Kate Feld talks to our chair, Jim Forrester, about the end of an era and why Manchester is the best place to experiment…
Jim Forrester has a long-abiding love for two Manchester institutions: Cornerhouse has always been a favourite hangout, while he joined the audience at Library Theatre Company as boy. Following a decade as founding director of Imperial War Museum North, Forrester found himself looking for a new challenge, so when he saw the position of Chair of the Board of Trustees at HOME advertised back in 2012, it seemed perfect. Now he’s looking forward to seeing HOME in action with proprietary glee. Manchester, he says, is in for a treat.
“I like the concept of a venue that brings together cinema, visual arts and theatre, and sees what comes from the mash-up,” he says, noting that an arts centre geared specifically toward an experimental, cross-artform approach makes particular sense here. “Manchester’s always been bold. If someone tells us we can’t do something, we’ll do it anyway. As a city we’re edgy and imaginative, but we’re also good at organising and making things happen. If someone wants to experiment with something we’re an ideal place to do it.”
Yet Forrester is quick to point out that simply calling yourself experimental doesn’t butter any parsnips. “You can’t do it on fine words. You need artistic integrity.”
With an extensive redevelopment of Oxford Road station on the cards, Cornerhouse’s days were numbered – and Library Theatre Company was being made homeless by the overhaul of Central Library. The idea that these two organisations would join together was radical, but with hindsight, Forrester says, it made perfect sense. “It’s a huge challenge for the teams at Cornerhouse and Library Theatre Company to come together, and as Chairman of the Board I have nothing but praise for the way all have approached this merger and embraced it as an opportunity.”
“It’s the end of an era” – for Cornerhouse, for Library Theatre Company and for the city, Forrester acknowledges. “But, you know, I don’t have a problem with the end of an era – because the end of one era is the start of another one.”
“If someone says we can’t, we do it anyway.”