Manchester International Arts (MIA) was founded in 1988 to present international, multi-cultural and animatory events in Greater Manchester – mostly outdoors and mostly free.
Over the last 21 years, we have put our energy and imagination
into organising large and vibrant festivals and special events in urban
centres and parks, transforming spaces
and offering countless opportunities for public engagement. Our major projects in Greater Manchester have included Ona Catalana, Streets Ahead, The Commonwealth Games Festival, The Garden of Delights and Feast - picnic by the lake.
More recently we have ventured futher afield collaborating on
events across the North of England; taking the Streets Ahead festival
to Liverpool for Capital of Culture 2008, programming large-scale
performances in Huddersfield and Dewsbury, working with DiGM on
Manchester’s Urban Moves dance festival and partnering Kendal Arts International to develop Mintfest and the new ‘Lakes Alive’ programme
for the cultural legacy of the 2012 olympics.
Across all of our work, we have brought many of the most wonderful, engaging, imaginative and colourful companies from Britain and abroad, often for the first time, to Greater Manchester and the region.
Our festival work has an all-important goal - 'To create an exciting, energising atmosphere in a town or city centre that maximises its existing potential (i.e. shops, cafes, restaurants, open spaces and squares) by the addition of carefully chosen special events.'
The Garden of Delights and Feast have mixed energetic and gentle activity, using the parks very different spaces (lake, woodland, hills, grassy banks, glades) to their best effect, to create unusual, enjoyable and memorising experiences for many people. This we call ‘cultural animation’.
We choose the arts as a starting point (though it is obviously possible to use sporting activities, markets and other types of event) we believe that the interaction between performers and audience and, as importantly, between the audience and each other, is best guaranteed this way. It is this interaction that sparks the ‘animation’.
Over the past 21 years we have organised numerous events ranging in scale from month-long international street festivals to an evening in a community centre. In some cases we are the direct promoter of the event, in others we are commissioned to produce them, by or in collaboration with other organisations.
Our founders and joint artistic directors are Anne Tucker and Jeremy Shine, who have both worked for many years in a variety of different areas of the arts, in Greater Manchester and London. Additionally, we use a team of freelancers with experience in artistic planning, production and event management, all based in or close to Manchester.
