News | Friday, 10th March 2017
University an official supporter of Manchester International Festival
Renowned arts and music celebration runs from June 29 to July 16
Manchester Metropolitan University is proud to be a Gold supporter of this year’s Manchester International Festival (MIF) which runs from 29 June to 16 July.
MIF has forged a global reputation as a festival of all new work and special events created by international artists. The festival takes place at venues all over the city with a range of events from dance and drama to music, art, and much more.
Manchester Metropolitan has joined the group of sponsors and supporters – ranging from major national and international companies to local small businesses to individual donors – that make the festival possible.
This will also be the third festival running where students from Manchester Metropolitan will design the Festival Square’s interiors, seating areas and furniture, working together with local design and making agencies OH OK LTD and Ferrious for their most ambitious collaboration yet.
Ambitious and exciting
This is the first edition of MIF under new Artistic Director John McGrath, who said: “We are incredibly grateful to every one of our funders and sponsors – their support of MIF allows work of the most ambitious and exciting scale to be made right here in Manchester, work which we can then export to festivals, theatres and arts centres around the world. Their continuing commitment is essential as we work towards the opening of Factory in 2020. We look forward to welcoming more partners on board for this exciting journey.”
An amazing schedule of events was announced on Thursday, March 9, for this year’s MIF, which marks the festival’s tenth anniversary. Artists in this year’s festival include New Order, Arcade Fire, Jeremy Deller, Liam Gillick, Mary-Anne Hobbs and Turner Prize nominee Phil Collins.
For the first time, MIF opens with a large-scale public event, What Is the City but the People?, will see a unique selection of individuals from across Manchester, recruited via open auditions, walking along a runway through Piccadilly Gardens for an audience of thousands on June 29.
Artist Phil Collins will bring MIF to a close on July 16 with Ceremony, a live film event celebrating one of Manchester’s greatest residents – Friedrich Engels – in a uniquely contemporary and playful way. Collins will bring Engels back to Manchester in the form of a Soviet-era statue, collected from Russia and transported across Europe, to be installed in Manchester’s Tony Wilson Place. Performers, musicians and the people of Manchester will help create a unique ‘live film’, mixing footage from the statue’s journey across Europe with live coverage of its inauguration, featuring a soundtrack by Mica Levi and Demdike Stare, a new anthem by Gruff Rhys, and stories of today’s Manchester workers – who Collins met during his year-long MIF17 residency.
Get involved
Sir Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council, said: "In just over a decade from its early beginnings in 2005 MIF has helped secure Manchester's centre-stage position on the global arts scene, and has become a much talked about and anticipated fixture on the international arts calendar. It has attracted thousands of visitors from around the world, providing an important economic boost to the city, whilst also inspiring local people to get involved.”
Tickets for the festival can be bought at mif.co.uk and you can find out more information about the University’s involvement here.
