‘Invisible’ lives of homeless people revealed at MediaCityUK

I LIVE TEMPORARY

The often unheard stories of homeless people in Manchester will be given a voice this month thanks to a collaborative art installation going on display at the University of Salford’s building at MediaCityUK.

I LIVE TEMPORARY is a digital artwork created by more than 200 homeless people, with the help of North West-based arts organisation arthur+martha. It combines sound recordings, customised postcards and an epic Twitter poem to portray aspects of the lives of homeless people in Manchester.

Participants have spoken of the difference the project has made to them, with comments including: “I feel that I’ve been heard now. This morning I was invisible. Now I know someone knows I’m here,” and: “People who are classed as ‘normal’ don’t get to see our world. This opens their eyes.”

Run by poet Philip Davenport and artist Lois Blackburn, arthur+martha works with people who many perceive as at the margins of society, including older people in hospital, children with special needs, excluded school pupils and young carers.

Philip said: "The cards and Twitter poem are an extraordinary document of lives that are unnoticed. There is lost innocence, lost families, lost love. There's yearning, for shelter and kindness. And there's resilience. Finally, many people told us that the thing they want most of all is acknowledgement - they want to be seen."

Amanda Croome MBE, Director of the Booth Centre for homeless people in Manchester, said: “The project was great – I found it amazingly powerful to see people express themselves with such feeling – and to get to know people we work with in a different way.”

University Events Officer Harriet Morgan-Shami said: “I LIVE TEMPORARY offers us a unique opportunity to present the digital output of an innovative creative collaboration in our MediaCityUK facility.

“This type of work, which uses digital media to engage with and represent a marginalised community, is an exciting approach which we hope will generate dialogue and inspire thinking around how our students, staff and creative partners can reach new audiences through their digital practice.”

I LIVE TEMPORARY will be brought to life in the ‘Egg’ digital space at the University’s MediaCityUK building, using an array of ultra-high resolution screens and audio, from 2.00-4.00pm on Friday 11 May, running until Friday 1 June. For further details visit www.salford.ac.uk/arts.

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