A NEW installation is being put in place as part of the centenary celebrations of Bradford Cathedral.

The artwork by Eva Mileusnic, called Counter-Flow, opens on Sunday at the start of a 12-month long celebration of the Church of St Peter being given Cathedral status back in 1919.

Counter-Flow, which showcases 100 pairs of slip-cast porcelain feet, is just one of several events to launch the centenary.

There will be the Epiphany Sunday Choral Eucharist; an address and discussion by Bishop Nick Baines entitled ‘Going back a different way – being Christian in a populist world’; and a Festal Choral Evensong which will mark the official launch of the Centenary Year.

Bishop Nick recently had a minor Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) which the Diocese said has had no short or long term consequences.

He is due to go on a sabbatical from the last week in January to mid-April which was planned a year ago, given his busy diary.

There will be further events throughout the year to mark the Centenary, with events through until April currently announced, including a Holocaust Memorial Day Evensong and address by Judge Laurence Saffer; the Annual Legal Service with the Archbishop of York; an address by Anne-Marie Canning MBE all about how Bradford is a ‘Flourishing City’; and a series of Lent-themed topics led by Bishop John Pritchard.

There are also food events to mark Fairtrade Fortnight and Shrove Tuesday, as well as coffee concerts; weekly organ recitals on Wednesday lunchtimes; further artistic exhibitions; and concerts in conjunction with Bradford Council including performances from Tasmin Little; the European Union Chamber Orchestra; and the Pelleas Ensemble.

Further events taking place from May until December will be announced soon.

Counter-Flow by Eva Mileusnic sees the artist embracing the main theme of her works, which are all about migration “because of mine, and my husband’s, personal backgrounds. Both [our] parents were refugees and came to Britain in the 1940s and 50s. When I was in college I started telling the story of our parents’ journey which was linked to my personal history. It’s gone now from the personal to something more universal.

“This kind of work is looking at what’s happening in the world rather than just in my family.”

Counter-Flow focusses on how textile designs from around the world have been added onto pairs of ceramic feet, which have been created from moulds of many different shapes and sizes. “I’ve always been interested in people from different parts of the world and this seemed a really interesting and visual way of communicating that.”

The 100 pairs of feet are split into various different sizes and shapes which showcase the diversity of the communities who came to Britain to settle. “It’s a celebration of diversity.”

The project was inspired by Eva coming across different types of cobbler’s last, a mechanical device used by shoemakers, in vintage shops. “I always knew I wanted to work with them so I began collecting them in all different shapes and sizes. I was asked to exhibit in Leeds and the project was to do with the [William Blake] poem ‘And did those feet in ancient time’.

“I started casting the feet, in ceramic, but they were just plain feet. There was a huge response for them and the congregation loved the idea.”

These feet, which inspired conversations about migration, inspired this latest project, including how some of the pairs of feet will themselves ‘migrate’ around Bradford Cathedral over the three months of the installation.

“The original fifty pairs of feet were shown at Cartwright Hall and from there they went on a ‘Craft and Conflict’ tour and have been travelling all summer around Northumberland and Cumbria.”

Since the tour Eva has been working hard to double the number of feet to make one-hundred pairs for one-hundred years of Bradford Cathedral. The installation is also very timely with fresh reports of migrants travelling across to countries like Britain.

“I think [Counter-Flow] is very important as there’s been such negativity towards migration. I find it incredibly disturbing.”

The installation has been designed as a talking point. “With it focussing on textiles I’d like to think people will start talking about, and appreciating, other people’s cultures and [by] just looking at the work people will recognise some patterns and think how that’s actually become part of the British culture.

“I’d like people to think about accepting diversity, and appreciating the beauty of different cultures, and what people bring with them, and how it’ll all become one.”

Counter-Flow runs from Sunday, January 6, until Saturday, April 6. Visitors are welcome to Bradford Cathedral to see the exhibition and many other events, services and displays on Monday to Saturday from 8.15am until 5.30pm and Sundays from 7.45am until 5pm.