The Earth Asleep at HOME, Manchester

Sara Jaspan, Exhibitions Editor
The Earth Asleep at HOME, Manchester
HOME

The Earth Asleep at HOME Manchester, Manchester 31 March — 11 September 2021 Entrance is free — Visit now

UPDATE: The Earth Asleep will premiere on 11 March on BFI Player to mark the 10th anniversary of the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Catch the live screening at HOME on 10 and 11 September.  

If the British anthropologist Robin Dunbar’s popular theory that humans only have the capacity to maintain around 150 meaningful interpersonal connections at once is true, then it’s no wonder that the culture of 24/7 new cycles and mass media in which we live has an alienating effect. As stories of extreme trauma caused by war, suffering and natural disaster are beamed directly to us from all sides of the globe, how are we to process such information and the related grief on a manageable, human scale?

This question sits at the heart of The Earth Asleep, a new feature-length film by Manchester-based visual artist Clara Casian (House on the Borderland) with original live score by composer Robin Richards (Dutch Uncles), set to premiere this spring as part of HOME‘s theatre programme. The work follows on from the creative duo’s 2016 collaboration, Birdsong – Stories from Pripyat, which explored the impact of Chernobyl on our collective cultural memory; this time centering upon the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which killed over 10,000 people. In making the work, both artists travelled to Otsuchi, a village in remote North-East Japan that was all but wiped out by the event, to document and observe the experiences of local residents.

Ambitious and haunting, The Earth Asleep fuses film, poetry, live music, archival news footage and survivor accounts to guide viewers through a deeper way of engaging with the distant pain of others. If Birdsong is anything to go by, this promises to be one of the most impactful cinematic experiences of 2021.

The Earth Asleep at HOME Manchester, Manchester 31 March — 11 September 2021 Entrance is free Visit now

Performances

Date
Time
Session Features
31 March 2021
7:30pm — 8:45pm
1 April 2021
7:30pm — 8:45pm

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

What's on at HOME Manchester

Where to go near The Earth Asleep at HOME, Manchester

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.

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