Amplifying the voices of our city's marginalised communities in the belief that by telling our stories we highlight our shared humanity, promoting the notion that there is no "us & them", only "us". Manchester Street Poem was born out of an idea Rick Smith and Karl Hyde, of the group Underworld, had when they were invited by Manchester International Festival to make a proposal for a new installati
on for 2016. The project the festival commissioned was inspired by witnessing thousands of people sleeping rough for years, but with no knowledge of how anyone ended up there or even anyone’s names. The simple idea was to create a public art installation where personal stories of homelessness could be told in a safe and dynamic space that would draw attention and encourage interaction with all members of the community under the banner,
‘No US and THEM, only US’
With the aide of MIF, Underworld was introduced to dedicated organisations in Manchester, with first hand experience of working with people with lived experience of homelessness. Through these groups, exploratory meetings were set up with former rough sleepers who were offered the opportunity to ‘Hijack’ the band in order to draw people in to hear their stories. Very quickly a group was established comprising artists, musicians, festival producers, members of the city council, workers from the homeless sector and many whom had personal experience of homelessness. In 2016, the first public appearance of MSP opened in a disused shoe shop (renames UNFEAR) on Oldham Street. in Manchester’s Northern Quarter. Thousand of visitors turned up to witness an extraordinary sight, as, over the course of a week,
Karl Hyde painted stories of lived experience on walls, floors, stairs that had been prepared by being covered in reclaimed cardboard. Cardboard was specifically chosen for it’s obvious links to rough sleeping, the fact that it wasn’t an accepted fine art material and also because it was free and everywhere. One of the magic moments of this first event was in watching visitors in conversation with the people who’s deeply moving stories were painted on the walls. Everyone who came had their perceptions of rough sleepers altered. Everyone left saying,
“That could have been me!” and “I had no idea how normal the story tellers were.”
We couldn’t leave it there though. MSP was never meant to be an exhibition that rolled into town then left. It was agreed from the outset that it had to be a legacy project, and to go on for as long as the members of the group wanted it. Now, in our fifth year, we have created three large public installations in Manchester, set up arts workshops, worked with arts and homelessness groups in Japan, co-created public spaces, collaborated with other groups caring for marginalised communities, been called upon as advisors on public projects within the city of Manchester, had documentaries broadcast about us, and won awards for our work. The group has expanded and welcomed new friends to bring their personal experiences to enrich the mix and always with the philosophy of co-production at our core. And, when the first lockdown was enforced, MSP went on line, setting up weekly arts workshops that meant our members never had to feel alone. The MSP community was strengthened during what could have been a devastating time for our group. Through the continued support of MIF we were able to supply every member of the Manchester Street Poem family with the technology and data packages to get on line and remain connected. The work we have done together during the 2020/2021 period has been our strongest and most inspired, as our members blossomed and were encouraged to let their ideas fly. In March 2021, our workshops went international, and we were able to hear first hand experiences of the pandemic from people living as far away as Brazil. Our stories are not different, and through exchanging them in a safe and welcoming space were offer the tools for communities to talk and find solutions together.
