A town centre exhibition celebrating the history of Queensgate Market will feature a special artwork curated by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage.

Kirklees Council and architectural practice Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, the company which designed Huddersfield’s Cultural Heart regeneration project, are behind the exhibition planned for early 2023.

Local people are being invited to submit dialect words and phrases – such as chunter, pogged, snap, rism, flup and so on – which will be collected and put together by Mr Armitage and turned into a piece of artwork.

The installation will then become part of a wider exhibition called ‘Of Time and Place: Exploring the Cultural Heart of Kirklees.’

The exhibition opens at the beginning of January 2023 and is a collaboration between Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, Kirklees Council, the University of Huddersfield and Temporary Contemporary.

This immersive and interactive exhibition will be a celebration and exploration of the changing culture of the area explored through different pieces of work.

The exhibition will be in the Piazza area close to the now-closed Queensgate Market. The exhibition will convey the historical aspects of the Grade II-listed Queensgate Market building told through archive materials, images, film and sound recordings.

Alongside this the changing of the culture of Kirklees will be explored through mixed media pieces created by three University of Huddersfield students.

There will be unseen historical information, hands-on activities, workbooks and a constantly evolving projection piece by Mr Armitage.

Simon Armitage: Image by: Peter James Millson and Clr Shabir Pandor with a model of the Cultural Heart

Council leader Clr Shabir Pandor said: “The people of Kirklees have a unique spirit and this is often shown through our language.

“It will be fascinating to see what Simon Armitage does with what I am sure will be a diverse, interesting and sometimes amusing set of words and phrases that are particular to the area.

“I intend to share some of the most common phrases used in my family and look forward to seeing them become part of something bigger in the exhibition.”

Marsden-based Mr Armitage will also have a more permanent piece of work installed in Huddersfield town centre. One of his poems is to be embossed onto the paving when New Street undergoes a revamp to become a ‘green street.’

New Street to have a modern new look with poetry feature by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage

Do you have a word or a phrase to share? Send your entries, alongside a brief translation of what they mean to you, to: oftimeandplacehudds@gmail.com by December 31 2022 stating which postcode area you live in.