Meet the Neighbours: The Weekend

How do we live together amid the chaos of urban change?

Meet the Neighbours: The Weekend explored the politics of development, and neighbourliness as an artistic and social response.

In 1999, a few thousand people lived in Manchester City Centre. By 2019, there were more than 65,000 – and like the cranes, it keeps going up. Thriving, growing, dismantling, reshuffling, Manchester is a prime example of today’s fast-changing cities.

As populations boom in Manchester and cities like it, communities appear and disappear, moulded by the forces of growth and development. What is happening to neighbourliness amid the chaos of urban change? What will city living be like in ten years’ time and should we – can we? – steer change in a different direction?

This weekend event was an open invitation to be part of a conversation about how we live together. Bringing together a diverse range of voices and practices – from performance to activism, economics to planning – it asked important questions about how rapid development is being driven and who it is affecting.

Curated by Florian Malzacher and Quarantine, this weekend marked the end of Quarantine’s project Tenancy and of the three-year international project it was a part of, Meet the Neighbours, which invited artists into the heart of rapidly developing cities in the UK, France, Poland, the Netherlands and Morocco.

PROGRAMME: Saturday 9 — Sunday 10 November 2019

Saturday daytime – People and cranes:

A performative response to the social and political issues created by Manchester’s rapid growth. Guided excursions, expert provocations, food and conversation exploring how the city’s development is changing the way we live.

Saturday nighttime – Noisy neighbours:

The Northern Quarter has long been a hotbed of musical talent. An evening of music, in iconic Northern Quarter institution Sachas Hotel, reflecting a slice of Manchester’s current live scene today.

Sunday daytime – People and places:

An open meeting addressing neighbourliness as an artistic and social practice. Meet the Neighbours project partners artists, thinkers and researchers share an exhibition of work, provocations and guided conversation.

Meet the Neighbours: The Weekend wasmade possible with support from Arts Council England, the European Union’s Creative Europe programme, the Rank Foundation, Unity Theatre Trust and Slater Heelis.