MANCHESTER INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL 2021

ARTISTS FROM OVER 20 COUNTRIES PRESENT WORLD AND UK PREMIERES AT MIF21 FROM 1-18 JULY mif.co.uk

Manchester International Festival (MIF) returns from 1-18 July with a vibrant programme of original new work from across the spectrum of visual and performing arts and music by artists from over 20 countries. Events will take place safely in indoor and outdoor locations across Greater Manchester, as well as online.

Artists include Akram Khan, Arlo Parks, Aaron and Bryce Dessner, Boris Charmatz, Cerys Matthews, Christine Sun Kim, Cillian Murphy, Damon Albarn, Deborah Warner, Forensic Architecture, Ibrahim Mahama, Kemang Wa Lehulere, Laure Prouvost, Marta Minujín, and Lemn Sissay.

Highlights include:

• A monumental 42m sculpture of Big Ben assembled from 20,000 copies of books that have shaped British politics by Argentine artist Marta Miujín
• A new outdoor work by French choreographer Boris Charmatz which will fill Deansgate with a chain of dancers including 150 local residents
• An eclectic music programme featuring performances by Damon Albarn, Arlo Parks, Rema, Midas the Jagaban, DJ Semtex and more
• A new sound and light installation by Deborah Warner on the construction site of The Factory, the world-class arts space that will be MIF’s future home
• A major exhibition to mark the tenth anniversary of Forensic Architecture
• A new collaboration between Hans Ulrich Obrist and Lemn Sissay exploring the poet as artist and the artist as poet including Tracey Emin, Inua Ellams, Lubaina Himid, Precious Okoyomon and Adonis
• Exhibitions and installations from visual artists Rashid Rana, Kemang Wa Lehulere and Christine Sun Kim
• A new commission by Laure Prouvost for the redeveloped Manchester Jewish Museum site
• Activist Cephas Williams fills Manchester Arndale with over 100 portraits of Black British people
• Theatre can be enjoyed live or at home with Theatre Rites’ The Global Playground and Rae McKen’s Notes on Grief
• A series of film works from Ibrahim Mahama, Lola Arias, Angélique Kidjo, Akram Khan and Naaman Azhari, (LA)HORDE and Lucinda Childs
• A new film starring Cillian Murphy, written by Max Porter, directed by Aoife McArdle and with music by Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner and Jon Hopkins, presented as an immersive installation in surround sound
• The UK premiere of Laurent Garnier: Off the Record
• A new game for Virtual Factory, a major series of online artworks inspired by the architecture and the ambition of The Factory
• Festival Square, the hub of the Festival in the heart of the city, has a packed free daily programme of talent from Greater Manchester and across the UK.

• Summarised information, plus dates of press nights and private views follows.