Cities of Hope: Manchester street art festival

Four must-see events at the street art convention, with themes running from Klimt-inspired social commentary to LGBT rights

Feature by Chris Ogden | 27 May 2016

The street art convention Cities of Hope (running until 29 May) has brought nine international street artists to Manchester to raise awareness of social justice issues including disability, homelessness, weapon crime, LGBT politics and young people's issues. Artists invited to the city include the Spanish ancient/modern graffiti duo Pichiavo and the American artist Axel Void.

Cities of Hope has been displaying the artists’ works on the walls of buildings around Manchester’s Northern Quarter, accompanied by a series of events. Each artist and issue is linked to a local organisation that seeks to help those affected by the issues at a grassroots level. All money raised by Cities of Hope goes towards supporting those activities.

One organisation involved is Back on Track, a Manchester charity that enables disadvantaged adults to make positive changes to their lives, running a learning centre which works with people who are going through a process of recovery or rehabilitation. They were linked with the East German artist Case Maclaim, who painted a mural of a man “thinking about the sort of life they want in the future.”

“We wanted to be involved because we are interested by the sorts of issues that our services users face,” said Siobhan Pollitt, chief executive of Back on Track. “They feel they are being represented in a city where they are being hidden. It’s been a really exciting experience.”

The Cities of Hope project has been developed by Vestige, a not-for-profit social justice organisation that seek to inspire action on social issues. It delivers activities in cities worldwide alongside internationally renowned artists, standing in solidarity with oppressed individuals. Here are details of the Cities of Hope events to come this weekend:

Artists of Hope

Friday 27th May, 4pm; The University of Manchester

Renowned street artist Axel Void will deliver a guest lecture to students of the University of Manchester. This event is principally for university students but there are a very small number of free tickets on general sale.

Exhibition of Hope

Friday 27th May, 6pm to 8pm; Brownsfield Mill, Northern Quarter

This event will exhibit exclusive artwork from all of the featured artists and see the lights at the LGBT rights mural made by South African artist Faith47 switched on for the first time. There will also be spoken word performances by Young Identities, one of the partner charities. Tickets are available on a donation basis with donations being split between all charities.

Visions of Hope

Friday 27th May, twilight; Secret location (see Facebook)

Throughout the Cities of Hope convention, Syrian artist Tammam Azzam has been projecting famous paintings from across the Western world against bombed buildings to draw attention to the Syrian crisis, with his most popular work, “Freedom Graffiti”, appropriating Gustav Klimt’s painting The Kiss. Tammam is expected to visit some of these projections at twilight where passers-by will have the opportunity to meet him and possibly see him at work.

City of Queer Hope

Saturday 28th May, 2pm - 9pm; Secret location (see Facebook)

The convention’s closing party, an all-day event in partnership with artists’ co-op Partisan Collective to celebrate Faith47’s new mural and the launch party of Partisan Collective’s temporary space, celebrating queer politics, art and culture in Manchester. The event will feature a panel discussion on the role of art for queer politics and activism, a film screening and Simpsons-based performances (“Homerpalooza”) hosted by Charlotte Davies and Marilyn Misandry of Thirsty Girls. Tickets are priced £2–10 depending on income. 


For more information about Cities of Hope, please visit their website citiesofhope.global or their Twitter page @CitiesofHope16.