This year the city will burst into life, fuelled by creativity and the aim of opening more opportunities for more people. On 7 January 2023, thousands of people attended the January launch event, with an epic line-up of performances for The Awakening at Headingley Stadium, as the city marked the first event of the Year of Culture.
 
Here at the British Council, we’re the International Project Partner for Leeds Year of Culture 2023. Working with Leeds Culture Trust across arts and education, our partnership will support international connections for this transformational year of culture, creating lasting collaborations for artists, cultural organisations and schools across Leeds and around the world. Projects include The World in Our City, Our City in the WorldFor the Public GoodThe Retrospective, an International Artists Development Programme and new international commissions. 
 
The final chapter of #LEEDS2023, Part Three: Dreaming is now live. A place where daydreams are celebrated and visions for the future are brought to life. To see what's on search for the hashtags #LEEDS2023 and #LettingCultureLoose
 

See What's On

Sonia Boyce, Feeling Her Way

Until Sunday 5 November 

You can now experience this immersive, Golden Lion-winning work for best National Participation in Venice, at Leeds Art Gallery. Commissioned by us for La Biennale di Venezia, 2022, the exhibition It brings together collage, sculpture, video and music in an arresting body of work that centres around the vocal experimentations of five Black female musicians.

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Guardians of Leeds

1 - 20 December

An augmented reality treasure hunt throughout Leeds, uncovering spoken word poems by Leeds poets in collaboration with Xabiso Vili. The project features illustrated portraits mounted throughout the city, which audiences are invited to track down and, using augmented reality accessed through your phone, discover music, video and spoken word poetry exploring the poets' relationship to the city, their past and the futures they can imagine for themselves.

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