Expectant parents are being invited to take part in a spectacular new public art event from the organisers of the Manchester International Festival. Anyone expecting a baby in January 2023 is invited to take part in the event, which will "celebrate new life" with a series of lights beamed into the clouds to mark every new life born in the city.
The work is being developed by artist Luke Jerram, known for his dazzling Gaia Floating Earth artwork that was at Salford Quays last summer. Parents are being invited to sign up now to take part for the event, which will run from 1-31 January.
It is being organised ahead of the opening of The Factory, the landmark cultural space being developed at the old Granada Studios, which will be the new home of the Manchester International Festival. The event will take place on the banks of the River Irwell, outside The Factory, and will see a large-scale installation cast bright beams of light up into the clouds across the whole month of January.
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Each evening, the lights will gently pulse the number of births recorded that day in Manchester and Salford to mark the first breaths of hundreds of babies born on the doorstep of the city’s new cultural venue. Opening in 2023, The Factory will commission and present a year-round programme of extraordinary, ground-breaking and interdisciplinary work by leading artists from across the globe.
Delivered by the team behind Manchester International Festival, Luke Jerram’s artwork will set in motion a five-year-long programme of bespoke family activities and opportunities at The Factory, connecting a new generation through culture and exploring how art can be woven into daily family life from birth.
Each of the families with babies born in January will also receive lifetime membership to The Factory – providing priority booking, discounted tickets and exclusive invitations to everything from major exhibitions and epic concerts, to family performances, workshops and ground-breaking digital experiences.
Expectant parents due in January 2023 from all backgrounds and pregnancy journeys can sign-up to take part in First Breath now at mif.co.uk/first-breath.
Luke Jerram has made his name creating accessible live artworks, sculptures and experiences about everything from Covid-19 to the environment. His most successful artwork Museum of the Moon was experienced by more than 10 million people worldwide and his giant 10m Floating Earth seen by thousands in Media City in Salford and in Pennington Flash near Wigan in 2021.
Luke Jerram said, "First Breath was inspired by the birth of my daughter, Maya back in 2006. So it's taken 16 years to be able to realise this artwork!
"I'm so excited that First Breath will finally be created and it's so fitting that it will help launch the birth of this extraordinary new cultural space in Manchester. I'm really looking forward to meeting many of the expectant families involved with this project, and helping them celebrate this shared milestone in their lives.”
John McGrath, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of The Factory and Manchester International Festival said: "At the turn of 2023 we’ll celebrating new beginnings with a beautiful public artwork projected from the site of our future home into the night sky. As we welcome hundreds of new-borns into the world through Luke’s light sculpture, we will also be breathing life into our new building and, we hope, setting in motion a fruitful life-long relationship with a new generation."
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