Bradford, United Kingdom
April 2025
Traditional Drapery, Track System, Acoustic Drapery, Manufacturing, Printing
Event Venue
Bringing Bespoke Textile Commissions to Life at Bradford UK City of Culture 2025’s The Beacon
Bradford UK City of Culture 2025 created The Beacon as a unique touring venue that brings arts and culture to communities across the district. At the heart of the venue sat two bespoke textile commissions. Together, they celebrated Bradford’s rich wool heritage and green spaces through contemporary textile design.
J&C Joel proudly manufactured both commissions and supplied the venue’s black masking drapes. It was a project that showcased J&C Joel’s ability to deliver both artistic and technical textile solutions.
Turning Creative Concepts into Reality
To begin with, internationally acclaimed artist and textile designer Kangan Arora and Rosemary Edwards, a Practice Student at Bradford School of Art, Bradford College, created two distinctive curtain designs. Although both commissions drew inspiration from Bradford, each presented a different challenge. Therefore, J&C Joel developed a tailored manufacturing approach for each installation.
Precision Craftsmanship
Kangan Arora’s design required exceptional attention to detail. J&C Joel’s manufacturing team cut, matched and stitched together numerous coloured fabrics and produced a seamless drape measuring 18 metres wide by 5 metres high. The finished curtain accurately reflected the artist’s creative vision.
Rosemary Edwards’ design called for a different solution. Instead of joining multiple fabrics, J&C Joel digitally printed the artwork directly onto Theatre Canvas. Consequently, the team produced a striking entrance drape measuring 18 metres wide with a 4.8-metre drop. The printing process captured every detail with outstanding colour accuracy and clarity.
Designed for Performance
Once production finished, J&C Joel prepared both drapes for installation. To achieve this, the team fitted Golf Bag hooks to each curtain. Both drapes integrated seamlessly with the tracking system mounted on the venue’s truss structure, delivering smooth operation while preserving the integrity of each design.
J&C Joel also manufactured and supplied the venue’s black masking drapes. Together, these elements created a complete textile package that combined visual impact with practical stage functionality.
Throughout the project, J&C Joel demonstrated its technical expertise and manufacturing capability through its in-house teams. Every stage of the project benefited from consistent quality, efficient communication and careful project management.
Close collaboration with both designers ensured every detail remained true to the original concepts. Despite the complexity of the brief, the team delivered every element on time and to specification.
A Lasting Legacy
The two bespoke commissions have become defining features of The Beacon. Together, they celebrated Bradford’s creativity, heritage and cultural ambition. At the same time, they demonstrated the value of combining artistic vision with specialist manufacturing expertise.
Both designers and the Bradford 2025 team praised the finished installations, and J&C Joel took great pride in helping to bring two remarkable concepts to life.
This project highlights the breadth of J&C Joel’s expertise. From bespoke drapery and digital textile printing to specialist stage engineering, the company continues to deliver innovative textile solutions for leading cultural venues across the UK and beyond.
