Songs for the Storm to Come at HOME

Maja Lorkowska, Exhibitions Editor
Songs for the Storm to Come
HOME

Songs for the Storm to Come at HOME Manchester, Manchester Until 5 January 2025 Entrance is free — Visit now

Music is perhaps the most evocative art form and a shortcut to emotional resonance. It is this quality that takes centre stage at HOME’s new exhibition from Mikhail Karikis: Songs of the Storm to Come

Karikis is a Greek/ British artist based in London and Lisbon. He is best known for work in moving image, sound and performance. His practice is rooted in social engagement, most recently working with people whose voices have historically been underrepresented: teenagers, young adults, people with disabilities and minority groups. Thematically, Karikis’ focus is on the future, interrogating possible visions of it in the face of environmental crisis. His works are often a call to action, not necessarily focused on individual action but drawing attention to the radical social and political changes required to enact greater change. 

For Songs of the Storm to Come, the artist worked with members of the Manchester based SHE cooperative choir for women and non-binary people. In the work, participants observe and consider maps sourced from climate modelling data showing Britain’s predicted geography for 2050, as a result of rising sea water. The outcome is an immersive sound and multi-screen installation, demonstrating the power of communal sound making and what it can tell us about the way humans interact with their environment. 

The participants’ activities are guided by composer Pauline Oliveros’ deep listening techniques as well as the texts: Ideas to Postpone the End of the World by the Brazilian, indigenous movement leader and philosopher Ailton Krenak and The Universal Right to Breathe by the Cameroonian political thinker Achille Mbembe. Their musings generate ideas, visions and hopes for the future, with the use of spoken word, vocal percussion, and harmony. Karikis worked with sound researchers from the School of Digital Arts at Manchester Metropolitan University, visually representing the participants’ voices using cymatics, to make the sound and vibration of their voices visible.

With creative strategies rooted in care and the desire to work closely with real communities, Karikis uses both sound-making and listening as methods of encouraging empathy that can trickle down to joint action against some of the most pressing issues of our time. Songs for the Storm to Come is a strangely hopeful display, oscillating between future possibilities and immediate palpable action.

Songs for the Storm to Come at HOME Manchester, Manchester Until 5 January 2025 Entrance is free Visit now

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Where to go near Songs for the Storm to Come at HOME

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
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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
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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
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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.

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

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