Today we’re publishing research by the University of Manchester’s social and cultural geographer Dr Amy Barron, on intergenerational encounters in Telescope – Quarantine’s performance project presented at Manchester Museum in October 2025.
According to a report by social enterprise United for all Ages, Britain is now one of the most age-segregated countries in the world. Quarantine’s performance Telescope began with the idea of creating a situation that brought a young person – someone on the cusp of adulthood – into an encounter with an older person, a complete stranger. Recruited from two age groups: young adults aged roughly 18-25, navigating their first steps into adulthood, and older adults aged around 60-70, Quarantine invited people to lend them an object that would form the starting point for a series of public conversations at Manchester Museum.
Dr Barron’s publication Age on the Stage: Staging Age Through Creative Encounter in Telescope by Quarantine is a rich and delicate portrait of the encounters that were subsequently created.
Showcasing the value of using creative, participatory approaches to better understand ageing and difference, Dr Barron’s Age on the Stage highlights how artistic methods can open new ways of seeing, feeling, and thinking. The book captures the power not only of bringing together people who would not otherwise meet, across different ages and positions, but also the power of bringing together different disciplines – here, geography and performance.
Across its pages, designed and typeset by Lisa Mattocks, it interweaves interview excerpts, illustrations by Manchester illustrator Sam Bonser, sketches by Simon Banham, and photographs from the event by Solomon Hughes and Mark Frost.
About Telescope
Telescope was one strand of The Questions, a multi-part project that invited people to gather, reflect and respond to ideas about belonging across generations, through conversation, performance, and an artists exchange. Inviting more than 40 contributions from across generations and attended by nearly 400 people in Manchester, the project went on to be presented in Germany, taking total audiences to more than 2000.
The Questions more broadly unfolded on different scales – from intimate conversations in a library, to this durational performance and live exhibition presented in a museum. Taking place in 2025 in Manchester and Chemnitz, twin cities since 1983, The Questions and formed part of the programme for Chemnitz 2025: European Capital of Culture.
Quarantine: The Questions was presented in collaboration with ASA FF e.V., Manchester Museum and Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz – Museum Gunzenhauser
In cooperation with Allianz Foundation
Part of Chemnitz 2025: European Capital of Culture
Supported by the British Council, Cultural Bridge, Manchester City Council and The Skelton Charity