Whitworth Young Contemporaries, Anya Gallaccio, Walk the Plank, Kaleidoscope Orchestra, Unity FM, hip hop outfit Cul De Sac, Big Fish Little Fish, Artizani and Avanti Display and others lead the Circuit WARP Festival, a two-day festival at the Whitworth.
This Weekend The Whitworth, Manchester’s gallery in the park, hosts a warped weekend art, music and the unexpected beneath the trees.
Programmed by 15-25 year olds from across Greater Manchester, the festival celebrates the installation of a major new sculpture in Whitworth Park by the Turner Prize-nominated artist, Anya Gallaccio.
Whitworth Young Contemporaries, a youth arts collective, have masterminded this free festival of music, performance and workshops.
They invite their peers to experience the gallery and the park in a completely different way with a series of events connecting to Anya’s work through the themes of folklore, trees and memory.
The Festival is headlined on Saturday with a collaboration between Manchester-based performers Kaleidoscope Orchestra, intent on mixing up musical genres, and Cul De Sac four up and coming Manchester based community hip hop artists with a lot to say and a fine way of saying it.
For younger audiences on Sunday, Big Fish Little Fish entertain with a mini-festival of music and events where the adults enjoy themselves as much as the children – and vice versa with grandparents, uncles, aunts and carers all in the mix.
Alongside this family rave, the WYC have included Chutney, a musician who combines traditional Indian rhythms with western instruments and multi-track recording techniques for musical family fun. Street Art performers Artizani and Avanti Display will present a new installation, The Bees, a stunning, thought-provoking and humorous installation using all the tricks of the trade and some new ones!
In collaboration with Walk the Plank the WYC group have commissioned a series of eight WARP Artsheds. The young team has commissioned a group of emerging artists to decorate and curate these “sheds” to create unique spaces that provide focal points for more free performances and workshops during the festival. WARP Artsheds will transport audiences into different worlds and experiences throughout the weekend.
Artsheds is a project supported by Manchester City Council through the European Youth Capital (EYC) youth group.
Elsewhere, decorated Bikes & Stereos will circuit along the paths of Whitworth Park ridden by the members of WYC, entertaining visitors with music from many genres and with announcements about the festival on Unity FM (www.unityradio.fm). Bikes will be choreographed to meet at certain points in the park for sound clash activities.
Bikes and Stereos is a partnership with the WYC and Revolve MCR (www.revolvemcr.com)
Whitworth Young Contemporaries (WYC) is part of Circuit, a four-year national programme connecting 15–25 year olds to the arts in galleries and museums.
Led by Tate and funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Circuit gives young people, particularly those with the least access to the arts, an opportunity to work on peer-led events and activities.
As part of the WARP festival WYC are also working in partnership with the mental health and wellbeing organisation 42nd Street to develop a series of 10-20 minute interventions on the themes of usefulness and beauty. Our partners at Dance Manchester will open the festival premiering a new dance commission ‘GROW’ from Kapow Collective. Saturday’s finale presents Whitworth on Fire staring the WYC’s own group of fire and circus performers.
