Metal Works Artist Residency: Common Threads, Leeza Awojobi
Artist(s): Leeza Awojobi
Dates: 2025
Partners: Bristol City Council, Windmill City Farm
Client: Watkin Jones plc
Common Threads
Bristol-based restorative poet Leeza Awojobi is undertaking an eight-month artist residency exploring the evolving identity of Bedminster Green, as part of the area's wider regeneration. Titled Common Threads, the project invites local residents and partners to reflect on what makes this part of Bristol unique — and what connects its diverse communities.
Illustration by Yoli Ward-Streeter
Through poetry, facilitated gatherings, and creative conversation, Common Threads explores the fabric of local life, weaving together stories, cultures and perspectives from across East Bedminster.
Swapping Chairs
At the heart of the project is Swapping Chairs, a series of informal, social gifting experiences that bring neighbours together to exchange views, experiences, and histories. Designed to celebrate the value of each person's perspective, these gatherings create space for dialogue around change, identity and belonging. Textile artist Zoe Gibbons will join some sessions, responding to the conversations through collaborative making.
Throughout her residency, Leeza will work closely with Windmill Hill City Farm and other local organisations to root the project in existing networks and community life. A public showcase is planned for September 2025, offering a chance to share work created and insights gathered during the residency.
About Leeza Awojobi
Leeza Awojobi is a Bristol-based restorative poet who writes to explore what it means to be human and understand across differences. A keen learner of culture and theology, she gets excited when she sees threads extend within and across both.
She started her professional journey with the Creative Youth Network who commissioned her debut piece, A Meal Around Bristol and in 2021, was awarded £10,000 from Arts Council England to explore poetry and materials. She’s interested in what makes us tick, especially how our different perspectives affect the way we problem solve and interact with our surroundings. With her community mediation training, she uses her skills to facilitate well-crafted gatherings which get people creatively engaged and eagerly talking about what’s most important to them. She is currently Poet-in-Residence at Bridges for Communities, where she performs at their Peace Feasts and engages their Listening Spaces.
About THE RESIDENCY
Leeza Awojobi and Liam Taylor-West were the artists selected for new 8-month residencies at Metal Works, funded by Watkin Jones plc as part of the wider regeneration of Bedminster Green in south Bristol.
These residencies are an invitation to think differently about public space — and to imagine new ways of living, making, and being together in the city.
Located within a major new student housing development, Metal Works is a key site in Bedminster Green. The residencies are part of Futureweave — a long-term public art strategy developed by Ginkgo Projects in collaboration with local residents and city-based partners commissioned by Bristol City Council.
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Illustrations by Yoli Ward-Streeter