MIF23: Tino Sehgal, This entry at the National Football Museum and the Whitworth

Manchester International Festival 2023 brings with it a new work by Tino Sehgal, one of the superstars of the contemporary art stage. This entry celebrates the connections between different worlds and it will premiere at the National Football Museum and the Whitworth this summer.

Sehgal’s only materials are the human body, voice, interaction and a set of instructions on how to use them. His ‘constructed situations’ challenge the traditional art/viewer dynamic by incorporating interaction as a key element of the work, forcing the audience out of the role of a passive observer.

This entry is no different as the artist brings together a group of skilled individuals from entirely different walks of life: a footballer, violinist, cyclist and a singer/dancer. The work will encourage a playful and fruitful exchange between them.

Due to the transient nature of Sehgal’s work, they are always best experienced in person. The impressions they leave are subjective to the viewers, making them one-off art experiences that you may be thinking about long after visiting.

Tino’s previous works include: This variation (2012) exhibited at documenta XIII which involved a group of performers dancing and singing a capella in a dark space, improvising the sound of electronic music; and This situation (2007) where performers engaged with audiences by beginning conversations with sets of memorised quotes prompting philosophical discussions with limitless variations.

The Berlin-based artist has shown his work in some of the world’s biggest galleries – from New York’s Guggenheim to London’s Tate Modern, Paris’ Palais de Tok︎yo and Hong Kong’s Tai Kwun.

This entry is part of a larger project The Trequartista – Art and Football Untied, co-curated by curator extraordinaire Hans Ulrich Obrist and World Cup/Champions League-winning footballer Juan Mata. The project joins artists with footballers, inviting them into creativity through play, by bringing together 11 contemporary artists and 11 footballers to produce new works. These will be inspired by the Trequartista, a legendary position and style in football that is rapidly disappearing.

Please note that the exhibition will take place in two venues: firstly in the National Football Museum, from 29 June -5 July, 10am–5pm, and later at the Whitworth, from 7 July–16 July (not 10 July), 10am-5pm.