8 minute read
Living up to Legacy
by artiqannual
Aviva Studios is embedded in Mancunian life. A cultural space built by and for the city, Factory International takes its name from Factory Records - the local record label behind Joy Division, New Order and the Haçienda. Speaking to the creative and design teams behind the new space, we travel the road that led to Aviva Studios, home of Factory International.
Factory International’s mission is clear: invent tomorrow together. A chimeric combination of music, dance, performance, theatre, exhibitions, gaming and more, the Manchester based arts organisation have long championed the importance of cross-disciplinary arts programming, bringing each strand of cultural production under their wing. Running biannually, the Manchester International
Festival has been a long-standing endeavour. Now, the spirit of the festival has been contained within a new, dynamic, purpose-built home. Aviva Studios, located alongside the River Irwell and Science and Industry Museum, opens a new range of possibilities for Manchester. With a new building, new programme and new direction, Aviva Studios establishes itself as a game-changer.
In the heart of Manchester’s St John neighbourhood, Aviva Studios spans 13,350 sq meters, housing a 1600-seat theatre and open performance space capable of holding 5,000. Walls – even ceilings – can be restructured, moved, and shifted to fit specific needs of both artist and audience. It means Factory International can program in a sandbox. From live performance to exhibition, theatre to play, there is a feeling of infinite potentiality; anything could happen.
Factory International cannot predict where and what the building will move into and have no interest in doing so. The creative output is designed to serve the needs and wants of both local Mancunians and visiting audiences. Open, adaptable, and accessible, Aviva Studios moves in organic tandem with Manchester, responding to its needs as and when they arise. There is a distinct breaking here of both the physical and social barriers between art and viewer, subject and object, performer and public.
Aviva Studios comes at a time of increased discourse on public funding and the arts. Often seen as “nice to have” luxury, Factory International see Aviva Studios as a flagship in the fight to defend the arts. Essential, integral, and pedagogical, the space is dedicated not just to creativity but affordable ticketing, accessibility, and education. Courses run for both young people and adults, offering training in creative ventures. A collaborative curatorial approach sees the people of Manchester taking a leading role in programming talks, debates, and workshops. Partnerships with preestablished local organisations see the space attempt to integrate with neighbours in meaningful, long-term ways. It demonstrates a democratisation of the role of a curator; here, the job is shared, malleable to the needs and desires of Manchester citizens.
This curatorial perspective shift comes during the early years of Level Up, Arts Council England’s endeavour to cut £50m from Londonbased arts organisations, instead pledging the funding towards arts organisations outside the capital. Aviva Studios sees the largest treasury spend on a cultural project since the Londonbased Tate Modern in 2000. The message sent here is pertinent: why not Manchester?
Nicholas Serota, Chair of Arts Council England, states the funding body will invest £130m a year in the north of England, with £10m a year going to Factory International. The building’s name, Aviva Studios, came alongside £35m from insurance firm Aviva, the largest investment in the arts by the private sector ever seen in Britain. Aviva act not as silent investor but cultural facilitator, helping foot the bill on education and ticketing. “Aviva Studios will help make arts and culture more accessible and inclusive and follows the significant investment Aviva Investors has already made in Manchester,” Amanda Blanc, Group Chief Executive Officer, Aviva, says. Aviva Studios/Factory International traces its roots back to two Manchester histories: the industrial revolution, and underground music culture. Labour and subculture are used both thematically and graphically to understand the journey and legacy of Aviva Studios, a place built on a philosophy of innovative creative control.
Through activist initiatives such as the Kill the Bill campaign and Freedom to Party, ravers implemented shifts within the political landscape, echoing the work laid a decade earlier during the miners’ strike. These contexts — political, creative, expressive, and Northern — all converge on Factory Internationals’ namesake, the iconic Mancunian record Label Factory Records. Factory Records employed a unique business principle, providing signed artists total control and ownership(1). Aviva Studios continues this legacy through an emphasis on unscripted creativity with open calls for collaboration that are posted without a brief. Factory International hands over control to the artist, acting not as surveilling parent but as supportive facilitator. Culture is not built, but grown. Oftentimes we can trace its origins back like a family tree. Popular culture grows from the traces and roots of subcultures, a dominant “truth” born from the underground. Embraced by hipsters, the subculture gains exposure until eventually achieving mainstream adoption, moving away from original contexts to influence other aspects of culture. The tree grows. Hipster adoption becomes societal adaption, transforming the subculture into simply “culture”. But why dissect the evolution of a subculture? Because it’s interesting. And because Aviva Studios is a branch on this tree, one fed by the cultures that came before.
As the post-industrial landscape of Britain underwent a transformative process, Manchester developed a renewed identity, the demise of the coal industry coinciding with the emergence of UK rave culture. Rave provided an escape from harsh realities, offering a new realm of expression via music and hardcore dance. Derelict warehouses and abandoned workspaces became unconventional yet communal homes for a newfound sense of community. In Manchester, a once-naïve youth movement transformed into potent force. In answer to “why not Manchester” perhaps we can pose the question: how could it be anywhere else but Manchester?
Aviva Studios poses an authentic response to the regional institution-shaped gap, drawing on the expertise of Peter Saville (Factory Records Alum), Ellen Van Loon of OMA Architects, and Jeremy Coysten, North Partner, Creative Director.
North Design’s involvement carries a Mancunian, Factory Records-informed legacy forward, building on its history and knowledge. When creating the identity for Factory International/ Aviva Studios, the firm developed a mantra: “Where the art of the future will be made”. This statement is as relevant for Factory International as it was for Factory Records, and indeed Manchester itself. This notion of “looking back to look forward” resonates across North’s design philosophy, taking centre stage in their collaboration with Factory International. Rooted in a shared past, the project became a journey into indelible memories, leaving marks on both the individual and the cultural landscape.
Crafting a visual identity for Factory International presented a challenge; how to avoid a predictable homage to the past while remaining steadfast in a vision rooted in longevity. Through collaborative efforts a set of values emerged, “wilful” standing out as a key concept. The unexpected term encapsulated the essence of bridging the past with an unwavering focus on the future, guiding visual concepts towards a meaningful and distinctly forwardlooking direction.
This history-informed design serves as a reminder that legacies often originate from humble beginnings, often without intentional foresight to become ingrained. Even when modest in scale, a legacy has the capacity to embed itself in culture. Over time, it not only endures but expands, persistently providing solutions to the challenges and adapting to the changes we encounter. The tree grows. The essence lies in the interplay between the initial, perhaps unassuming, inception and the sustained, influential growth that resonates, offering ongoing responses to an evolving landscape.
“Whether they knew it or not, Factory Records were future focused.’’ Jeremy Coysten, Partner at North Design tells us. “They did what they did because they knew it was good, original and brave, not because they were trying to please. This aligns with the spirit of Factory International and what MIF have been doing since 2007,” he adds.
“One of the most attractive things about [Aviva Studios] is that it builds on a past that was also my past,” Jeremy says. “I had memories I wanted to explore and learn more about. The collaboration caused many discussions about the origins of Factory Records and the Haçienda. Wonderful moments that touched so many people. I would like to think that these anecdotes and memories are now a part of Aviva Studios — an invisible essence.”
From revolution to raves, activism to art, a legacy lives on within the ever-adapting space of Aviva Studios. Nobody knows what Factory International will become next, which direction their walls will turn. For the minds behind the endeavour, that is exactly the point.
Co-authored by Isaac Huxtable, Curator at Artiq and Sophie Viet-Jacobsen, Creative Designer at Artiq
1. Factory: Manchester from Joy Division to Happy Mondays. 2009. United Kingdom: BBC 4, 16 January 2024. https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=A-lDXeBueRk&ab_ channel=20%2C000LeaguesUnderTheBasss
