WELCOME TO MINDSCAPES
MONDAY 19TH APRIL – FRIDAY 16TH MAY 2021
MINDSCAPES is five brand new artworks and online events happening in Manchester from 19th April until 16th May 2021.
It 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.
Throughout Spring 2021 you’ll find them in public spaces, from open air parks to the Metrolink and online, so that anyone can take part. Plus, you’ll be able to explore further by going online where talks, discussions and film screenings will be looking deeper into MINDSCAPES and its themes.
There’ll be public artworks, online games, poetry on the streets and an interactive phone app giving you a whole new perspective on where you live, and much more.
And it’s all FREE.
MINDSCAPES is the result of a two-year collaboration between artists and arts organisations in Manchester and The Netherlands who have been working together with local communities.
Created by SICK! Festival with Brighter Sound, Young Identity and Design Manchester in the UK, and Kunstinstituut Melly and Theater Zuidplein in the Netherlands, MINDSCAPES is delivered with a host of fantastic community organisations in Manchester. The project would not have been possible without their support, particularly in these difficult times.
Developed with Dutch Embassy in the UK and funded by DutchCulture, MINDSCAPES explores many themes that feel more important than ever in the light of how COVID has affected the way we live and this is reflected in both the work itself and how it will be presented, making it safe and accessible to all.
We are grateful for the support of Dutch Performing Arts, Mondriaan Fund, Creative Industries Fund NL and the Dutch Foundation for Literature.
YONATAN COLLIER
Yoni Collier is a sound musician, performer, composer and producer. He has been signed to numerous independent and major labels. A former member of Heads We Dance, Deuce & Charger and Lone Wolf, he has performed at venues and festivals across the UK and Europe. His music has featured on many TV shows and films. He is currently working towards a practice-based PhD, examining how location based recording, musical performance and production can be used as tools for examining artistic practice, landscape and history.
Yonatan will be working with Manchester-based Brighter Sound
SJAAN FLIKWEERT
Sjaan is an interdisciplinary artist whose work combines poetry, performance, video and installations. Her work places centre stage the things that are usually pushed to the edges and cast out. Her work is raw, honest and very physical. She is published in 2019 in the anthology “Hard op” and in 2020 published a poetry book called “ergens thuis en de ruimte ertussen”. She is currently working on two audiovisual poetry videos, creating two plays for children and working on an installation as well as freelance writing and performing.
Sjaan will be working with Manchester-based Young Identity
ELTEN KIENE
Elten Kiene is a writer and performer from The Netherlands. He has performed numerous times on numerous stages throughout the Netherlands. Elten Kiene is a salesman who deals in words and language. He is also one of the hardest working men in Dutch literature and spoken word. If he’s not performing himself, he is active in organisations such as Woorden worden zinnen or Next Generation Speaks. His work can be defined by his social awareness, already the case when he was part of hip hop group Brandwerk. Nowadays, Elten is also a teacher in a youth penitentiary. Elten believes that words and personal expression might be the most powerful weapons a person can possess.
Elten will be working with Manchester-based Young Identity
THEATER DEGASTEN
Theater DEGASTEN are an Amsterdam based youth theatre group, creating raw, physical montage theatre with youngsters aged between 12-25 years. The shows are based on the experience of the young actors and expose topical issues. DEGASTEN explore the voices of young people in theatre. They are not afraid of confrontation. Diversity runs in the company’s veins, influencing the style of the work, the composition of the staff team, the youngsters they work with and the audience. The stories they present and the way they work are diverse because DEGASTEN believe that everyone has the right to connect with art and culture, as a participant or as an audience member.
MEREL SMITT
Merel Smitt is an artist based in Rotterdam. She builds immersive installations and creates interventions in the public space that interfere with our daily lives. Her work is research based and site-specific. Knowingly and unknowingly, the audience are always active contributors to her work. She collaborates with performers, graphic designers and web designers, discovering distinctive perspectives by speaking with communities, philosophers, activists, government and social workers, companies and experts.
JAN ROTHUIZEN
Jan Rothuizen is a visual artist whose work layers detailed observation of the physical environment with deep research into the personal experiences and perspectives of the people who live there. Combining drawing with text, his works have been translated into English, Spanish and Chinese. Projects have been presented in the contexts of film festivals, museums and galleries. He made the inter-active award-winning documentary Refugee Republic about a refugee camp in Iraq and the VR animated film Drawing Room.
Helen Medland, CEO and Artistic Director of SICK! Festival:
“MINDSCAPES takes a bold look at our city, working in and around local communities and artists to understand and inform debate around the power of environment to shape us and our mental wellbeing. From the use of green spaces and urban gentrification to the role of architecture and even our interaction with the benefits system, our programme takes a magnifying glass to the issues that affect our sense of self, our mental health and our place within society.
“Our interaction with physical spaces – whether in our homes, private or public spaces – has been dramatically altered by Coronavirus. We believe that now is a really important time to look again at the ways in which the physical spaces, confinements and institutions in our cities shape and affect our mental health.
“We are grateful to be funded by DutchCulture in partnership with the Dutch Embassy and look forward to delivering a programme that will have a profound effect on the communities and partners involved.”
In addition MINDSCAPES includes a series of events, workshops and panels aimed at health practitioners, academics, community workers, activists and anyone with a keen interest in exploring mental health in the urban environment.
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