A 12 hour-long performance exhibition of local people doing their everyday work takes over HOME Manchester's main gallery on September 24.
12 Last Songs is a noon-to-midnight performance by 24 workers, brought together to help build a fleeting portrait of society as a living exhibition.
The workers will perform paid shifts of their usual jobs within the gallery space: a builder might build a wall, a hairdresser might cut someone’s hair, and a chef might prepare a meal.
The performance is curated by Quarantine, a Manchester-based ensemble of artists and producers who have been making original theatre, performance and public events since 1998. A previous version of 12 Last Songs premiered at Leeds Playhouse last year.
Quarantine’s co-artistic director Richard Gregory said: “Quarantine has always been interested in who people are and how they experience the world. Maybe in all our work there's this kind of simultaneous concern with what's going on at this moment in time and how to invent a language of performance to talk about that.”
Kevin Jamieson, HOME's head of programming, said: “Bringing this to HOME is an exciting prospect for all of us in the building. It is a unique work, that shows us the complex and rich working life of the people in Manchester, all within our gallery space, for 12 hours."
Audiences can come and go throughout the performance.
Any Manchester-based workers who are interested in joining the performance can get in touch with Quarantine here.
The performance is unscripted and the presenters don’t know what subjects might arise during the 12 hours; there might even be nudity, which is why there's an age guidance of 12 years and over.
Tickets and information here