MIF17

About MIF17

Our sixth Festival was our biggest yet, 18 extraordinary days of performances and exhibitions presented in landmark locations, hidden spaces and a host of other venues across Greater Manchester.

We opened with What is the City but the People? – a celebration of our city and its communities, created from an idea by Jeremy Deller. Citizens walked a 60m catwalk backed by live music, large scale projected photographs and texts, making a unique portrait of people and place.

The programme was packed with variety and greatness. New Order + Liam Gillick: So it goes was just one part of an enormous music series that also encompassed Mary Anne Hobbs’ Dark Matter, Jóhann Jóhannsson’s Last and First Men, the pioneering Music for a Busy City, and a special series of gigs staged Live in the Pavilion Theatre.

The visual art programme included Susan Hefuna (ToGather), Graham Eatough and Stephen Sutcliffe (No End to Enderby) and Samson Young (One of Two Stories, or Both), while our stage works featured Jane Horrocks in Cotton Panic!, the vital Fatherland at the Royal Exchange, and our baby opera BambinO, which toured around Greater Manchester following its Festival Square premiere.

From director Thomas Ostermeier (Returning to Reims) to choreographers Boris Charmatz (10000 Gestures) and Lucinda Childs (Available Light), MIF17 welcomed a host of international artists. But from the Festival in My House Takeover in Festival Square to the endeavours of the Creative50, there was also more room than ever for the people of Manchester in a Festival that felt firmly rooted in the city.

For the first time, we streamed events live on the BBC Website. Watch the highlights.

About MIF17

MIF17 Highlights

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