Annual city-wide festival Design Manchester returns for a sixth outing this month, celebrating the region’s creative industries across art, design, illustration, fashion, music, animation and photography. Running over 12 days, DM18 features 50+ events including talks and guest speakers, seminars, workshops, one-off exhibitions and crafts. This year’s proceedings kick off at PLY, where Crack Magazine host a Q&A dissecting the history, ethos and philosophy of The Warehouse Project, with one eye on the future as the club look ahead to their departure from the “spiritual home” of Store Street. The night will feature an exhibition from photographer Sebastian Matthes and designer Paul Hemmingfield, with WHP residents also on hand to soundtrack the evening. The theme for this year’s festival is ‘DISRUPT’, focusing on the art of protest and those swimming against the tide in creative industries. Celebrating this, the closing party sees DM18 team up with Lost in Vagueness, a film charting the thrills and spills of Glastonbury’s famous sideshow attraction. A post-film talk with director Sofia Olins invites guests to discuss their own experiences of the show and the importance of art in protest. Hosted at Refuge, attendees can also look forward to unseen footage from Sofia’s 12 years filming at the show as well as DJs, performers and special guests from the subversive days of Lost Vagueness.

Tue 9 Oct: WHP x DM18 Opening Party, PLY, 26 Lever Street, Manchester, M1 1DW, Tel: 0161 711 0401, 6pm, FREE, www.designmcr.com

Sat 20 Oct: DM18 x Lost In Vagueness, The Refuge Basement, The Principal Hotel, Oxford Road, Manchester, M60 7HA. Tel: 0161 233 5151, 6pm, £5 – £10, www.designmcr.com

Tue 9 Oct - Sat 20 Oct
Words:
John Stansfield
Published on:
Thu 18 Oct 2018