A Manchester International Festival production

20 - 21 July 2019

Imagine a city where animals of all kinds, including humanz, live together as equals.

Animals of Manchester (including HUMANZ) is a Live Art experience that explores what life might be like if dogs, cows, pigeons, squirrels and other creatures lived alongside us as our peers – our companions.

On the Festival’s final weekend, we hosted absorbing activities, workshops and encounters in the Whitworth’s galleries and Whitworth Park.

There was a palace for mice and for humans, a film studio run by beetles, a hedgehog hospital, a conference of animals led by a cow, living memorials for extinct species, a Bestiary Beauty Parlour and a Life Art Library honouring animals as artists and performers.

Commissioned and produced by Manchester International Festival with support from the Whitworth, The University of Manchester.

A project by Theatre of Research & Live Art Development Agency with Sibylle Peters as Lead Artist & Curator, and Lois Keidan as Curator.

Featuring specially commissioned artworks by Angela Bartram, Ansuman Biswas, David Caines, Rebecca Chesney, Marcus Coates, Katharina Duve, Andy Field & Beckie Darlington, Krõõt Juurak & Alex Bailey, Bruce Gilchrist & Jo Joelson (London Fieldworks), Martin O’Brien, Esther Pilkington & Daniel Ladnar (random people), Benji Reid, Joshua Sofaer, Tim Spooner & Dmitri Logunov (Manchester Museum), and lectures by Jack Ashby, Laura Cull Ó Maoilearca, Antony Hall, Kerry Morrison, Kira O’Reilly, and David Weber-Krebs & Maximillian Haas.

I was Participation Co-ordinator for Animals of Manchester (including HUMANZ) on behalf of Manchester International Festival.

Critical response from Maddy Costa and Mary Paterson

Podcast

Illustration: Rob Bailey