Bjork
Sinead O'Connor
Rickie Lee Jones
Music Boxes
Amadou & Mariam
Sacred Sites
Vertical Farm
Doctor Dee
Wagner’' Die Walkure
Pavilion Theatre/Festival Square
Alina Ibragimova
The Quay Brothers
Lavinia Greenlaw
John Gerrard
Marina Abramovic
Willem Dafoe
Antony
Robert Wilson
John Baldessari
Allora and Calzadilla
Simon Fujiwara
Joan Jonas
Laura Lima
Roman Ondak
Lucy Raven
Tino Sehgal
Santiago Sierra
Xu Zhen
MIF will present more than 20 commissions, premieres and special events created by leading artists from around the world, some of which have been three years or more in the making. Projects include Victoria Wood's That Day We Sang, Sacred Sites, Music Boxes, Bjork and Vertical Farm.
Manchester International Festival today launches the full programme for the 2011
Festival, with an event at Manchester’s Museum of Science and Industry.
From Thursday 30 June to Sunday 17 July, MIF will present more than 20
commissions, premieres and special events created by leading artists from around the
world, some of which have been three years or more in the making.
Festival Director, Alex Poots, says ‘MIF is a home for major artists to realise their most
ambitious projects and we are grateful to them for entrusting their work to us. We hope
audiences will enjoy this year’s programme, featuring a greater number of large-scale
productions created in collaboration with leading presenters from around the world.’
Councillor Mike Amesbury, Executive Member for Culture and Leisure at Manchester City
Council, says: ‘Manchester International Festival makes a massive contribution to the
cultural offering of our great city and has helped establish us on the world stage as a
leading artistic powerhouse. The Festival also ensures that tens of millions of pounds are
poured into the Manchester economy. We're looking forward to the Festival's return. The
quality of what will be on display is fantastic and I'm confident we're heading for the best
Manchester International Festival ever.’
Following the success of projects such as Jeremy Deller’s Procession in 2009, MIF
Creative, the Festival’s creative learning programme, has been expanded for 2011. MIF
Creative offers opportunities to inspire, excite and support local people to get involved in
the Festival; projects include Victoria Wood’s That Day We Sang, Sacred Sites, Music
Boxes, Björk and Vertical Farm.
MIF is committed to developing a sustainable festival, one which benefits the local
economy, is engaging for local communities and which tries to minimize its environmental
impact. We work hard to secure a mixture of income, combining public, commercial and
private income with ticket sales and co-commissioning money to help ensure that we are
here for the long term. For more information on sustainability at MIF, please visit
www.mif.co.uk/about-us.
Look out for Festival Square, the hub of the Festival, outside Manchester Town Hall on
Albert Square. The iconic Festival Pavilion, now a familiar local landmark, is a bar and
occasional impromptu performance space. With a café, a box office, DJs, new bar space
The Glasshouse and an expanded Pavilion Theatre programme, Festival Square is the
place to be in July.
Festival programme
Björk – Biophilia
Three week Manchester residency; the world premiere of her Biophilia live show
Alina Ibragimova / The Quay Brothers – Bach, Berio, Biber and Bartók, Béla
Promenade staging of chamber music in the last medieval quarter of Manchester
Rufus Norris, Damon Albarn - Doctor Dee
New work inspired by Renaissance alchemist, scientist and spy, Doctor John Dee
The Life & Death of Marina Abramović
Robert Wilson, Willem Dafoe, Antony & Abramović in a startling new piece for the stage
Punchdrunk – The Crash of the Elysium
Immersive theatre company’s first show for children
Victoria Wood – That Day We Sang
Britain’s best-loved comedic voice creates a Manchester love story – with singing
11 Room at MAG
Group show featuring stellar international cast of artists making durational work
Snoop Dog – Doggystyle
Hip hop pioneer presents the first UK performance of his genre-defining debut
Days without Red + Projections
New film by Anri Sala & Sejla Kameric, plus Artangel retrospective
Amadou & Mariam – Eclipse
Blind Malian superstars stage first concert entirely in the dark
Sacred Sites
Faith groups across Manchester invite leading singers to perform in local sites of worship
Music Boxes
A melodic adventure for children aged 6 months – 7 years
Sinead O'Connor
Three intimate shows premiering new material and revisiting old favourites
John Gerrard – Infinite Freedom Exercise (near Abadan, Iran)
An evolving virtual world, running 24 hours a day on an LED wall on Lincoln Square
WU LYF
Manchester’s own WU LYF play their only UK Festival date this summer
Lavinia Greenlaw – Audio Obscura
Located on Piccadilly Station, a framed and heightened reflection of the passing world
Rickie Lee Jones – Pirates and more
30 years since its release, Jones plays her album Pirates plus a career-spanning set
Johnny Vegas – new show
New theatre piece from the inimitable Mr Vegas. Watch this space for details.
Die Walküre + The Madness of an Extraordinary Plan: Hallé/Elder/Bartlett/McBurney
Concert performance of Die Walkure with supporting prologue. Plus FREE preview
Mark Andre
First UK performances of work by this remarkable French composer
True Faith
A celebration of Manchester-made talent; live bands and in-conversations in MIF’s Pavilion Theatre
Paul Heaton – The 8th
Epic pop song all about the deadly sins – including a brand new one, The 8th
Vertical Farm
Dickson Despommier, originator of the vertical farm concept, kicks off a long term project for MIF
For more information please contact:
Nadja Coyne
Press & PR Director
+44 161 238 7331
nadja.coyne@mif.co.uk
Elisa Ruff
Press Officer
+44 161 238 7337
elisa.ruff@mif.co.uk
Image: Cover image from DNA, Animation by Drew Berry included in the Björk Biophilia App Suite and Festival Performance
www.mif.co.uk
Differents venues, Manchester