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Manchester International Festival

100K views 550 replies 118 participants last post by  Novice sneaker head 
#1 ·
Manchester international festival 2007!

The worlds first international festival of original, new work. The Industrial Revolution forged the world's first modern city, which in 2007 will launch the world's first international festival of original, new work - created by leading artists from across the spectrum of credible popular culture, innovation and the arts.
Drawing from the city's pivotal role in music, the Festival programme will have a focus on new music - premiering work by established and emerging international musicians. In step with the city's history, the Festival will focus on the important issues and stories of our time, through debates and new commissions. It will also reaffirm the city's 24 hour party spirit by working with the city's clubs, bars, cafes and restaurants.

Many of the Festival's productions and events will world premiere in the city before touring to other international destinations, such as Paris, New York and Berlin. The Festival programme will also feature on National TV and Radio, in newspapers and magazines, on digital platforms and the internet, in books and in cinemas.


Following a series of three trailblazer events presented from late 2005, this city's first biennial festival will launch in July 2007.

Welcome... to the Manchester International Festival

http://www.manchesterinternationalfestival.com/background/

http://www.manchesterinternationalfestival.com/trailblazers/

http://www.marketing-manchester.co....979fefe0/MIF_-_TB1-_Announcement_-_Final1.pdf

Sounds interesting and exciting! :)
 
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#408 ·
Just bought tickets for Dr Dee. £6 for a student ticket right at the back! :banana:
 
#409 · (Edited)
That's more like it, £6 but with my white hair I might struggle to get in at that price.

For me this just doesn't hang together as a festival. It doesn't help that I've never found anything to recommend the principals. I never got on with Blur and their middle class art school twaddle, Bjork just sang a lot of meandering nonesense after the excellent Sugarcubes debut album, Victoria Wood's humour is aimed at my mum and Dinner Ladies never interested me and Johnny Vegas does not represent the new world order. What is it all about? I don't know. The emporer's new clothers perhaps...

G
 
#410 ·
It's just getting a bit.. well so what?.. isn't it? You could have predicted half of the events. Next time I would like something genuinely original. Although in the meantime I'm looking forward to getting to know John Dee and also I am pondering seeing WU LYF, I'm on my second play-through of their album on spotify after browsing the listings and I can just imagine getting deep with this stuff under Brigewater Street arch.

 
#413 ·
PNW.

MIF tours of The Peeps this weekend
29 Jun 2011, 08:10


Artist in residence Dan Dubowitz will join with property people involved in regenerating Ancoats to lead tours of the area including The Peeps - walled up spaces with peep holes into them - from 1 to 3 July, to coincide with the start of Manchester International Festival.

The Peeps reveal disused tunnels, a canal-side public toilet under a bridge, an overhead walkway, a bell tower, and a substation. The Peeps are viewed through a series of brass eyepieces built into the walls. Each offers a glimpse into a space that has been walled up. There are no plaques or interpretation panels, or a map. They should be discovered as you explore the area and get under the skin of the place.

To introduce these new permanent public artworks to the city and reintroduce people to Ancoats, Dubowitz invited a selection of people who have been involved in transforming the area to offer the public 60 hours of walking tours.


More than 25 guest guides include the archaeologist, architects, artists, developers, regeneration bosses, engineers, journalists, masterplanners and poet who have contributed to remaking Ancoats over the past decade.

The walks will leave from the city centre, through Manchester's Northern Quarter into the heart of Ancoats, around The Peeps and Cutting Room Square before finishing up at the Wastelands exhibition of Dubowitz's photography at the Ice Plant on Blossom Street for an opportunity to chat with the artist and guides.

The Wastelands series started in Ancoats with the 'Presence of Absence' and went on to include Ellis Island in New York, Cuba and cultural sites in ruins across Europe. The exhibition includes the sound installation 'Ancoats Stories' and 'Definitely no rubbish here', finds from the mills 2003-2010.

Book

The Peeps, Ancoats: The presence of absence. The book of the Peeps and the Cutting Room , published Manchester University Press is offered at a special discount during the 'Walk on the Wild Side' weekend.* Buy The Peeps for £15 (save £10 on rrp)* Only valid at Ice Plant, 39 Blossom Street, Ancoats, Manchester M4 6AP. 30 June - 3rd July 2011

Exhibition
'Wastelands' Free Exhibition 'Definitely no rubbish here' An exhibition and book launch at the Ice Plant, Ancoats, Manchester Exhibition open from 1-3 July, 10.00-20.00, closes 18.00 Sunday


Walks
'A Walk on the Wildside' 1-3 July Free Walks starting from Piccadilly Gardens last one hour, approximately 1.5 miles. Friday 1 July 10.00, 13.00, 16.00, 19.00. Saturday 2 July 10.00, 13.00, 16.00, 19.00. Sunday 3 July 10.00, 13.00, 16.00. No booking necessary. Just turn up at Piccadilly Gardens at the Queen Victoria sculpture. Or come directly to The Cutting Room Square in front of the Ice Plant exhibition 20 minutes after the tour begins in the city centre and join the tour from there.

See http://www.ancoatspeeps.com/
 
#414 ·
Manchester Confidential

MIF: who's it for?

Simon Binns asks whether the festival values audiences or headlines.

AT 8.15pm, around the doors of Campfield Market on the opening night of the Manchester International Festival (MIF), people are getting excited.

They are waving their tickets around for the first 'proper' night of Bjork’s Biophilia live show. Those tickets cost them £45.

Manchester is very much in the house. And Iceland, of course. But is anyone outside of Manchester really aware of the 18-day festival? And are people inside Manchester the target audience?

"I think the festival appeals to a certain sort of demographic. I’d argue the tickets are very expensive, even though some of the experiences will be amazing."

Alex Poots, chief executive of MIF, thinks so - although third time around he claims to have become more aware of avoiding the event becoming a ‘closed shop'.

“We’ve got 60 per cent more tickets to sell this time,” he said. “We grew it to allow more people to come, which was a bit of a risk, but the board quite rightly said to me that if we kept selling stuff out by opening night, the festival was going to get seen as a closed shop.

“So there’ll be a lot more people getting in this time and around a third of the festival is free – about 20 shows.”

The two fastest-selling shows, he says, were Snoop Dogg’s one-off gig at the Apollo and kids' show Music Boxes.

Bringing in the big names is important to the show, he said, and it all comes at a price. But the festival has managed to increase its co-commissioning revenues to £2.5m this year.

Some critics from within the arts sector claim MIF is hoovering up the hard-to-find funding due to its size, support from the council and the pressure to justify the private sector sponsorship with headlines in the world’s newspapers.

Poots says they fight for what they get and so should everyone else.

“We could see after the second festival that there were hard times ahead and the recession would have an impact,” he said. “That £2.5m comes from outside the region and most of it gets spent here.

“Our funding from the council is less than 20 per cent of our budget. So it’s not like we’re being bankrolled by the city.”

Poots also says around 70 per cent of the festival’s audience will be from Greater Manchester, 20 per cent from the rest of the UK and 10 per cent from overseas.

A recent piece in the New York Times will have done no harm but is it making people book seats on a plane?

Sarah Brookes, head of public affairs at Manchester Airport, one of the festival’s key sponsors, says it is hard to quantify, but sees MIF as a key part of Manchester’s tourism offer.

“Things like the recession and aviation passenger tax have a part to play, and it also depends on the routes into Manchester,” she said.

“It’s all part of the tourist mix – MIF gets well promoted in New York in particular. We’ve got our New York route back and American Airlines are a sponsor as well this time. For us, our involvement in MIF is used to promote Manchester as a place to visit.

The airport looks at where the festival’s branding gets seen – the bang for the buck. “We’ve seen a good mix of coverage. In the UK, the festival has good relationships with the BBC and the Guardian, although domestic air travel isn’t what it used to be. But I think people will get on a plane for some of the acts.”

Beth McCann, organiser of the city’s other summer arts-fest, the Not Part Of festival, thinks MIF is targeted fairly and squarely at a certain demographic and also relies on fans of the headline acts to shift tickets, not the pull of the festival itself.

“Alex Poots is very much about the arts, but if you stop people in the street, I’d argue that while they might know about some of the artists, they wouldn’t necessarily know it’s part of a festival, or what that festival was called,” she said.

“Hip hop fans will know Snoop is playing Manchester but not that he’s playing MIF.

“I think the festival appeals to a certain sort of demographic. The ticketing office is in the Hilton, for example. I’d argue the tickets are very expensive too, even though some of the experiences will be amazing.

“You look at Take That and you know people will pay big money for music acts but you’re talking about a very different demographic.

“I don’t think MIF is something you can turn up to for two weeks and see a load of shows, like you can with Edinburgh. Because of the cost, you might just pick out a couple of headline acts.

“They are big acts and immense productions and so you have to price them accordingly.”

Bjork is a case in point. Poots claims the festival has actually subsidised the price of tickets to her Biophilia show, but they still cost £45.

The fans are out in force on opening night though – and I'd personally be amazed if any of them read anything other than The Guardian.

Poots will hope that sort of fandom can steer the festival towards 2013 in choppy waters.

“I don’t think the festival will ever be self-sufficient,” he said. “But we’ll fight for Manchester’s share of arts funding and we’ll try and make sure more people get to see it as it goes on.”

Read the comments. Interesting. http://www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk/News/MIF-whos-it-for
 
#418 ·
#419 ·
Just what the Doctor ordered: family theatre at its scary, exhilarating best

Punchdrunk's new Doctor Who production at the Manchester International Festival is already the hottest ticket in town

Mark Brown, arts correspondent

Friday 1 July 2011

There are startled looks, anxious screams and by the end of the new, nerve-jangling Doctor Who theatre experience there will doubtless be a few sweating wrecks.

The kids, however, appear to be fine. Exhilarated, smiling and fine.

The theatre company Punchdrunk has opened an event that fits perfectly within the cliched bracket of "highly anticipated" and "hot ticket"; indeed demand for The Crash of the Elysium has been so high extra performances for over-13s have already been scheduled during its run at the Manchester International Festival.

But this is an experience primarily aimed at the Doctor's younger fans. Grown-ups are allowed into this performance only if accompanied by a six to 12-year-old. And thanks to an excitable party from Bridgewater primary in Little Hulton, Salford, the Guardian managed to smuggle itself into one of the previews.

Punchdrunk has already established a reputation for immersive theatre with shows such as The Masque of the Red death and this Doctor Who production, a collaboration with the BBC, continues in a similar vein.

Groups of 25 start their journey in a museum gallery where a kindly, beige-jacketed man called Mr Willard, the sort who always has boiled sweets in his pocket, tells us the history of the Elysium, a ship that sank mysteriously in 1888. Within minutes soldiers storm in. There's a crisis – only we can help.

Everyone is made to run outside as fast as they can, which is the moment you discover just how breathtakingly fast year six children can move.

From there it's a quick change into biohazard suits and full pelt to an exhilarating adventure that sends us back in time to save the Doctor.

As in previous Punchdrunk productions, the attention to detail is impressive. The kids here are really living the experience. They are empowered: solving puzzles, guarding doors and taking decisions. One of the scariest scenes sees us trapped in a darkened corridor as a weeping angel appears to be getting ever closer.

Afterwards 11-year-olds Jack, Naomi and Zoe and Luke, 10, gave their unanimous verdict – they loved it. "It was a little bit scary but cool, a good adventure," said Jack. "I would definitely go back," said Luke. "It was fantastic."

Even teacher Karen Pickard – who alongside a colleague and myself were berated by Captain Solomon and Corporal Albright for not being quick enough – was full of praise for the experience. "They will be talking about it for days," she said with no discernible hint of alarm.

There are undoubtedly scares but they are good scares, followed by something completely different. After a scare there might come the magic and wonder of, for example, a Victorian fairground.

"We have done a lot of work to gauge the right level of scariness," said producer Gabby Vautier.

"One parent rang to say she couldn't get her kids to sleep after they saw it but only in that they couldn't stop talking about it."

The Crash of the Elysium has been scripted by Tom MacRae, a writer so young that "his" Doctor was Sylvester McCoy.

"It is a huge logistical achievement which has meant endless refinements to get it where it is now," he said.

"It is a story for children, it's their story. It's about their experience of Doctor Who and how they would engage with it if they were playing in the playground or in their bedroom with their toys. Except we throw them into something so real and immersive that it's like being in a television show, one you can touch and smell and bang on the walls.

"Any kid who goes will have a day they will never, ever forget," said MacRae. "I wish I was six."

The show is at MediaCityUK in Salford as part of the third biennial Manchester Festival, of which the Guardian is a media partner.

The festival kicked off on Thursday night with the world premiere of Bjork's new show, Biophilia, and will feature Damon Albarn's opera Dr Dee and a new work by Victoria Wood, That Day We Sang.

The Crash of the Elysium will travel to London next year as part of London 2012, the cultural festival celebrating the Olympics.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-ra...-manchester-international-festival?CMP=twt_gu
 
#421 ·
MEN.

Review: Bjork performs Biophilia at Manchester International Festival

Sarah Walters

July 01, 2011

Whether you’re Damon Albarn, Johnny Vegas or Victoria Wood, you must be feeling a little nervous opening your new commission for Manchester International Festival in the shadow of an extraordinary concert by Bjork.

On the corner of Liverpool Road and Deansgate, behind a plethora of restaurants, is Campfield Market, currently home to Bjork’s most ambitious multi-media show of her career.

Sitting on a plot occupied mainly by the Museum of Science & Industry, the venue was briefly used by the Royal Exchange Theatre in the 1990s after the IRA bomb.

Amid the shaded grandeur of this Victorian greenhouse stands Bjork in an ostentatious orange wig, her temporary stage set right in the centre of the venue.

Around her, a collection of fascinating home-made instruments outline the stage. A 10ft Sharpsichord sits in one corner in the dramatic shadow of an equally tall multi-pendulum device; in the other is a pipe organ and celeste.

They’re shown off from the opening song, Thunderbolt, which uses a caged singing Tesla coil to play the bassline. A drummer and gadgets guru occupy the other corners of the stage, but it’s the 24-piece female choir that are Bjork’s main musical foil for these shows.

Since this is a showcase for Biophilia, the set contains the entire album. And it’s given a gentle lift-off with Moon and new single Crystalline.

Above Bjork’s head is a circle of screens that explode with images and illustrations like visual thought bubbles about plants, planets and retro videogames.

In a set woven with delicately reworked favourites, including Hidden Place, Isobel and All Is Full Of Love, it’s actually the new songs that sound most captivating and, in the case of Cosmogeny, most stirring.

Rightly, she saves solving the mystery of what the pendulum gateway is for until the final song, when she stands between the swinging arms for Solstice.

One Day, played a capella with a drummer on a melodic percussion instrument called the hang, is an elegant final showcase for Bjork’s distinctive voice, but there’s nothing that quite sums up the spirit of the show – and of MIF itself – quite like Declare Independence. The bar is set.
 
#422 ·
Crash Of The Elysium Reviewed: MIF 2011

Jonathan and Ralph Schofield adore another Punchdrunk success

Written by Jonathan Schofield.

Confidential's MIF rating: 18/20

Originality 4/5; Performances (acting etc) 4/5; Audience delight 5/5; Production 5/5

“It was the best thing I’ve done like that,” said the true judge, Ralph Schofield, aged 10. “I couldn’t believed that they’d chosen the scariest Doctor Who monster though. Remember how I’d said I really hope it wasn’t going to be them. It was amazing.”

Some Doctor Who monsters are enduring, some that you don’t expect to be frightening get to you. I hated the Cybermen, for most it was the Daleks. This generation of fans find horror in the - well that would be telling - but these new terrors are all over the crashed spaceship Elysium at MediaCityUK. And they work with the staging here to create an experience none of the kids who witness it will forget.

But then, Punchdrunk, the company behind the Crash of the Elysium, is adept at this.

Two years ago at Manchester International Festival (MIF) it was something for the grown-ups with It Felt Like A Kiss, a rampaging but thought-provoking examination of fifties and sixties America.

I had (and still have no idea) why disorientated guests were chased out of the building by a man with a chainsaw but it led to exclamations of shocked delight outside. The common comment was: “Have you ever seen anything like that before?”

This was echoed by all the kids on our Crash of Elysium visit. This is immersive and interactive theatre at its finest.

It starts with a viewing of a very static exhibition of the original Elysium steamship built on Manchester Ship Canal which foundered in 1888 – my son said, “This is a bit boring, isn't it?”. Suddenly an alarm rings, soldiers run in and the kids are whisked away.

The party is named Alpha Group, protective clothing is dished out, instructions and tasks given, and before you know it the group is crouched next to the crashed hulk of the space ship Elysium. And we have a mission, to find something very important to the Doctor. The soldiers ask for specialist knowledge of Doctor Who and the kids respond with enthusiasm, giving the captain in command clues.

The lighting and the sound – especially the sound – plus the staging of the production is perfect for the children; a hyperactive fairground Haunted House featuring Doctor Who himself.

Some kids find it challenging, one or two on our show wept, but everybody helped them out and reassured them. At times it was almost like an outward bound team-building session.

If you’ve got a kid aged six to twelve, get a ticket, maybe borrow someone else’s six to twelve year old. Punchdrunk have delivered another superb MIF event. It ticks all the boxes for what this festival should represent. Exciting. Clever. Effective. Memorable.

Ralph was scaling street furniture all over The Quays re-enacting moments from the show afterwards. Peel Group's fastidious security guards were running in from all directions asking him to calm down, clearly unaware that he'd just helped save the Universe.
http://www.manchesterconfidential.c...stings/Crash-Of-The-Elysium-Reviewed-MIF-2011
 
#423 ·
Actor from TV hit The Wire avoids injury after lighting rig collapses at Paul Heaton's Manchester International Festival show

Jennifer Williams

July 07, 2011

Actor Reg E Cathey had a narrow escape at the Manchester International Festival - when he had to dive out of the way of falling lighting rigging.

Cathey - who made his name in the hit US cop drama, The Wire - was preparing for his role as the 'narrator' of Paul Heaton's epic song, The 8th, when the drama occurred last night.

Onlookers at the show - in Manchester's Albert Square - described how the rigging collapsed and Cathey leapt out of the way, hurting his knee.

MIF spokesman Najda Coyne said: “He soldiered on – he had an ice pack on his knee and he has been amazing.”

The performance was delayed by 50 minutes.
http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereve...eatons-manchester-international-festival-show
 
#434 ·
Doctor Who actor Matt Smith steps out of his Tardis at Salford Quays for surprise MIF appearance

July 15, 2011

Doctor Who is famous for beaming down in the most unexpected of places - but 50 children got a big surprise when the Timelord walked out of his Tardis … straight into Salford Quays.

The Doctor, played by Matt Smith, visited MediaCity to appear in The Crash Of The Elysium, one of the big hits of the 18-day Manchester International Festival, which ends tomorrow.

The show is a children's adventure for six to 12 year olds based on the Doctor Who TV series and created by theatre group Punchdrunk.

Since it opened on July 1 Smith has featured in special video messages designed to lead the children through the adventure, in which they must do battle with baddies from the BBC show and save the Doctor from certain death.

But after seeing another Punchdrunk event in New York, where he has been working on a new film, Smith decided he had to jet into Greater Manchester to support the show in person.

And an executive producer on the TV series decided that it would be possible to substitute the Doctor's final video with a real life message of thanks for two lucky groups of nine to 12 year olds.

Smith, who is the 11th actor to play the Doctor , said: "Punchdrunk and Doctor Who! A Marriage made in creative space heaven.

“It's been a privilege to work with Punchdrunk to put children at the heart of a Doctor Who adventure.

“I've always watched Punchdrunk shows and marvelled at their inventiveness and individuality. Put that together with Doctor Who and there is a wonderful template to tell unique stories in unique ways. The Doctor would definitely approve."

The Crash of the Elysium is the second show that Punchdrunk has created for MIF following the success of their temporary house of horrors It Felt Like A Kiss in 2009.

It has been co-created with Doctor Who executive producer Steven Moffat.
http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereve...-at-salford-quays-for-surprise-mif-appearance
 
#435 ·
Made it to the Whitworth Art Gallery for the projections tonight. Great atmosphere. It was quite a sight seeing so many people in a light and smoke filled, otherwise quiet park at 11pm on a Saturday night.

I liked the exhibitions inside too. The 7 walks guy was interesting but a bit of a loony with his railing tapping. Walking a path on the sunny and shady sides of the street is a bit of fun but but his drumstick work was a little weird. My interest in maps and my city wandering habits helped.

The tightrope walk was great (and what a room it's in!) but yet again the pamphlet gave some of it away before I'd seen it, which was disappointing. This was my favourite.

Saw one of the sniper's alley films earlier in the week too (Anri Sala). It was a little drawn out for me because I didnt feel any of the tension at the crossings. The music kept smoothing it over. Found myself almost falling asleep to the music (but not in a bad way) and some lady across the way did. This was routinely interupted by the dodgy humming on film. During the humming I was instead drawn to the commie blocks.

I spent quite a bit of time looking at the war 'postcards' in the middle room (I forget what you call them) though I presume these weren't part of MIF as they seemed unrelated. They were great but were straining eyes by the end. Some blown up copies of the drawings to sit above or below would've been good.

Audio Obscura tomorrow. Thanks for the reminder, flange.
 
#436 ·
Thanks macc, wish I could have made it to Whitworth, it sounds amazing. I imagine with the 2013 festival, the Whitworth might play a really big part to the festival next time, due to the fact that hopefully the Whitworths extension and refurbishment should be finished or coming to the end of the works.

Am glad that you are going to Audio Obscura, from when I went on Friday lunch time it was pretty busy when I gave back my headphones there was a line waiting for them, it really was such a different experience to what I am used to at Piccadilly, you hear all the stuff and kinda put it to people within the station that day, so good, look forward to hearing what you think about it macc.
 
#438 ·
Looking back at the highlights of Manchester International Festival 2011

Sarah Walters

July 18, 2011

Three biennial festivals in, and all the signs are that we’re getting used to the idea of the Manchester International Festival.

On paper, the schedules have always been staggeringly ambitious and diverse. Previous years have given us operas by Damon Albarn and Rufus Wainwright, electro-pioneers Kraftwerk in Manchester Velodrome and haunted houses in disused tower blocks.

The concept of making 20 or more unique commissions happen in one city across a little over two weeks sounds challenging enough to achieve, but the bigger obstacle has been encouraging the public to have enough faith to do more than dip a sceptical toe in the waters.

Sitting in the dimly lit surroundings of New Century Hall on Friday night, though, waiting for Amadou & Mariam’s concert to begin, I overheard encouraging discussions in neighbouring seats about the number of events people had attended this year.

Most had been to three or four shows – ranging from handsomely priced and off-the-wall events to the free children’s playground Music Boxes and various arts shows. Others had also spent the last fortnight enjoying the summer weather at the Pavilion, soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying the temporary space in Albert Square.

Bigger picture

MIF 2011, then, seems to be the year that everyone got the concept – that the programme is a complementary whole to be gobbled up as greedily as possible. And perhaps that’s because this year’s set of events, more so than in previous years, seemed to offer accessibility and coherence.

Victoria Wood is blossoming into an extraordinary director as her play about the Manchester School Children’s Choir, That Day We Sang, proved; Snoop Dogg revisiting Doggystyle, the album that made him, was a comfortable fit for the Apollo, while the Wagner recital at the Bridgewater Hall blended the composer’s brilliance with brand new ideas.

Other shows caught people out of their natural habitats – Johnny Vegas doing live theatre, Candi Staton singing in a Moss Side church as part of Sacred Sites, Paul Heaton showcasing a multi-part song/play in The 8th, Wu Lyf closing the roads to play under a railway bridge – but never too far that it required a leap of faith to buy a ticket.

There’s an argument to say that a festival with such groundbreaking ideals shouldn’t welcome back the same names year after year.

The counter argument, of course, is that the city’s familiarity with figures like performance artist Marina Abramovic, blind Malian singers Amadou & Mariam and Blur’s Damon Albarn now creates a unique buzz for the events they are part of; The Life And Death Of Marina Abramovic, Eclipse and Dr Dee were all hugely successful at the box office, despite being challenging shows to explain in advance.

Renewing old creative partnerships is just as valid as forming new ones if the result is a magical show. In 2011, that magic was achieved in different ways: Bjork at Campfield Market, for instance, combined the oddness of the Icelandic star with a peculiar venue and innovative instruments and technology, while Sinead O‘Connor floored crowds for three nights with some rare but simple performances.

New talent

Manchester often stands accused of parochialism, but MIF 2011 showed there’s room to celebrate a city’s past without ignoring its future.

Dave Haslam’s True Faith events offered a stage to some of Manchester’s best new music, while his intimate chats with local legends gave context to the city’s musical growth.

Equally, giving the ancient halls of Chetham’s School Of Music to virtuoso violinist Alina Ibragimova and avant-garde film makers The Quay Brothers was a masterstroke of marriages between an old Manchester institution and international superstars.

While the film work was underwhelming, Ibragimova’s interpretation of music by Bach, Berio, Biber and Bartok was breathtakingly beautiful.

There’s no confirmation finer than seeing 50 people raving in front of a DJ booth in the middle of the day that Festival Square pitched its programming absolutely right.

Free DJ sets in the Pavilion teepee kept the square busy all day. And it helped, of course, that the sun shone most of the time, turning the square and the rooftop terrace on the Glass House bar into a hub at lunchtime as well as a popular evening hangout that attracted an international gaggle of visitors and some interesting wildlife; seeing butterflies fluttering through the city centre was a first for me.

The opportunity to get stuck in was also a welcome feature of the festival, none more so than in Crash Of The Elysium, Punchdrunk’s Doctor Who-themed
adventure over at MediaCityUK, which finally allowed the adults to join the mission to save the Doctor because of popular demand.

But it was the arts that really allowed a mesmerising chance to be part of the event: Tony Oursler’s The Influence Machine saw hundreds of visitors repossess Whitworth Park every night to watch spooky faces beamed onto trees and eerie clouds of smoke; 11 Rooms at Manchester Art Gallery required audiences to be both spectators and participants; and Audio Obscura invited people to reconsider Piccadilly Station as a social melting pot as well as a travel hub.

Raising the bar this high means the challenge is on to meet it in 2013. Festival director Alex Poots is already in deep discussions about the next set of commissions, one of which – Vertical Farm, a concept to run a sustainable farm in a city centre tower block – was discussed on the closing day of the festival
yesterday.

But who will be chosen?

The sensible money is on Damon Albarn keeping his long-running relationship with the festival alive somehow. And my money? I think Wu Lyf should pen the next opera; it’s a long shot, but isn’t that what MIF is all about?
http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereve...hts-of-manchester-international-festival-2011
 
#439 ·
Well I went to Audio Obscura. It was as interesting experience. The real life sounds such as the station announcements are mixed in with the recordings so you get this strange overlaying of both. When combined with the people milling around in the station, who's sounds - being quieter - don't match what you're hearing, leaves you feeling quite detached from it all.

I wandered around at first but I felt I got the best effect from sitting down in a busy spot. Did some good people watching. It was busy too. 6 or 7 people in the queue in front of me and I saw plenty of other people shuffling around with big headphones on; most, like myself, looking far too old to be wearing them.

If I had one complaint, I assumed they'd be actual recordings of people rather than actors. Given a bit of thought I should've realised you couldn't do this without at least putting signs aroud the station informing people you were recording with microphones. I don't think that would have been a problem though. Particulalrly if they were there for long enough and in only a section of the station.

Most dissapointing was the actors were all of the stage school type. All the dialogue was overacting or as though they were reading poems to an audience. In real life people don't talk like they're on stage. While I'm sure they are all great actors none of the dialogue was memorable or emotional. Bottom line was it just wasn't believable. As a result I pretty much ignored what was being said and just wallowed in the trippy feeling of watching the world go by to familiar but totally mismatched background noise.
 
#440 ·
I'll leave the commenting for later...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-no...-urbed-dickson-despommier-columbia-university

The 18-day international festival which has swept through Manchester has sadly come to an end, but one project is only just starting, with long-term implications for the future of the rainy city. On the very last day of the Manchester International festival, a two-year project to build a vertical farm in an disused office building in Wythenshawe was launched with the aim of encouraging cities to more grow fresh food in a sustainable way.

The problem with cities is that whilst they have big populations that need feeding, there is usually very little space to grow food. Consequently produce is flown in for all over the world and brought into cities by the lorry-load causing much environmental harm due to fossil fuels being burnt for transport. Indeed, a typical UK supermarket trolley of food will have travelled a distance of 3,000 km before making it to your shelves at home.

The solution? Dickson Despommier, a parasitologist at Columbia in New York City who spoke at the MIF event, thinks that vertical farming can help. Vertical farming is a relatively new concept developed by Despommier and his students back in 1999, where farms are built indoors and on levels rather than horizontally on land. Some of the benefits of this hi-tech way of growing food is that abandoned buildings are put to use whilst precious (and expensive) land is saved. This farming technique also requires up to 70% less water and less fertilizer than traditional farming as crops grow in a controlled and sheltered environment.

Debbie Ellen, the lead researcher on the project and food expert explains:

By the year 2050 it is estimated that nearly 80% of the world's population will live in urban centres. Our current food system is very vulnerable to weather events as well as being unsustainable in terms of how food reaches us...Vertical farms, which use existing buildings offer the potential to become productive food hubs which will increase community's resilience by growing food locally.

Encouraging local people to engage with the project is very important, because by learning about food growing, people become much more aware of its value, the difference in taste of food that has only travelled a small distance and the possibilities that exist for them to grow food for their families."

There are currently vertical farms working in Japan and Holland but to date, there is no multi-storey, indoor farming in an urban building which I guess makes Wythenshawe's Alpha Farm a world first.

Manchester already boasts some interesting food projects such as Unicorn Grocery in Chortlton, a supermarket which grows food on its own land as well as Abundance Manchester, an organisation which makes the most of food growing in gardens, allotments and public trees by collecting gluts and distributing it for free to homeless shelters and destitute asylum seekers.

Alpha Farm will be attempting to grow fruit and veg such as broccoli, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, carrots and strawberries. According to the organisers, by the time the next Manchester International Festival rolls around in 2013 they hope to be harvesting some of the goods for everyone to try.
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Video here

Best,
Slip
 
#441 ·
Late as ever the M.E.N

Manchester International Festival to host Britain's first vertical farm in 2013

August 09, 2011

Manchester could be at the forefront of an ‘agricultural revolution’ if a radical plan to solve the world’s food crisis takes off.

Organisers of Manchester’s International Festival 2013 want to turn a disused tower block in Wythenshawe into Britain’s first ‘vertical farm’.

The idea has already been attempted in cities around the world. But it will be trialled for the first time in this country in Wythenshawe at a derelict office block, named Alpha House.

The multi-storey greenhouse will use modern farming techniques, such as hydroponics and aquaponics, to produce vegetables including lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers as well as supporting fish, chickens and bees.

It is hoped the farm will be able to grow enough food to supply the international festival in 2013.

But Steve Connor, CEO of Creative Concern which is spearheading the project, said the people of Wythenshawe are central to its success. We want to do this with the community of Wythenshawe,” he said.

“It’s the perfect place to kick it off. You’ve got a town centre that’s being revitalised, a certain amount of food activity in terms of the allotments – there’s every hope we’ll be able to unlock a significant amount of local support. It’s really critical.”

Architect Charlie Baker explained the decision to choose a tower block. He said: “The primary interest is that it’s already there as an unused office building. If you search Google for ‘vertical farms’ you will mostly see architecturally-produced images – but in a lot of cases they’re not wildly practical. Our view was, if you’re going to show a way of growing food inside a building, you might as well use one no one wants any more.

“From a modern building point of view, it’s a bit of a basket case. The windows are single-glazed and there’s no insulation. If we can make it work here we can make it work anywhere.”

The idea of vertical farming was first proposed by Professor Dickson Despommier, of Columbia University in New York, who came to Manchester to help launch the project.

If successful, it is hoped vertical farms could take off across Greater Manchester.

“What happens after depends on how well it works,” said Charlie. “But I hope it builds into a hub for home-grown food across the north west.

“Manchester has a heritage of making ideas work. We led the industrial revolution – why can’t we lead an agricultural one?”
http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereve...-to-host-britains-first-vertical-farm-in-2013
 
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