Exhibition tour: Yemen: Say hello to connect heads to city centre spots this Summer

The Imperial War Museum North is taking the powerful messages showcased in their new exhibition Yemen: Inside a Crisis directly to audiences this summer by hosting a series of pop-up events at popular Manchester sites. Yemen: Say hello to connect is a new, interactive way to explore the human impact of what has been described as the ‘world’s worst’ humanitarian crisis – alongside the cost of conflict and what we can do to help alleviate the on-going situation in Yemen. Commissioned by IWM and FutureEverything, this ‘travelling digital artwork’ is the brainchild of Artist Vicky Clarke and Creative Technologist Chris Ball and invites attendees to say ‘hello’ to a series of voice activated terminals which will launch a selection of audio narratives by British-Yemeni artist Amerah Saleh. Each spoken-word account details a different challenge faced during everyday life in Yemen, with Saleh referencing her first-hand, real-life experiences. Having already visited Oxford Road, the installation will continue to three additional city-centre spots, each exploring a new theme. Full details below:

Manchester Piccadilly Station, Fri 26 & Sat 27 Jul, 10am-6pm
The exhibition’s stint at Manchester Piccadilly explores how the crisis in Yemen has affected the country’s economy and infrastructure and will feature a live, spoken word performance from artist Amerah Saleh at 3.30pm (Sat only), created with British-Yemeni young people from the Eccles Yemeni Community Association and the Liverpool Arabic Centre.

Great Northern Warehouse, Sat 31 Aug – Sun 1 Sep, 10am-6pm
This stop on the Yemen: Say hello to connect tour will encourage viewers to delve-deep on the theme of food insecurity as a result of the country’s ongoing conflict. Here, artist Amerah Saleh’s narration focuses on her real-life experiences of accessing food in Yemen and aim to question our relationship to hunger and food waste.

University of Manchester’s Student Union, Wed 9 – Thu 10 Oct, 10am-6pm
The final stop of the Yemen: Say hello to connect tour will be the University of Manchester’s Student Union, allowing visitors to explore how the Yemen conflict has affected the country’s children and its education systems. Here, Saleh’s spoken-word account will focus on her first-hand experiences of Yemen’s quality of life for children and will include a pop-up discussion session taking place between 2-4pm (Thu only).