Poet Slash Artist

Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor

Book now

Poet Slash Artist

HOME Manchester, Manchester
1 July-29 August 2021

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Lemn Sissay
Poet Lemn Sissay. Photo by Hamish Brown.
Book now

Continuing in the gallery space at HOME until 29 August, this new multifaceted group show, cerated for Manchester International Festival 2021, connects words and images and explores the poet as artist and the artist as poet.

A collaboration between Hans Ulrich Obrist, curator and artistic director at London’s Serpentine Galleries, and poet and chancellor of the University of Manchester Lemn Sissay MBE, Poet Slash Artist is a far-reaching project that looks at the current and future connections between poetry and the visual arts – forging new links between them across cultures, continents, languages and generations, and showing that there are more words and images passing between us than ever before in the history of literature and art.

Poet Slash Artist brings together writers who work with visual art and visual artists who work with words, from poets Adonis and Inua Ellams to artists Tracey Emin and Lubaina Himid, winner of the 2017 Turner Prize.

With outdoor installations displayed across the city from 1 to 18 July (free, no ticket required) and in an exhibition at HOME’s gallery running until 29 August (free, ticket required), Poet Slash Artist brings together writers who work with visual art and visual artists who work with words, from poets Adonis and Inua Ellams to artists Tracey Emin and Lubaina Himid, winner of the 2017 Turner Prize.

Blurring the lines of received opinion, Poet Slash Artist unites voices, languages and cultures from around the world. Each of the 25 poet/artists involved has been commissioned to create a new work that brings together their visual art and poetry practice. The resulting show and installations feature work by Etel Adnan, Adonis, Jay Bernard, Anne Boyer, Julien Creuzet, Imtiaz Dharker, Jimmie Durham, Inua Ellams, Ibrahim El-Salahi, Tracey Emin, Renee Gladman, Vivienne Griffin, Lubaina Himid, Sky Hopinka, Isaiah Hull, Tarek Lakhrissi, Lebogang Mashifane, Friederike Mayröcker, Jota Mombaça, Precious Okoyomon, Tiffany Sia, Lemn Sissay, Cecilia Vicuña, Xu Bing and Gōzō Yoshimasu.

Alongside the exhibition, musician, author and award-winning broadcaster Cerys Matthews will curate a live night-long programme of spoken word and music at Homeground, HOME’s summer-long open-air stage, on Friday 2 July (5.45–10pm, £20). Celebrating music, lyrics, stories and poetry, Catch A Fire will be hosted by writer, broadcaster and music enthusiast Jeffrey Boakye, and performers include Dele Sosimi’s Afrobeat Experience and Gary Crosby’s Jazz Jamaica featuring Zara McFarlane, Anthony Anaxagorou, Murray Lachlan Young, Imtiaz Dharker, Inua Ellams, and Young Identity poets Nasima Bee, PA Bitez, Jova Guayaba and Isaiah Hull.

Meanwhile, a film season at HOME (curated by Rachel Hayward, Head of Film, and Jason Wood, Artistic Director: Film and Culture) will look at inter-disciplinary practice and feature work by figures who overlap between the worlds of poetry and visual art. See the HOME website for more.

Commissioned and produced by Manchester International Festival and HOME.

Part of Manchester International Festival 2021.

What's on at HOME Manchester

TESS at HOME: A woman holds four planks over her head, watched on by three women.
DanceManchester
Tess at HOME

A bold, breathtaking fusion of circus and storytelling, Ockham’s Razor transform Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles into a visceral, visually stunning spectacle.

From £21.20
Three men sit next to each other. One's head is bandaged, one holds a torch and one wears a sleepmask.
Until
CinemaManchester
Wes World at HOME

Take a trip back into the world of Wes Anderson this May as HOME present a series of the acclaimed auteur’s most beloved films alongside The Phoenician Scheme.

From £7.95

Where to go near Poet Slash Artist

Manchester
Restaurant
Indian Tiffin Room, Manchester

Indian Tiffin Room is a restaurant specialising in Indian street food, with branches in Cheadle and Manchester. This is the information for the Manchester venue.

The Ritz Manchester live music venue
Manchester
Music venue
The Ritz

The Ritz was originally a dance hall, built in 1928, has hosted The Beatles, Frank Sinatra and The Smiths and is still going strong as a gig venue now.

Homeground
Manchester
Event venue
Homeground

Homeground is HOME’s brand new outdoor venue, providing an open-air space for theatre, food, film, music, comedy and more.

Manchester
Café or Coffee Shop
Burgess Cafe Bar
at IABF

Small but perfectly-formed café – which also serves as the in-house bookstore, stocking all manner of Burgess-related works, along with recordings of his music. It’s a welcoming space, with huge glass windows making for a bright, welcoming atmosphere.

Rain Bar pub in Manchester
City Centre
Bar or Pub
Rain Bar

This huge three-floor pub, formerly a Victorian warehouse, then an umbrella factory (hence the name), has one of the city centre’s largest beer gardens. The two-tier terrace overlooks the Rochdale canal and what used to be the back of the Hacienda, providing an unusual, historic view of the city.

Manchester
Bar or Pub
The Briton’s Protection

Standing on the corner of a junction opposite The Bridgewater Hall, The Briton’s Protection is Manchester’s oldest pub. It has occupied the same spot since 1795, going under the equally patriotic name The Ancient Britain.

Castlefield Gallery, Manchester
Castlefield
Gallery
Castlefield Gallery

The influential Castlefield Gallery sits at the edge of Manchester’s exciting Castlefield district, an ideal home for thought-provoking contemporary art.

What's on: Literature

Roy Macfarlane
LiteratureManchester
Roy Macfarlane at Manchester Poetry Library

As part of the Poetry Reading Series at Manchester Poetry Library, Canal Laureate Roy Macfarlane will be in conversation with the series curator and award-winning poet Helen Mort.

Free entry
Luke Samuel Yates
LiteratureLeeds
Chemistry at The Chemic

Leeds live literature regular Chemistry offers an exciting mix of open mic acts and invited poets – this month the headliners are Helen Ivory and Luke Samuel Yates.

Free entry
Tom Branfoot. Photo Eleanor Hall, Museum of the Home
LiteratureWest Yorkshire
Poetry at the Dusty Miller

Poetry at the Dusty Miller is a now regular night with invited readers, organised by Carcanet-published Carola Luther and Judith Willson in the Coiners’ Room in the Mytholmroyd pub.

Free entry

Culture Guides

portrait of Lorsung in a dark shirt with dark hair and dark round glasses
Literature Events in the North

There's a lot of experimentation going on in our Literature guide, from poets playing with form to short story writers looking long.

Three men sit next to each other. One's head is bandaged, one holds a torch and one wears a sleepmask.
Cinema in the North

Live scores, midnight movies and the latest from Wes Anderson are just some of our upcoming film highlights.

Music in the North

Gigs are coming in hot this spring – from long-awaited returns to one-off happenings you’ll blink and miss if you're not careful.

Experience a unique deep listening art installation inviting audiences to lay down and be bathed in sound and light.
Exhibitions in the North

From city-wide art festivals to open-air sculptural installations, we have exhibitions from all around the North, both indoors and out.

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

Eclectic as ever. You'll find inventive reworkings, world-class contemporary dance and Greater Manchester's inaugural Improv Festival in our guide.