Our new season is here! Here are just some of the highlights of our exciting new programme from September 2017 to February 2018.
Coinciding with the centenary of the Russian Revolution in Autumn, we will present a major Russia season, A Revolution Betrayed?, including a new production of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya in a version by Andrew Upton, directed by our Artistic Director of Theatre, Walter Meierjohann; major new group exhibition The Return of Memory, presenting new commissions alongside existing work, exploring how contemporary artists respond to the state of the new East today; and a specially curated weekend of films from the early days of the Soviet Union when artists and filmmakers such as Eisenstein, Pudovkin and Medvedkin envisaged a bright new future.
Theatre highlights include a collaboration with Headlong, National Theatre & Exeter Northcott presenting the national tour of Duncan Macmillan’s acclaimed People, Places & Things, and for Christmas Australian collective Briefs Factory’s Hot Brown Honey will get everyone on their feet with their hip hop political cabaret explosion. Hofesh Shechter Company return in early 2018 with a HOME co-commission, Grand Finale – part dance, part gig, part theatre and wholly original. After a brilliant first year, Orbit Festival will return showcasing the best from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and beyond; and PUSH will highlight exciting film, theatre and visual art from the region. In the gallery, we present Noor Afshan Mirza & Brad Butler’s The Scar, curated by Sarah Perks, our Artistic Director of Visual Art, investigating the historical Susurluk car crash – a key event in the unravelling of the ‘deep state’ in Turkey. We also welcome the return of HOME’s Artist Film Weekender; and a special HOME Projects collaboration with Manchester Animation Festival inspired by its themes.
And our film programme, created by Jason Wood, Artistic Director of Film & Rachel Hayward, Film Programme Manager and Andy Willis, Reader in Film Studies at the University of Salford and HOME Senior Visiting Curator of Film, will feature diverse and unique seasons including One-Film Wonders, Not Just Bollywood, Creative Visions: Hong Kong Cinema 1997 – 2017, and specials on Jean-Pierre Melville, Spike Lee and Jack Rosenthal. Our popular Halloween special, FilmFear, in collaboration with Film4, returns with a selection of preview screenings, talks and special guests, and for Christmas 2017 HOME offers a special Tim Burton trio of screenings alongside an extensive selection of classic festive films for all the family.
Manchester Camerata bring us their hugely successful Upclose series – events by exceptional performers and ensembles in new spaces, creating intimate and magical music. Award-winning producer of the titans of popular music, including Pet Shop Boys and Snoop Dogg, Sven Helbig will present the premiere of Pocket Symphonies, with visual artist Chris Paul Daniels providing exhilarating motion graphics to compliment the music. Theatre 1 will be home to the pioneering Desi-guitar sound of Aziz Ibrahim, backed by the Camerata and featuring South East Asian musicians. The night offers a radical orchestral interpretation of Aziz’s 2012 album Lahore to Longsight, that charted the inspirational journey of his father from Pakistan to Manchester as well as new compositions.
Last but not least, we’re excited to announce This is Human by Project X, a collective of 18 emerging creatives who will take over our galleries, cinemas and theatres for a full month in August with a series of distinctive and ambitious events that will challenge your expectations of HOME through a programme of unusual happenings.
Looking further ahead, in March next year, other highlights include new HOME production of Circle Mirror Transformation, directed by Bijan Sheibani, introducing Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker to Manchester audiences.
Want to know more? You can view the full season here, download our season magazine here or watch the trailer below. We hope to see you soon!