5 of the best
Manchester International Festival events
It’s one of Britain’s biggest arts events and, while it’s not returning until next year, there are still plenty of ways to enjoy Manchester International Festival at home.
Its organisers have made available many previous performances, talks and artistic happenings online to keep audiences in touch with its groundbreaking work, along with new videos made in the past few weeks.
Here’s our pick of what to seek out on the Manchester International Festival channel on Youtube ...
1 MUSIC Together in One Voice
Thousands of residents from across Manchester and the wider region threw open their windows and took to their doorsteps and balconies to join a joyous mass singalong on May 28, supported by a host of top musical talent. The event was accompanied by a specially-arranged soundtrack, streamed on the night for people to join in via Manchester International Festival’s online channel, featuring performances by virtual choirs and musicians. Liam Gallagher, Mark Owen of Take That and Emeli Sande were among those taking part.
2 DANCE House of Noir presents Kiki in Our House
House of Noir are the rising stars of vogue and ballroom culture in Manchester, equally at home in the nightclub and on the runway. The collective have creating a one-off quarantine kiki - a super-relaxed, youthled, politicallydriven voguing ball-fromhome with the theme All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go, featuring dazzling live appearances by some of the city’s leading QTIPOC performers (queer, transgender and intersex people of colour).
3 TALK David Lynch Q&A
Hear the visionary filmmaker behind the likes of The Elephant Man, Eraserhead, Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks talk about his remarkable creativity in a discussion linked to an exhibition of his paintings, drawings and sculptures at the festival in 2019.
4 GAME Songs of the Lost
Created for last year’s festival, Songs for the Lost invites players to a surreal and absurd digital landscape. You’ll cross boundaries and traverse borders, roam hidden highways and meet enigmatic strangers, explore secret forests and enter the void.
Where to find it: palgal.itch.io/ songsofthelost
5 TALK Can Buildings Think and Dream?
Influential media artist, director and thinker Refik Anadol talks about his pioneering research into how buildings can change our relationship to space, time and the physical world sround us.