Danny Boyle Will Inaugurate Manchester’s New Mega Art Complex HOME

Douglas Coupland, Slogans for the 21st Century (2011-14), which will be part of HOME's inaugural art exhibition
Photo: Courtesy HOME

HOME, Manchester’s newest art center, will open its doors on May 21 with a four-day extravaganza of visual arts, film, theater, and even a funfair fanfare led by movie director Danny Boyle, he of Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire fame.

The bank holiday weekender will inaugurate the purpose-built landmark building—designed by Dutch architects Mecanoo—which is set to host an ambitious program of exhibitions, film screenings, and theater performances.

Despite the funfair’s festive vibe, however, HOME’s inaugural group exhibition tackles difficult themes. Borrowing its title from a bible passage (or the novel by Laura Albert/JT LeRoy), The heart is deceitful above all things explores heartbreak and loss through works by Douglas Coupland, Wu Tsang, Ragnar Kjartansson, Rosa Barba, and Declan Clarke among others.

The show is guest curated by Omar Kholeif, curator at London’s Whitechapel Gallery (see Omar Kholeif to Curate 2015 Armory Show’s “Focus” Sector and 8 Highlights from Omar Kholeif’s Focus: MENAM Section at The Armory Show 2015), alongside Sarah Perks, HOME’s artistic director for visual arts.

Meanwhile, the opening film program will feature the premiere of Slow West, the debut film of John Maclean, a psychedelic western starring Michael Fassbender, who plays as cunning outlaw. Other screenings include Tod Browning’s circus masterpiece Freaks, Eric Rohmer’s My night with Maud, and a preview of Wim Wender’s biopic of Sebastião Salgado, The Salt of the Earth.

HOME is the result of a merger of two well-established Manchester-based art organizations: Cornerhouse and the Library Theatre Company. Danny Boyle, who was born in the British city in 1956, is one of the new institution’s patrons, alongside other cultural luminaries, including the artists Phil Collins and Rosa Barba.


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