A number of talks and discussions took place around the packed MIF17 programme.

Music for a Busy City 
Elizabeth Alker (BBC Radio 3, BBC 6 Music) talked to composers Matthew Herbert, Huang Ruo, Anna Meredith and Philip Venables about their contributions to MIF17’s Music for a Busy City, a collection of new pieces written in response to different spaces around Manchester – and played in these spaces every day during MIF17.
Pavilion Theatre, Sun 2 July

Brave and Bold
Liz O’Neill (Z-arts), Sue Buckmaster (The Welcoming Party), Jane Davidson MBE (Scottish Opera, co-producers of BambinO) and Nigel Barrett & Louise Mari (creators of Party Skills for the End of the World) all offered insights into how they create original new work for children, young people and family audiences.
Pavilion Theatre, Fri 7 July

The Factory Panel: Spaces for Artists
Choreographer Lucinda Childs (Available Light), composer Huang Ruo (Music for a Busy City), architect Ellen van Loon, director Walter Meierjohann and curator Hans Ulrich Obrist joined MIF Artistic Director John McGrath to discuss cultural spaces from the artist’s perspective in this special panel inspired by The Factory, a new world-class arts venue currently under construction.
HOME (Cinema 2), Fri 7 July

The Factory Panel: Spaces for Culture
Architects Ellen van Loon and Rem Koolhaas talked about OMA’s work on cultural buildings, including The Factory and Taipei Performing Arts Center, and discussed the future of arts spaces. Chaired by Hans Ulrich Obrist.
Stage 1, Old Granada Studios, Sat 8 July

Arts Panel: The Art of Journeys
Artists Samson Young, Susan Hefuna and Stephen Sutcliffe discussed the different ways they address journeys in the work. Chaired by Maria Balshaw, former Director of the Whitworth and now Director of Tate.
The Whitworth, Sun 9 July

Substance: In Remembrance of Tony Wilson
To mark 10 years since the passing of Anthony H Wilson, MIF presented a special evening celebrating the legacy of Wilson and Factory Records, exploring the role that arts and culture play in defining the identity of a city and a region in the past, the present and the future. A live performance of a new commission by composer Joe Duddell, who collaborated with New Order at MIF17, followed a discussion panel with several very special guests. All proceeds from the evening went to The Christie. Substance is part of a year-long project supported by Hull 2017, UK City of Culture.
Pavilion Theatre, Mon 10 July

John Robb Presents
with Jah Wobble, Cosey Fanni Tutti & Youth
John Robb took over the Pavilion Theatre to talk about life, music and the cosmos with three special guests: bass legend Jah Wobble, once of PiL and now leading his own Invaders of the Heart; musician, performance artist and provocatrice Cosey Fanni Tutti of Throbbing Gristle; and Youth, founding member of Killing Joke and collaborator with everyone from The Verve to Paul McCartney. Youth then took to the decks for an anything-goes DJ set covering everything from dark dub to dirty disco.
Pavilion Theatre, Tue 11 July

Interdependence: We Need to Talk
Interdependence: We Need to Talk: six sessions of provocative conversation and new ideas were staged every Saturday during MIF17. Guests included Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (HOME1947), Laurie Anderson, Wayne McGregor, Phil Collins (Ceremony), Karl Hyde (Manchester Street Poem, Fatherland) and many more.

Hallé St Peter’s, The Stoller Hall & Albert Hall, Sat 1, Sat 8 & Sat 15 July