"I think it's a pivotal and amazing time for Manchester to have a moment to look at what is great about it, and to have an opportunity for the people of the world to understand what's great about this city." The words of renowned composer Michael 'Mikey J' Asante MBE, whose work Free Your Mind , an immersive performance based on The Matrix, will officially open Manchester's new £186m Factory International arts centre next June.
Programmed and operated by the team behind the world-famous Manchester International Festival, the vast new building will create a "landmark cultural space" for the city at the edge of the Old Granada Studios. The extraordinary spaceship-like structure, visible from Quay Street and Liverpool Road, sits on the banks of the River Irwell and represents the largest investment in a a national cultural project project since the opening of the Tate Modern in 2000.
At a media event on Thursday held at the Science and Industry Museum, organisers confirmed the official opening date and gave a taste of what to expect from the soon-to-open global arts, music and cultural destination. Opening to the public from June 2023, it will form the centrepiece of the 2023 Manchester International Festival from June 29 to July 26.
Read more: Manchester's £186m Factory International arts centre reveals opening inspired by The Matrix
Guests at the launch event were also given guided tours of the newly-named Factory International - the development made possible by HM Government investment, and backing from Manchester City Council and Arts Council England. Located in the rapidly expanding St John's neighbourhood, on the site of the former Granada Studios off Quay Street, the futuristic building has been designed by the world-leading Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), and is the practice's first major public project in the UK.
Embracing Manchester's industrial and creative past, the concrete and corrugated metal facades stand against the refurbished brick warehouses and new build flats, offices and television studios that make up the area. Spanning 13,350 metres, a behind-the-scenes tour revealed the space's numerous configurations - a feature that will allow for large-scale artistic work of "invention and ambition that is not made anywhere else".
Guiding visitors on the tour, OMA Partner and lead architect, Ellen van Loon explained how the space would nod to both Manchester's past and future. At the heart of the space, the 21 metre high warehouse has a capacity for up to 5,000 people standing, and can also be divided by a movable, full-height acoustic wall and a hall with a flexible stage, which can house an audience of of up to 1,600 seated or 2,000 standing, as well as other spaces inside and out.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News , Ellen van Loon said: "It’s the most exciting thing we have ever done. The idea in this building is that you could do very small scale performances and really XXL performances and that was the driving point, without losing the nice, homey character you normally have when you go to the concert.
"We love to design performance buildings, because it is the type of building where not only are we creative, but so is the user, so you can imagine there’s this wonderful symbiosis between the two. What I think is really exceptional about this building is that it moves away from the traditional building into a new chapter for the city."
The vast warehouse space can also work with the hall space, with the proscenium capable of opening fully into the warehouse and allowing the stage to run deeper into the building, thus creating the greater depth to potential performances and exhibitions. Below the warehouse space, the building's foyer has been designed as a "mixing chamber" and as an inside public space, giving everyone access to the arts centre as well as a cut through from one side of the city to another.
"Old warehouses were the inspiration for the building or rather it was the context in which we had to think about what kind of building we were dealing with. From the start it was clear, we didn’t want to do some shiny theatre where nobody can do anything," added van Loon.
"We wanted it to be functional but a building that fits into Manchester and that’s the reason we use the word warehouse and theatre - everything is related to the Manchester view and we actually did the design in two days because we knew exactly what we wanted to do." Outside, cantilevers provide shelter from Manchester's infamous weather, as well as a place for visitors to meet up before shows and experience pop-up performances, events and markets.
Audiences will be able to enjoy year-round, in a new world-class facility, the broadest range of art forms from major exhibitions and concerts, to intimate performances and immersive exhibitions. It was announced that the opening production for the building would come in the from of the large-scale immersive performance based on the Matrix films presented across the building's ultra-flexible spaces.
Bringing together the choreography of Kenrick "H20" Sandy MBE, a score by Michael "Mikey J" Asante MBC, design by Es Devlin and directed by Radcliffe's own Danny Boyle, Free Your Mind , will be a show with accessibility in mind, as demonstrated by the fact that 5,000 tickets made available for £10 or less.
Before the official opening, the new venue will form the centrepiece of MIF 2023 with a major exhibition in its main warehouse space - You, Me and the Balloons. The exhibition will celebrate three decades of Yayoi Kusama's spectacular inflatable sculptures shown together for the first time.
Created with Factory International in mind, it will be the Japanese artist's largest ever immersive environment, featuring works that are over ten metres tall - including giant dolls, tendrilled landscapes and a vast constellation of polka dot spheres. The event will run from June 29, 2023 - August 29, 2023.
This will be followed later in the tera by a wide range of music, circus, art and fashion will take place during The Welcome - a nine-day programme developed by Greater Manchester residents, from 11-19 November. The space will also play host to over 80 gigs a year, including in-house concerts and collaborations with local and national promoters.
Tickets for the opening events will go on sale from 10am on October 6. There will priority booking for Factory International members from 10am on October 4.
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