A touching way to honour those who have helped us throughout the pandemic.
Taking over St. Peter’s Square next month, a brand new installation is coming to Manchester – which is set to honour the key workers who kindly risked it all to get us through the pandemic. Created by the team behind the popular Bee In The City trail, Wild in Art, the exhibition is set to tour four different cities in the UK, starting at Birmingham’s Chamberlain Square from 20-30 August.
Launching in Manchester from 3-12 September, the installation will stand proudly on St. Peter’s Square, with an army of colourful sculptures that reflect the real-life stories of key workers over the past year. Following an open call out for stories and poems from the general public, visitors will be able to enjoy the heartwarming stories of both adults and children through beautiful art and audio, which has been recorded by a number of well-known voices in the UK – including KT Tunstall, Adil Ray OBE and actors Julie Hesmondhalgh, Ciarán Griffiths, Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, Christopher Eccleston, John Thomson and Shobna Gulati.
Free to visit, the touring exhibition consists of 51 sculptures, all designed by professional artists and designers from across the UK.
When asked about taking part in the installation, Coronation Street and Broadchurch actress, Julie Hesmondhalgh said: “What is not to love? A piece of public art that gives us the opportunity to thank the millions of key workers who have risked and sacrificed so much to keep society ticking along in these most challenging and heart-breaking of times- just wonderful!
“All the bin collectors and shop workers and delivery drivers; the NHS staff, from the cleaners to the consultants, our incredible teachers and our care givers. An opportunity to remember, to reflect, to be thankful. I’m so happy to be a small part of this.”
Travelling across Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh and London, the exhibition will end with an auction-off of the sculptures, with all proceeds being donated to NHS Charities Together.