Manchester 2018-19

Throughout 2018, MoH has been working across Greater Manchester with events, exhibitions and large scale productions to highlight rising homelessness and housing injustice both in that city and across the UK more widely. We have been working in Greater Manchester in response to the 1000% increase in street homelessness that the city has seen in recent years.

Next event

17 January: Film screening and panel discussion for Objectified

MoH has contributed objects from it’s collection to Castlefield Gallery’s current exhibition The Ground Beneath Your Feet,. This event will feature a short film screening from their project Objectified, which tells stories of a number of objects donated to the museum from a range of people, many of whom are or have been homeless. The film’s director Dorothy Allen-Pickard  and Co-founder Jess Turtle will introduce the film which includes neuroscientific research and group discussion exploring the power of objects and their stories to change the way we understand homelessness.

This will be followed by a panel discussion and audience Q&A exploring the role art and culture can play in catalysing change, and shifting perceptions of homelessness. The panel will be joined by Fee Plumley (Partnerships Manager, Greater Manchester Cultural Partnership Framework, working with the cultural institutions and homelessness service providers of Greater Manchester including With One Voice and Streetwise Opera) and be chaired by Beth Knowles (Network Development Lead working at University of Salford with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Chair of With One Voice).

Tickets £4:50 or free for anyone on a low-income. Book at eventbrite

What we’ve done so far

Objectified: In late 2018 we launched a major interactive exhibition and ongoing project that explores the neuroscience behind how people become dehumanised and marginalised in the UK. The project is also designed to make changes in systems of care. The project opened at Manchester Art Gallery in October and will continue with screenings and workshops throughout 2019. Objectified is supported by the Wellcome Trust and the Patient Safety Translational Research Centre. Find out more here.

The Ground Beneath your Feet: Some of our museum objects have gone on the road and are being shown as part of Castlefield Gallery’s new show, the Ground Beneath your feet running between 16 November 2018 and the 03 February 2019 in Manchester. Throughout 2017 and 2018 we carried out this national project sharing stories, reports and research to highlight voices from around the UK who were speaking out on inequality and homelessness at a time where homelessness has risen by 169% since 2010. Objects included are the Cob, the Hat, the ASBO, the Banner and two placards made during in the Sofia Solidarity Centre in London March 2018 All individuals who donate objects are anonymised. To find out more do visit Castlefield Gallery’s show page.

Man on Bench Fairytale: On the 18 November, long-time artistic collaborator David Tovey staged Man on Bench Fairytale, an opera like no other. MoH produced this one off show which involved a cast and crew of more than 100 people, 75% of whom have experienced homelessness. Man on Bench Fairytale closed the international arts and homelessness summit and festival, hosted by With One Voice.