Voices from the streets take inspiration from the past

You see the trouble but you don’t understand my struggle.”

A new collaboration between people who have experienced homelessness and local artists will be shown at the People’s History Museum on Monday 11 June 2018 as part of Manchester Histories Festival.

‘Moving Panoramas’ will combine visual arts with original songwriting to create a performance piece centred around scrolling artworks that reflect on our past but also give voice to experiences in the present.

Arts organisation arthur+martha’s lead artist Lois Blackburn and singer songwriter Matt Hill (Quiet Loner) have worked with people from the Booth Centre, a day centre in Manchester for those who have experienced homelessness. Taking inspiration from the People’s History Museum they have created songs and artworks that explore the rich history of Manchester’s streets as well as their own personal histories and stories.

As the project began it became clear that museums are places some homeless people like to go to. One of the project participants said “I’ve visited more museums since I’ve been homeless than I ever did before”. The People’s History Museum with its story of the struggles of ordinary working people provided lots of ideas that have been expanded and explored to create the new work.

The songs and artworks created speak of 21st century issues such as debt, living in poverty and lack of representation. They also draw parallels with similar struggles from the 19th and 20th centuries. The idea of struggle was one of the main themes to emerge. Gary from Salford who was recently homeless said of the Booth Centre “Everyone who comes here finds something a struggle, from the past, present or the future.” Gary later reflected on that in lyrics for a song he wrote called ‘I’ve seen you there’ – “I’ve seen you there but you have no time to spare. You see the trouble but you don’t understand my struggle.”

The performance, taking place from 12.00pm to 1.00pm on Monday 11 June 2018, will be filmed and will feature some of the project participants from the Booth Centre performing alongside the scrolling artworks. The performance has been created in response to the People’s History Museum’s collections, and on issues within their exhibition Represent! Voices 100 Years On which runs from Saturday 2 June 2018 to Sunday 3 February 2019. The project has been supported by a grant from Arts Council England.

Notes 

1) This event is part of Manchester Histories Festival 2018, the 5th edition of the Greater Manchester-wide biennial festival with the theme protest, democracy, and freedom of speech. Delivered by Manchester Histories the 2018 Festival will offer a long-weekender of music, film, debate, talks, performance, walking tours, arts and more. Visit www.manchesterhistories.co.uk

2) This event coincides with the launch of arthur+martha’s new book, THE WARM /&/ THE COLD, an illustrated poetry book by many authors. Life stories of homeless people, older people (often with dementia) and young offenders, are expressed in the form of poems, artworks, and quilts, ceramics. Manchester Central Library on 10 June 12-4pm, as part of Manchester History Festival Celebrations Day. https://arthur-martha.com |

3) The People’s History Museum (PHM) in Manchester is the national museum of democracy, telling the story of its development in Britain: past, present, and future.

phm.org.uk | Twitter: @PHMMcr | facebook.com/PHMMcr | Instagram: @phmmcr

4) The Booth Centre brings about positive change in the lives of people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, and helps them plan for and realise a better future. They do this by providing advice to find accommodation, education, training and help to secure employment, free healthy meals, support in tackling issues with health and addiction, and creative activities to boost confidence and self esteem. The Booth Centre is an independent, registered charity (no. 1062674)

http://www.boothcentre.org.uk

5) For more information on Arts Council England visit http://www.artscouncil.org.uk