samba and the BBC Philharmonic will play fusion music accompanied by the tabla player Sukhvinder Singh.

Yorkshire Arts, a body which funds arts projects in the region, has poured £500,000 into the programme to fund more than 100 artists' residencies in a number of places throughout Yorkshire.

It is intended that the funding will raise the status and profile of living artists.

Nima Poovaya Smith, Yorkshire Arts Director of Arts, said: "We are fortunate to be part of a region that fizzes with artistic talent, both established and emerging.

"This is clearly evident from the range of projects taking place in Yorkshire and the Humber region across all the arts. Artists will be exploring and interacting with technology, new media, architecture and history in a variety of contexts from Whitby Abbey, to local radio, to Sheffield United Football Club."

e-mail: carolyne.coyle

@bradford.newsquest.co.uk

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