‘This Was Our Year’ exhibition set to open at WX
Tuesday, March 04, 2025
Wakefield Council’s newest events space, Wakefield Exchange (WX,) is hosting an exhibition to celebrate the amazing culture, heritage and community of the Wakefield district showcased through Our Year – Wakefield District 2024.
“Our Year 2024 amazed and inspired our communities, engaging people in activities which showcased the depth and breadth of our district’s culture and creativity.
“It was our time to shine and show visitors and locals alike all the brilliant things that the Wakefield district has to offer from art, music and performance to food and drink.
“This exhibition gives us the opportunity to look back on the last 12 months and celebrate all that was achieved and those who got involved. And to be able to do it in the fantastic new WX events space, is even better. So come along and check it out.”
Cllr Hannah Appleyard
Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Sport
Our Year saw over 350,000 people attend over 1,000 successful events and activities. With thousands more welcomed to partner-run activities and support from cultural partners - Yorkshire Sculpture Park, The Hepworth Wakefield, Theatre Royal Wakefield, National Coal Mining Museum for England, Nostell Priory National Trust, The Art House and over 120 community partners from the community, voluntary, health and civic sectors.
From moments of wonder, including a visit from Trigger’s double-decker sized dragon puppet, The Hatchling, to hundreds of incredible community-led activities, the year saw people of all walks of life getting involved in creativity and culture on their doorsteps and thousands of visitors were welcomed to the district.
WX will host the free exhibition This Was Our Year from 14-23 March 2025, inviting visitors to celebrate the creativity, joy and wonder that was Our Year - Wakefield District 2024.
This reflective and powerful exhibition is open to everyone and will showcase a poignant documentary and photography showcase allowing visitors to reflect on the year.
The exhibition text will be translated into Braille, Polish, Arabic and Urdu – continuing the ambition that Our Year is for everyone, everywhere.
The exhibition will also launch ‘Our Place’, a legacy of the year-long project, maintaining the momentum of creativity across the Wakefield district. During Our Year, we found Our Place – and everyone’s welcome round Our Place.
WX will be hosting an opening event to the public to launch the exhibition on 6-8pm,13 March including live music and drop-in art activities.
There will be live performances throughout the night including from Yorkshire Prose, Ben Taylor.
The Council enlisted the help of Royal Navy Petty Officer and Wakefield-born poet Ben Taylor to write and perform an exclusive poem capturing the spirit of the district when launching Our Year with the 24 in 24 event back in January 2024.
Yorkshire Prose has now created a new poem reflecting on Our Year which will be revealed on 13 March during the initial screening of the Our Year documentary film.
The event will also showcase the next generation of talent that the district has to offer as Max (age 9) from Pontefract is West Yorkshire’s Young Poet Laureate, a scheme supported by WYCA, and will perform his first ever commissioned poem written to celebrate Our Place. The National Literacy Trust and Max’s school are supporting this commission and performance. Max was selected by Mayor Tracy Brabin and Poet Laureate Simon Armitage for this year long role.
This open invite event is the perfect opportunity to explore WX’s street food and bar whilst listening to live music and exploring the This Was Our Year exhibition for the first time.
To find out more about the launch event and exhibition and to plan your visit, please visit Details | What's On | Wakefield Exchange
The This Was Our Year exhibition will have an opening event on 13 March from 6-8pm. It will then remain open from Friday 14 – Sunday 23 March. Opening times are as follows:
Monday-Thursday: 8am - 8pm
Friday: 8am - 10:30pm
Saturday: 10am - 10:30pm
Sunday: 10am - 6:30pm