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What Kind of City?

What Kind of City, A Manual for Social Change is a city-wide project that embeds learning, research and strategies from the art of Suzanne Lacy, towards creating a vision for a more equitable city.

What Kind of City?

What Kind of City, A Manual for Social Change is a city-wide project that embeds learning, research and strategies from the art of Suzanne Lacy, towards creating a vision for a more equitable city.

A 4-day summit where together we asked how art can offer people-centred strategies for us to become more active and creative citizens. Taking an interconnected approach, the summit convened voices from communities in Manchester to propose creative strategies in key areas of concern: youth agency, ageing and intersectionality, borders, and social cohesion.

The summit offered platforms for grassroots organisations in Manchester to demonstrate the work they are already doing to shape a more equitable city, we convened performances that offer us the physical and emotional space to be together and reflect alongside speak out sessions where residents presented their policies, programmes and goals for creating their vision. 

Taking place from 23 - 26 March at The Whitworth, the summit offered workshops, roundtable discussions and speak out sessions.

Programme Schedule

Wednesday 23 March: Social Cohesion

Thursday 24 March: Ageing and Intersectionality

Friday 25 March: Youth Agency

Saturday 26 March: Borders 

Image credit: Suzanne Lacy, The Circle and the Square, 2015-2017 (film still); filmed performance, Brierfield Mill, Brierfield, Lancashire; courtesy Suzanne Lacy; photo: Chris Payne.


What Kind of City: Youth Agency, 25 March, 10am - 4pm 

Youth Agency, A Curriculum for Life: Across Manchester, innovative and exciting work is working with the city’s future generation. This is the time to bridge formal and informal youth sectors by forming an alliance to tackle the big issues that face young people. This is an opportunity to share your work with other organisations and to ask how art can support the development of a robust and informed “youth voice”.

 

11:15am - 12pm, the Whitworth: Queering the Green:

New Poetry, join us for readings by poets Colette Bryce and Padraig Regain as they offer us a space to listen, reflect and poetically transform.

 

Watch more from the Whitworth on our YouTube Channel