John McGrath shares his vision for a radical, new, ultra-flexible space that he hopes will be a significant addition to the cultural landscape.
Pawel Paniczko
The world has changed unimaginably in the past couple of years and brought loss and pain on a global scale, but it has also brought into sharp relief reminders of what makes life worth living. One of the enduring messages of the pandemic has been that people need to come together; to dance, to play, to debate and to laugh and when the cultural spaces which house these gatherings have been taken away from us, the longing has been palpable.
But we’ve also learned that we need to adapt. The pandemic has made us think differently about internationalism, travel, connection and borders, and pushed venues and artists to venture into new digital worlds, addressing the opportunities - and the challenges – around accessibility and audience engagement that these new spaces present.
We’ve learned we need to be more flexible about how we present and develop cultural events and that flexibility means being able to change fundamentally how we engage with artists and audiences on a really practical level.
A place for connection
The Factory, which is due to open in Manchester in 2023, was designed pre-pandemic, but has always had such questions at its heart. At 13,350 square metres, it will be ultra-flexible, enabling large-scale artistic work of invention and ambition.
Its design is based around large, open, flexible spaces that will allow artists to imagine different ways of gathering people together in real and virtual worlds, in many configurations and through wide-ranging collaborations. In many ways The Factory is a statement of confidence in human connection.
Even before its completion, The Factory is harnessing the potential of emerging digital technologies and virtual spaces to bring people together, engaging with audiences far beyond its physical structure. In 2020 The Factory welcomed its first million visitors through its virtual doors for an experience in the global gaming platform Fortnite created by the digital avatar artist La Turbo Avedon.
At The Factory, the digital realm will always be an equal partner with the physical space, driving experimentation and innovation in our productions and exhibitions and enabling the creation of entirely new experiences for audiences through works created within the virtual world.
Made only more significant by the pandemic, The Factory’s digital ambitions will make it accessible and relevant globally to those who cannot visit the physical space.
A space for the creators of the future
Operated by the team behind Manchester International Festival, The Factory is driven by the same interests and ambitions that define MIF: where artists are encouraged to create work in new ways, to collaborate across disciplines and blur the boundaries between art and popular culture.
The festival has always used spaces innovatively – from its staging of Kenneth Branagh’s Macbeth in a deconsecrated church to Skepta’s dystopian mixed reality rave in Mayfield Depot. With the innovation and agility of the festival built into its foundations, The Factory offers artists a home for such re-imaginings of space.
With its central warehouse 65 metres long, 35 metres wide and 21 metres tall, The Factory will enable large-scale multimedia performances and epic installations from the world's greatest artists. But it also offers an invitation to younger and up-and-coming artists, particularly those most underrepresented, to aspire to scale and try things out.
The Factory will reimagine what a 21st century arts organisation can be, creating a laboratory for experimentation, and a training ground for the next generation of creators. Emerging artists are often trapped in studio formats; The Factory will offer the opposite.
We will have artist takeovers throughout the year that will allow people to play with the space, and learn about working at scale, as well as expanding talent development programmmes like our Creative Fellowships, where emerging Manchester artists are placed alongside international creatives.
And our Factory Academy will train young, and older, people from across the North for the new jobs that the creative industries are providing.
Neighbourhood organiser programme
Working with artists at all stages of their careers locally is really important, as is in-depth work in communities. Among a huge range of participatory work, one of our most important initiatives is our Neighbourhood Organiser programme.
Last year we worked with six extraordinary community representatives from across Greater Manchester who helped us connect their respective communities to the festival, recruiting participants and volunteers. We are currently recruiting ten more Neighbourhood Organisers to share knowledge and insights about their area, highlight local issues, and advise on how The Factory might develop programmes and opportunities that are relevant to their community. This depth of engagement is crucial to create a space that serves and belongs to the communities around it.
We have also been developing methods to bring communities into the artistic curation of our events and spaces through projects such as our co-curated talks and discussions series, Looking Forward to Tomorrow in 2021, which featured local community leaders and national and international trailblazers in the fields of racial equality and environmental sustainability. This commitment to community led decision-making will be scaled up at The Factory and will continue to be embedded into all our areas of work going forward.
And as we think of the future – from where we travel to how we make work and run the space – we will be putting climate impact at the heart of our plans, with a full-time Environmental Sustainability Manager central to our staff team and our planning.
An investment in the future
Manchester has always put culture at the heart of its regeneration strategy, and the city council’s investment in The Factory is testament to their commitment to this ambition. But despite that, the city is still very much under resourced in terms of nationwide investment.
The Factory has levered over £100m of new public funding into Manchester - financial investment that's not only new to the North, but new to the arts. We consider this a significant achievement, representing a major vote of confidence in the city’s future as a dynamic and world-class centre for culture, creativity and innovation.
Large-scale investment shouldn't just be for preserving the achievements and canons of the past, it should also be about creating the possibilities of the future. Building The Factory is a commitment to that future, a commitment to engaging with the challenges of the world and not being afraid of them.
The Factory is an investment in something that's entirely about the new, entirely about the future, and proudly based in the North.
John E. McGrath is Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Manchester International Festival (MIF) and The Factory.
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