ANNOUNCEMENT
Alexandra Arts is delighted to announce that we have been awarded funding to host the third and final Pankhurst in the Park.
Pankhurst in the Park 2018 will be a free public arts programme based in the ‘People’s Park’ celebrating Manchester’s role in the suffrage movement and providing a platform for artists, community collaboration and international exchange.
Highlights:
· 2018 is a symbolic year: is it the centenary year of women (over 30) winning the right to vote, and 110 years after Alexandra Park hosted the ‘Great Demonstration’ on 24th October 1908, which saw thousands of Suffragists march to the Park for a political rally.
· ‘Pankhurst in the Park’ (PitP) 2018 is for everyone: it will include a funded Artist Residency for a Greater Manchester based artist; free outdoor exhibitions in Alexandra Park; centenary inspired commissions from local artists; a trans Atlantic special edition magazine, and a collaboration with Manchester's Celebrate Festival.
· Partnership events in New York City, and an integrated education programme with St Mary's CE Primary School, Moss Side will accompany the programme.
· Alexandra Park is Victorian, Grade 2-listed Park, which sits on the border between the communities of Whalley Range and Moss Side, only yards from where the iconic leader of the Suffrage movement, Emmeline Pankhurst, was born and bred.
· The PitP 2018 artist in residence (AiR) will be based at the park and their work will seek to engage and inspire visitors and local communities with its significant historical role in the suffrage movement.
· The AiR selection panel includes: John Mcgrath, Director of Manchester International Festival, Helen Wewiora, Director of Castlefield, local artist and creative producer Naomi Kashiwagi, NYC based artist and publisher Scotto Mycklebust and Lead Artist Lotte Karlsen.
· On 8th March (international women’s day), we will launch the special print edition of New York magazine Art 511 dedicated to Pankhurst in the Park will also be published - celebrating 100 years of women artists pushing boundaries.
· Pankhurst in the Park 2018 is funded by: Arts Council England, Whalley Range neighbourhood investment fund, Manchester City Council department of culture, St. Mary’s CE Primary School, in Moss Side, and Friends of Alexandra Park.
Curator of Pankhurst in the Park, Lotte Karlsen said:
“Pankhurst in the Park aims to empower the local communities around Alexandra Park through engagement with their local environment and social history, and to promote the wealth of talented female artists in Manchester and beyond by providing a platform for their work. We are thrilled that Arts Council England and Manchester City Council have recognised the value of the work we are doing, and have granted funding for the third and final Pankhurst in the Park programme.”
Curated by the Manchester-based, artist collective, Alexandra Arts, Pankhurst in the Park is inspired by the Grade 2 listed, Alexandra Park’s rich historical connection to the Suffrage Movement, whose iconic leader, Emmeline Pankhurst, was born and bred yards from the Park in the neighbouring Moss Side Estate.
Pankhurst in the Park aims to empower the local communities around Alexandra Park through engagement with their local environment and social history, and to promote the wealth of talented artists in Manchester and beyond by providing a platform for their work.
Part 1 will comprise of three main events in Alexandra Park, Manchester including a unique collaboration with the Caribbean Carnival, in August. Part 2 will see the project renew ties with NYC, in September 2018.
The 2018 programme builds on the success of Pankhurst in the Park2016 and 2014/15, which has to date commissioned a total of 52 artists, received international press coverage and engaged diverse audiences with Moss Side and Whalley Range’s rich heritage.
For further information please email: press@alexandra-arts.org.uk,