“We like to think that we’re beyond taboos, that nothing is off bounds any more. But, when it comes to the health of our bodies and minds and the universal, inescapable experience of death, we’re still pretty tight-lipped. In attempting to break the silence and confront the unspoken – often with humour and imagination – SICK! Festival has a vital role to play.”

The Guardian **** review SICK! Festival 2019

MINDSCAPES delves deeper with a series of online talks, film screenings and a 2-day conference, delivered with partners in Manchester and The Netherlands.

Supported by DutchCulture in partnership with the Dutch Embassy in the UK.

In venues and public spaces across Greater Manchester, SICK! Festival 2019 presented an outstanding international programme of new commissions, performances, public installations, exhibitions, films and public conversations, asking the question: ‘What is the value of a human life?’

MINDSCAPES explores how the world around us – our homes, our streets, our cities – affects our mental health and the way we feel about our lives, in both positive and negative ways.

Developed with artists and arts organisations in Manchester and The Netherlands, MINDSCAPES is a series of commissions and events taking place 19th April until 16th May 2021.

70 individual artworks/presentations

129 performances/exhibition days

95 workshops / 175 artists/performers from 9 countries

36 new commissions / 898,000 audience