Artist Kemang Wa Lehulere, 11 Manchester writers and over 100 residents of the city teamed up to create a new book of love letters for MIF21 – buy it now
South African artist Kemang Wa Lehulere spent MIF19 in residence in Manchester’s network of libraries – and two years on, we’ve published I Love You Too, a beautiful book inspired by the time he spent in the city.
At the start of 2021, Wa Lehulere invited more than 100 people from across Manchester to share with us their love stories: to people, to places, even to possessions. Through a series of online and in-person meetings, a group of 11 Manchester writers put their words on to the page. The result is I Love You Too, a personal, powerful and inspiring 232-page hardback book of love letters rooted in our city – and the first in an international series. You can explore the book below, and buy it for just £10 at the link above.
I Love You Too also featured an installation created for especially the Wolfson Reading Room at Central Library (2–10 July 2021), a collection of work that reflected Wa Lehulere's ongoing interest in libraries as institutional spaces for education and the dissemination of knowledge – and was also deeply connected to the history of apartheid South Africa.
Price £13.50
I Love You Too is a book started in 2020, when Wa Lehulere invited more than 100 people from across Manchester to share with us their love stories: to people, to places, even to possessions.
Through a series of online and in-person meetings, a group of 11 Manchester writers put their words on to the page – and the result is a powerful and personal book of love letters rooted in our city, the first in an international series.
Orders are dispatched by post only, using first class Royal Mail to UK addresses. Please email tickets@mif.co.uk if you require international postage rates.
BSL interpretation of a selection of 10 letters published in I Love You Too.
Created by Kemang Wa Lehulere
Love stories told by The People of Manchester
Written by Hafsah Aneela Bashir, Dominic Berry, Sarah Butler, Cathy Crabb, Ali Gadema, Zoe Iqbal, Shamshad Khan, Jessica El Mal, Jardel Rodrigues, Keisha Thompson & Louise Wallwein
Commissioned and produced by Manchester International Festival in partnership with Library Live and Creative Spaces, Manchester Libraries’ cultural programmes, and supported by Arts Council England and National Lottery funding.
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