As a Manchester transplant, I would often find myself at odds on what to do to fill my free time in a big new city. The phone is an endless black hole of neverending possibilities; each new exciting event is added to a mental list of things I abso-lutely definitely must go see and do, but never will. I’ve seen ads for events around Manchester, joyful digital interruptions to the doom scroll ritual.
One day, I take up the offer.
In a seemingly ever-increasing instinct towards self-preservation, community- based, supported and most-importantly, community-led projects continue to be the lifeblood of ‘people-hood’ – which I define as a collective personhood interacting in mutualism at a common venue.
In surveying the scene, albeit Manchester City Council, the National Lottery, and Arts Council England seem to be common institutional funders, individual artists are asking themselves: Who are we without each other?
I underestimated the humanness that erupts when a gazebo is present.
At Salford’s We Invented the Weekend Festival, the DJ duo SHIMRISE performed to the public in the open air environment. They said: “With community events like WITW and being an electronic act it’s refreshing to play to such a broad demographic when we’d usually play in clubs. Because of that it seems as though everyone is open to engage as there’s no precedent set beforehand so we felt like everyone had a really open ear and was receptive to the set.”
The Manchester creative scene is a bit of a spider web of those with deep roots to the city, whether familial or professional ties. A brilliant example is the Derby Brewery Arms (DBA).
I first heard of SHIMRISE at a workshop where I learnt to DJ, held by Boudicca in the DBA, another well-known local venue, a springwell for movers and shakers in the world of music. When asked, SHIMRISE commented on how vital free and accessible resources meant to their creative practice: “So far, we’ve really had to lean into low-cost spaces as promoting and venue hire is super expensive, so the barriers are high. [Accessible opportunities] have been integral as it’s also how we began our DJ journey starting off at Reform Radio's DJ project, which was free to enroll on.”
Reform Radio, is currently supported in part by The Manchester City Council's 'Pride in Place' investment, which seems to have captured the hearts of musicians and music mixers.
One of the performers at Moss Side Together Festival learnt sound mixing at Reform Radio; an organisation that presents opportunities for young people to learn new skills such as music, sound, marketing, event planning, creative writing to improve their employability as freelancers or employed by agencies.
These hyper-local programmes provide a conduit from amateurs to performers with professional branding. The Moss Side Together Festival was the first 'professional' gig of two performers; both having got their start in a program called Raise the Bar.
Kiz Kaprice, a talented sound engineer and DJ is rapping on the festival sound stage; he honed his skills at the DBA. When asked about his come-up spoke of being motivated by seeing other Black artists in the alternative scene, that in Manchester collaborations are built by word of mouth. He contrasts the local music space with the gilded mainstream: “Seeing the sounds coming out of Brazilian funk, French drill, and [French West Indies’] Zouk, it shows that nobody has a monopoly on sound. It’s more authentic, in a way that for Scouse rapping is a completely different pocket, the references [for Manchester rappers] are of Manchester and from here.”
Creatives in Manchester don’t require external approval, they are innovative in their approaches, and definitely are not waiting for permission.
A similar spirit is embraced in the artworks shown in Sheba Art’s “Still We Rise” Festival. It is an exhibition housed by the Longsight Art Space, a sustainability-minded cultural centre which describes itself as a ‘community response’, a nexus for residencies and workshops aimed at cross-cultural exchange. The exhibition consisted of mixed media, sculpture, textile, paper, print, acrylic, and sound-scape, highlighting abstract themes of migration (belonging and loss, grief and gain), into tangible collections for storytelling of memory, displacement, change and revolution.
Geared towards families, present at Moss Side Together Festival, were the Hulme Karate Club, and dancers from the Somali community, which I mention specifically because they capture the wonder of discovering an until-then new-to-you activity. At every festival or event I attended, the organisers had provisions for children, usually an inclusive edu-tainment activity.
The arts industry, at least in the UK, relies heavily on grant applications to organisations.With limited funding available, the ability to have one’s project funded requires another application to be rejected. The application process promotes a zero-sum mentality that forces viewing fellow artists as competing personalities in the attention economy, rather than potential future partners.
There is a collaborative spirit to the Greater Manchester area. Creative organisations here nourish and represent the communities and demographics they exist within, prioritising the grassroots approach to harnessing the arts. It presents such a contrast to the stereotypical image of cutthroat social climbers waiting for competitors’ downfall. Local interests are championing young people to empower themselves, community interest organisations work as incubators for the upcoming stars of British talent, encompassing music, film, television, art, and theatre.
