Cuts of the Cloth, presented by Outside the Frame Arts
When: 11th – 26th January 2019
Where: HOME, 2 Tony Wilson Place, Manchester M15 4FN
£: Ticket prices vary, depending on the event. Discounts available
What is it?
HOME’S annual PUSH festival, which takes place from Friday 11th to Saturday 26th January, is one of the region’s key arts events, showcasing a range of creative talent in north west England.
As well as presenting exciting new performances – including five commissioned especially for the festival – screenings, and exhibitions, PUSH features a series of workshops and informal seminars for creatives working at all levels of the industry.
PUSH 2019 launches on Friday 11th January with an opening night party featuring extracts from selected PUSH performances, including a special dance and spoken word performance of The House of Ghetto and Gemma Parker’s The Hidden Pin Up, which looks at the fetishisation of the black female body. This will be followed by a set from electronica DJ Andrew James Brooks, playing a colourful mix of music inspired by some of the themes explored in the festival.
Fat Girl Singing presented by Emma Geraghty
This year, PUSH features five new works commissioned by HOME. Cuts of the Cloth, in which a Muslim woman has been archived in a museum in the not-too-distant future to speak to visitors about her relationship with the veil; Learning to Swim on an Ironing Board, a show about therapeutic eavesdropping, shopping centres, invisible disabilities and getting better at ‘not getting better’; Dance Away the Spiders, a physical piece presented by Sheba Arts that explores trauma, and resistance; Unpacking, an exhibition of oil paintings shedding light on emotional complexities of migration, family and identity, presented by Alicja Mrozowska; and Yes Man, a download of a choral work that points a lens on gender identities, home and belonging.
Other highlights include three ‘Propel’ scratch performances, curated by Mighty Heart Theatre, actor Javaad Alipoor, and the #HOMEinspires communities programme; dancing, music and silliness from father and daughter, Fram & Dunt; Fat Girl Singing, a musical call to arms for anyone whose body doesn’t fit the model image; Persian dark comedy Eye for an Eye; and Time to Be, a showcase of work from the St Luke’s Art Project, which works with people who are isolated due to mental health.
Time To Be, St Luke’s Arts Project
There will also be a large number of workshops and discussions for creative professionals, including a session with documentary filmmaker Aaron Dunleavy, a talk by photographer Paul Herrmann from Redeye Photographers’ Network; and a talk from actor and director Cheryl Martin including an extract from her new show One Woman.
The events programme provides networking opportunities for everyone – artists, performers, marketers, producers, technicians – involved in the arts in the north west.
This year’s festival is presented in association with the Edwin Fox Charitable Trust.
More info: homemcr.org/event/push-festival-2019