Manchester’s multi-million pound cultural space, Aviva Studio, is a year old today.
The OMA-designed venue has to date attracted more than 700,000 visitors and been listed by TIME magazine as one of the 100 best places to visit in the world.
“In its first year of opening Aviva Studios has changed the cultural landscape of Manchester and the North forever with a venue that is a match and more for cultural venues anywhere in the world,” said Councillor Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council.
“It is also leading the way in terms of the demonstrable impact it’s having on providing jobs, training and other opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds to get involved, and is fast proving itself to be a game-changing asset both culturally and economically to the city.”
It’s also the second anniversary of Hooky (New Order/Hacienda) declaring:
“That white elephant down the bottom end of Deansgate? It isn’t called Factory for nothing. They’ll be bankrupt before we were. That’s just what Manchester needs – another bloody venue.”
Anyway, the official opening production at Factory International was Danny Boyle’s Matrix-inspired Free Your Mind. Since then, it’s played host to Yayoi Kusama’s You Me and the Balloons, a three-day residency from Janelle Monáe and is preparing for Radiohead’s reworking of Hamlet, and Marina Abramovic next year.
It stated that nearly two thirds of its audiences are from Greater Manchester; plus in the opening year, 81% of its audiences from outside of the region, specifically visited the city for Aviva Studios.
Factory International explained that one of its key objectives is to train creatives of the future through its Factory Academy. So far 1000 Greater Manchester residents have graduated, with 100 Factory Academy alumni taking on roles at Factory International.
“We are immensely proud of everything that has been achieved in our first year at Aviva Studios. At every stage we have focused on creating new possibilities – from our mind-blowing opening production Free Your Mind, to the creation of a pipeline of diverse talent into the arts for generations to come, to new partnerships that have introduced new audiences and new revenue streams,” said John McGrath, Artistic Director & Chief Executive, Factory International.
“We can’t wait to build on that success over the coming months and years as we continue to invite artists, audiences and communities to explore their most exciting ambitions.”
Other stats include:
- Over 13,000 Greater Manchester residents took part in public engagement events since opening;
- It has worked with over 25,000 children and young people through events and activities;
- Over 100 artists from the region have been given platforms to develop and learn, and hundreds more have benefitted from opportunities to network, share and collaborate.
The venue has also signed commercial projects with Aviva – one of the most significant investments from the corporate sector into the arts in the UK – MUBI and adidas.
It’s recently launched Factory+ an online platform for digital content, artworks and games.
“The first 12 months of Aviva Studios’ life have been marked by a level of creativity, flair and ambition that’s been noticed not only here in Manchester, but also on the national and international stage,” added Darren Henley, Chief Executive, Arts Council England.
“Factory International is one of our biggest National Portfolio investments and I know that we can look forward to another year of brilliant work at Aviva Studios, including Manchester International Festival next summer.”
Factory’s development was led by Manchester City Council, with £99.05m from the Government and £7m National Lottery funding from Arts Council England.
