Creativity, diversity and collaboration all vibrate in the centre of Manchester’s cultural landscape, and what drives it all is a flourishing community of artist collectives. An artist collective based in Manchester that brings together local artists from various disciplines – the visual arts, performance, music, and design – in one project whose aim is to explore the boundaries of creativity and to give voice to the out-of-the-ordinary. In a city of industrial past and cultural present, these collectives process cultural diversity into creative, local works.
A Space for Artistic Collaboration
A culture of collaboration is a hallmark of a Manchester artists’ collective. These collectives are incubators of creativity, sites of exchange between artists who share ideas, materials and skills. As such, they often take advantage of open studios in cultural centres throughout the city. With venues such as Islington Mill, The Whitworth and other artists’ spaces run by the community, the collective acts as a support system for artists to meet, play and share. Typically, the artists on deck range from young art-world upstarts to art-world veteran haves, and their multiple experiences and insights shape the collective work.
Experimentation and Innovation
Manchester’s artist collectives are as notorious for pushing and shoving at the boundaries of what’s ‘art’. Digital media, sculpture, live performance, mixed media installations ᅳ these are the tools of these artists, who revel in the city’s image as an incubator of innovation. Often provocative and experimental, their work explores social, environmental and political issues, realised through multisensory installations, interactive screens and immersive art. The vow of invention also repeats Manchester’s history of invention and of becoming, creating a dynamic mutuality between the collective and the city’s past.
Some of these groups create work directly involved with the city of Manchester, squatting abandoned buildings (warehouses, parks, even cul-de-sacs) for public works and guerilla performances. It is a place for artists to interact with their community as a critique of some of the received ideas about how and where art should (or shouldn’t) be shown.
Community-Driven Projects
Community engagement is central to Manchester-based collectives. Most of their projects are open and involve local communities directly in the creative process. Through workshops, exhibitions, public art installations, and interactive events, they want to obliterate the divide between the artist and the audience, to involve the community not just as observers but as active participants. Manchester’s art is a civic one, and such collectives are the city’s introduction to contemporary art.
Initiatives are also in a better position to tackle issues important to the community they serve, such as social justice, mental health, the environment, and cultural identity. This socially sensitive approach encourages viewers to reflect on questions about the city and its people. The collective also does ongoing projects with schools, charities, and social enterprises that let the public make things and be involved in the process of making.
Supporting Emerging Artists
Manchester collectives are also committed to nurturing emerging talent. Most also have residency programmes, mentors, and exhibition facilities for new artists and provide time and space for them to build up practices and reputations. There are even collectives that have a gallery of their own—or at least a pop-up event showing new work—where young artists can build up their portfolios and connect with others who could become collaborators or mentors.
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