Event | Festival

June 7, 2024, 6:00 pm - June 7, 2024, 9:00 pm

DAY 2: Friday 7 June 2024 – It Started with a Seed International Storytelling Festival (IS WAS)

Join us at the first ever IS WAS Festival as we ignite a celebration of creativity marking the 200th Anniversary of Manchester Met.

Manchester Central Library, Performance Space, St Peter's Square, Manchester, M2 5PD

It Started with a Seed International Storytelling Festival, or IS WAS, launches in June 2024.

The festival is a partnership between the MMU Arts and Humanities Faculty, MMU Poetry Library and Manchester Histories. The IS WAS Festival is a public festival that celebrates the art of storytelling in all its forms. We centre people and community first in our advocacy for storytelling and aim to push the boundaries of storytelling and the people who tell them. 

Commissioned artists and students from Manchester Metropolitan University will take the stage, to unleash a wave of creativity that celebrates the 200th Anniversary of Manchester Met and promises to be nothing short of extraordinary. 

Admission FREE 

Booking.

Let us know if you are coming. Book HERE. 

Artists presenting work include: 

Mila young artist with glasses and brown curly hair

Mila Januszova

Mila Januszova: Dive into urban resilience with a mesmerizing 3-minute filmpoem, exploring themes of belonging and identity inspired by the Sylvia Pankhurst Gender Research and Pankhurst Centre. 

Image of Josef - man with glasses and a hat

Josef Minta

Josef Minta: Join this artist, poet, and workshop facilitator from Bury in exploring the history of Man Met in three interlinking poems. 

Image of Anita a young Chinese woman

Anita Ngai

Anita Ngai: Through poetry and soundscapes, Anita will tell the stories of the first Chinese (or East Asian) students of Manchester Met, their journey coming and leaving here, as well as their lives as members of the school, of Manchester's Chinese community and of the city as a whole. 

Image of Quen - person with pink hair wearing a bright green waistcoat.

Quen Took

Quen Took: Engage in "Here, I Am Whole," a multi-disciplinary project amplifying the voices and experiences of disabled staff, students, and alumni at MMU, celebrating the rich history of disability activism, politics, and art in Manchester. 

Image of Tolu - a young person with long black braids and glasses

Tolulope Ami Williams

Tolulope Ami Williams: Experience "Planted Not Buried," an immersive performance installation celebrating Manchester's diverse legacy and breaking barriers of race, gender, culture, and class.