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Year: 2013

Students’ Union lobbies against NHS costs for international students

Written by Inez Dawoodjee on . Posted in News.

Students’ Union Officers are campaigning against plans for the possible introduction of NHS fees for international students.

The proposal, put forward by the government, suggests that non-UK students from outside the European Union should pay a minimum of £200 in order to procure NHS treatment.

Currently all international students staying in the UK for longer than 6 months have free access to the NHS.

A petition protesting the proposal has been set up by Clifford Fleming, Campaigns and Citizenship Officer for the University of Manchester Students’ Union.

“International students should not face added financial worries regarding their healthcare,” said Flemming. “If the government proposals pass in parliament many international students may avoid healthcare registration due to the added financial pressure.”

He added, “The proposals further discriminate those from countries outside the EU, and doesn’t respect the huge net benefit our international students provide, which the department of Business, Innovation and Skills estimates at £7.9bn every year.”

The Union has also endorsed the  ‘I am not welcome’ campaign which protests the introduction of increased surveillance of international students.

Wellbeing Officer Kazi Tasweef said, “We hope to persuade the UK Border Agency to change its monitoring process and end unnecessary hostile action towards non-EU international students.”

Earlier this year the Home Office called for greater surveillance of international students. The University of Sunderland and the University of Ulster have since introduced fingerprinting systems to monitor attendance of international students.

Universities UK condones segregated debates

Written by Sean Doherty on . Posted in News.

The group representing vice-chancellors of universities in the UK has stated gender segregation at university events may be condoned, should a speaker request it.

In its recently published guideline for universities regarding external speakers in higher education institutions, Universities UK has followed a ‘separate but equal’ policy as regards the segregation of males and females in audiences at university events.

Within the report, it is stated that segregation would only be “discriminatory on the grounds of sex if it amounts to ‘less favourable treatment’ of either female or male attendees.”

In a case-study in which a representative of an ultra-orthodox religious group is invited to speak at a university event and then insists that males and females be segregated, the report advises that segregation would be acceptable provided neither group is disadvantaged, such as placing females at the back where they would face certain restrictions i.e. the increased difficulty in being able to ask questions.

The report claims that “there does not appear to be any discrimination on gender grounds merely by imposing segregated seating. Both men and women are being treated equally, as they are both being segregated in the same way.”

The report addresses the legal problems which universities face in accommodating the views of different groups.

It states that, “one cannot rule out the possibility that discrimination claims will be made on other grounds. For example, it is arguable that ‘feminism’ or some forms of belief in freedom of choice or freedom of association, could fall within the definition of ‘belief’ under the Equality Act. This would in turn mean that applying a segregated seating policy without offering alternatives (e.g. a nonsegregated seating area, again on a ‘side by side’ basis with the gender segregated areas) might be discriminatory against those (men or women) who hold such beliefs.”

Although the report proposed that a non-segregated area should be made available alongside segregated seating, it advises that, should the speaker demand unsegregated seating not be an option on the basis of their religious beliefs, the university should still go ahead with the event with only segregated seating as to do otherwise may be seen as a breach of the Equality Act, which explicitly protects religious freedoms more so than ideological (i.e. feminist) freedoms.

It said, “Ultimately if imposing an unsegregated seating area in addition to the segregated areas contravenes the genuinely held religious beliefs of the group hosting the event, or those of the speaker, the institution should be mindful to ensure that the freedom of speech of the religious group or speaker is not curtailed unlawfully.

“Those opposed to segregation are entitled to engage in lawful protest against segregation, and could be encouraged to hold a separate debate of the issues, but their views do not require an institution to stifle a religious society’s segregated debate where the segregation accords with a genuinely-held religious belief.”

Lizzie Bowen, a third year Classics and Ancient History student, said, “It’s 2013! I definitely wouldn’t go to an event if I had to sit in a separate seating area from guys. People can say ‘separate but equal isn’t discrimination’ but everyone knows that you don’t demand separation unless you favour one side”.

To see the full report, visit: http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/highereducation/Documents/2013/ExternalSpeakersInHigherEducationInstitutions.pdf

Government sells £900 million of student loans for £160 million

Written by Sean Doherty on . Posted in News.

The government has sold off £900 million worth of student loan repayments for 16% of their face value.

The move on Monday 25th November saw Erudio Student Loans, a consortium backed by private debt collection agencies Arrow Global and CarVal Investors, purchase roughly 250,000 student loans belonging to individuals who began their courses between 1990 and 1998 for £160 million.

The NUS president Toni Pearce stated that the sale will effectively lead to “the public subsidising a private company making a profit from public debt”.

Wednesday 20th November saw protests take place across the UK as students criticised the privatisation of the student loan book. A petition opposing the sell-off has also gathered 15,000 signatures. The fear among students is that with loans being sold off to private companies, the rates of repayment will also change.

The sell-off comes in light of the recent news that the debt which UK households are facing has risen for the first time in five years due to the pressure of student loans. The report by PwC also estimated that university students who began their courses last year will graduate with debts of £40,000-£50,000.

Fiona Edwards, of the Student Assembly Against Austerity stated, “We recognise that the privatisation of our student loans will cause interest rates to rise. We are demanding that they drop this outrageous policy immediately or expect further protests in the New Year.”

Toni Pearce claimed that, “The simple fact is that having these loans on the public books would be better off for the government in the long run.

“Selling off the loan book at a discount to secure a cash lump sum now doesn’t make economic sense.”

The government has justified the selling off of student loans for a fraction of their face value on the basis that there is currently a failure to recover many of the loans. 36% of the borrowers whose debts were bought are currently earning under the repayment threshold and 40% are not paying back their loans according to the terms agreed.

Universities Minister, David Willetts, said, “The sale of the remaining mortgage style student loan book represents good value for money, helping to reduce public sector net debt by £160m.

“The private sector is well placed to maximise returns from the book which has a deteriorating value.

“The sale will allow the Student Loans Company to focus on supplying loans to current students and collecting repayments on newer loans.”

Willetts was insistent that the privatisation of loans will not lead to former students having to pay back at higher rates than those they originally agreed to.

“Borrowers will remain protected and there will be no change to their terms and conditions, including the calculation of interest rates for loans.”

However, during a parliamentary select committee in June the Minister for Universities pointed out that, “In the letter that every student gets there are some words to the effect that governments reserve the right to change the terms of the loans.”

Furthermore, in a leaked government report last year, the proposal was put forth that the cap on interest rates for repayments of loans would have to be removed in order for the student loan book to be profitable to private companies.

Clifford Fleming, Campaigns Officer for the University of Manchester, said,“The government’s accounting on the loan book has been disastrous and the loan book sell-off is a quick fix to the serious problem of funding in Higher Education. Continually government’s have over-estimated the number of students fully paying back their loans, gambling public finances on debt repayments.

“With unsustainable levels of debt the likelihood of changing terms and conditions is inevitable. Higher Education funding needs a complete overhaul and ministers need to consider the public good of education.”

New weapon scanner developed in manchester to revolutionise global security

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in News.

A team of developers from Manchester Metropolitan University have created a radar scanner which can detect concealed weapons such as guns, knives and bombs from as far as 25 metres.

It is hoped the scanner will dramatically increase security in high-risk areas, such as airports and transport hubs, and has gained considerable attention from the United States and the Middle East.

University experts spent 9 years perfecting the device, which was developed with funding from the Home Office and the Police.

MMU has signed a deal with electronics firm, Radio Physics Solutions (RPS), to start distributing the machine commercially. The first machines should be ready by next Spring and will retail at approximately £31,000.

Professor Nicholas Bowring led the Man Met research team and believes the scanner could be revolutionary, “It will make the world a safer place – there is a significant amount of gun crime that could be stopped, for example. We know that this technology works and has done very well in trials”.

In contrast to the controversial body scanner, which has been criticised by civil liberties groups, this new model does not produce an image of the subject and uses only a thousandth of the power of a mobile phone.

The scanner works using a low-powered, millimetre-wave radar signals that reflect off weapons and back to the scanner within seconds. The scanner can also detect common metallic items such as keys, belt buckles and mobile phones, however these items will not trigger an alarm.

There are different versions of the scanner currently being tested. Two hand held battery powered prototypes and a much more powerful static version that could also be built for use in busier locations such as airports and shopping centres.

Cornerhouse Pick of the Week: Blue is the Warmest Colour

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in News.

Blue Is the Warmest Colour (La vie d’Adèle: Chapitres 1 & 2 in its original french) is a coming-of-age story directed by Abdellatif Kechiche. Adèle’s (Adèle Exarchopoulos) life is changed when she meets Emma (Léa Seydoux), a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire, to assert herself as a woman and as an adult.

It is based on the french graphic novel by Julie Maroh and follows similar themes of questioning sexuality, the want to conform and romantic loneliness. As Maroh has stated on her blog, though, the film is purely Kechiche’s interpretation of the source material. The visual style is similar when the focus is given to Emma’s blue hair. This marks her as different and shows the colour she brings to the protagonist’s life. One scene in the film shows the cold paleness and wintery blue of Emma side-by-side with Adèle’s warmer, earthy tones. The cinematographer Sofian El Fani does a tremendous job making almost every frame a beauty to behold.

Both film and source show sex scenes, just with slight differences in style. Most viewers will have the sex scenes seared in their memories, although they take up just a fraction of the running time. I commend  Kechiche for steering away from soft-focus timidness and showing the lovers in an act of passionate pleasure. It shouldn’t be misconstrued as pornography (see Don Jon for a look at how porn scenes are different to actual sex) although it does play into the mysticism of the female orgasm that the film questions at one point.

The technique Kechiche uses often and to great effect is to have close ups of the characters’ faces, allowing you to see emotions from a flicker of a smile to a brightening in the eyes. Exarchopoulos and Seydoux have some incredibly powerful scenes where the full weight of emotion is shown, earning their place with Kechiche for the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

The downside of all those close ups is that you see Adèle’s mouth open. A lot. And the eating in the film is not refined dining.

At almost 3 hours, be prepared for a long film. The pacing is different to most current films, where the emphasis is more on getting from one scene to the next as quickly and slickly as possible. This is more similar to the pacing from early cinema and other “arty” European cinema. The film is more of an experience to be chewed over (preferably with your mouth closed).

Review: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Written by Mark McGrath on . Posted in News.

In Hollywood, 20 months is almost enough time for a popular series to be given a complete overhaul and a fresh lick of paint. And so with Catching Fire and its revisiting of exactly the same places and exactly the same events that were depicted in the first installment of the series, you would be forgiven for mistaking the film for a reboot. It’s a mistake that isn’t made easier by the purely business-orientated decision to place The Hunger Games at the beginning of the title, something altogether absent from the name of the novel on which it’s based.

Fortunately, and unlike many recent sequels, Catching Fire knows that “more of the same, but bigger” isn’t necessarily the key to success. Although the film may retread some of the steps taken by its predecessor, mainly, the selection of the Games’ candidates, the journey to the Capital and the pre-battle propaganda, the beginning of the film emphasises that something is certainly different as Katniss unwillingly sparks a rebellion.

In fact, it is in these early scenes that Catching Fire really excels as an exciting, political thriller. Once again, Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss is the heart and soul of the film, impressing us all as she convincingly portrays sadness, strength, hopefulness and vulnerability often all at the one time. One scene in particular, in which she goes toe-to-toe with President Snow epitomises all that is fantastic about the film: the cast is excellent, the script crackles and the emotional complexities and philosophical ideas that Catching Fire has to offer come to the forefront. This is an intelligent blockbuster.

It’s a shame, then, that the Games themselves are slightly disappointing. This time around, Katniss’ entrance into the arena is not quite as pulse-quickening or heart-racing. We’ve seen it all before: the Hawaiian tropical setting is refreshing but instantly recognisable; the breaking of the group of competitors into different factions with allegiances and friendships tested is far from original and there’s also an eerily familiar thick and mysterious fog to contend with. It seems as if the producers were borrowing directly from LOST. At one point, a character even says, “let’s get what we need and get off this damn island.”

In a perverse way, the older, more experienced competitors don’t appear as dangerous or frightening as the child-killers from the first film and so what made the first film so disturbing in entirely absent. That’s not to say that the events of the arena are not engaging or exciting. There are some well-executed action and chase scenes, but it is clear that the political backdrop to the Games and the growing rebellion have far more dramatic potential.

Ultimately, Catching Fire is a movie of two halves: one half intelligent political thriller and the other a straight-forward blockbuster. Although both succeed in providing entertaining viewing, it’s the first that sets the film apart from generic action fare. And with one of the most unsatisfying endings in movie history, it’s fortunate that going forward into next year’s sequels, it appears as if the people’s rebellion will take centre stage. The wait for next November may be unbearable for some, but it may certainly be worth it if future installments could well deliver on this exciting promise.

Home-made masks: the products that you shouldn’t be putting on your face

Written by Anastasiia Vasiutina on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

There are thousands of home-made masks recipes and remedies for bad skin out there, but before you smear the contents of your fridge on your skin, it is worth remembering that “natural” doesn’t automatically mean “good for you”.

A bit of chemistry now. Your skin has a pH of roughly 4.5-5, which is very important in relation to skincare. Alkaline products (baking soda, toothpaste) have a very high pH which might upset the skin’s natural balance, damaging or disrupting the skin barrier. Acidic products (citrus fruits or vinegar) have a pH that’s too low, so you are actually putting yourself at a risk of burns.

Bearing all that in mind, it is a bit disturbing to see the sheer amount of bad advice out there. I struggled with acne myself and in my effort to beat it tried a million different home “remedies”.  To prevent the reader from going on their own journey of trials and errors, I have compiled my own list of things you definitely shouldn’t be using in the attempt to re-create a spa salon at home.

1) Put that pot of baking soda down and do not trust face mask recipes that urge you to use it. With a pH of 9, it is alkaline, which upsets your skin’s natural balance. That tight squeaky feeling you get after you’ve used it? That’s not cleanliness; it’s your skin trying to hold on to its natural barrier.

2) Lemons, oranges and limes do not belong on your face. All three are extremely acidic (lemons have a pH of 2, that’s one pH unit up from battery acid!) and could cause chemical burns. But what about the nice purifying tingling feeling? It’s your skin burning and protesting about all the acid you’ve just dumped on it.

3)  You know how you won’t eat raw eggs because of all the infections and bacteria that could be festering in them? That stuff does not belong on your face either. Animal protein in general is comedogenic – it blocks pores and creates infections, the effects of which can be severe on any skin-type, causing even the most acne-free of us to break out.

4) White vinegar is amongst the most dangerous ones in my collection of absolute don’ts. It can cause actual chemical burns on the skin. There’s a lot of confusion between white vinegar and its milder relative, apple cider vinegar. Apple cider vinegar has a pH of 4.25, nice and gentle on the skin, used by one generation after another as an all-natural toner – might be worth picking some up at your local Holland & Barrett if you have the cash. White vinegar on the other hand has a pH of 2 – again, just one pH unit away from battery acid. It is absolutely essential to be clear about this distinction; apple cider vinegar isn’t dangerous just because it’s vinegar, whereas white vinegar is dangerous precisely because it is much more malicious than its counterpart.

5) Cinnamon is also worth mentioning, even though I have only come across one wild suggestion to use it. The recipe is called the “burning face mask”, which rang my alarm bells straight away. First of all, the burning sensation on your skin is just that – burning and destroying your skin’s natural barrier. It’s not cleansing, toning, removing scars or anything else that the recipe claims it to be. Adding insult to injury, I later found out that the cinnamon we get in the UK shops is extremely toxic in high doses. Shall I put a tablespoon of it on my face? I think not.

6) Last but not least, those sugar (or salt) scrubs. Both sugar and salt grains are much too big and have too many sharp edges for your skin to handle. They cause micro-tears in your skin and in worse case scenarios, scarring and even broken capillaries. Apricot scrubs of any kind have the same effect; it’s a bit like rubbing broken shells or sand on your face.

Now that the nasty products have been named and shamed, it’s time to think of the positives. There’s plenty of food out there that you can use. Honey has wonderful moisturising properties, avocados contain the perfect gentle balance of Vitamin C and amino acids and yogurt is full of enzymes and zinc. All these do a great job at cleaning and softening your skin while protecting it with their anti-oxidant properties.

However, remember to test your face mask on a small area of skin first – might seem pointless, but you definitely don’t want to wake up and realise you have a food allergy that you had no idea about.  Home spa treatments are cheap and accessible to everyone: just remember to keep pH in mind and do a test patch first!

Fashion under the mistletoe

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

 

CHRISTMAS PARTY:

 

Look 1

Top: ZARA Short Studio Top – 49.99 GBP

Skirt: TOPSHOP Velvet Sequin Pencil Skirt – 42.00 GBP

Necklace: ACCESSORIZE Katy Jewelled Montana Necklace – 25.00 GBP

Clutch: ZARA Furry Clutch bag – 19.99 GBP

Shoes: ZARA Leather High Heeled Court Shoe – 79.99 GBP

Look 2

Dress: TOPSHOP Satin Slip Dress – 38.00 GBP

Earrings: ACCESSORIZE Monochrome Catwalk Jewel Earrings – 12.00 GBP

Clutch: ASOS Leather and Boucle Weave Clutch – 40.00 GBP

Shoes: ASOS Photo-shoot Pointed High Heels – 45.00 GBP

 

 

CHRISTMAS DAY:

 

Look 1

 

Dress: TOPSHOP V Front Chiffon Insert Dress – 38.00GBP

Kimono: H&M Embroidered Navy Kimono – 49.99 GBP

Shoes: ASOS Handshake Heeled Sandals – 33.50 GBP

Nails: TOPSHOP ‘Solar’ Gold/ Pink – 6.00 GBP

 

Look 2

Jumpsuit: TOPSHOP Matte Satin T-Shirt Jumpsuit – 60.00 GBP

Necklace: URBAN OUTFITTERS Lovebullets Smoky Quartz in Silver – 22.00 GBP

Ring: ACCESSORIZE Sterling Silver Marcasite Vine Rine – 12.00 GBP

Ring: ACCESSORIZE Aaliyah Stone Ring – 14.00 GBP

Shoes: ASOS Paradox Pointed Heels 27.00 GBP

Lips: TOPSHOP Lip Bullet in: Wine Gum – 8.00 GBP

 

 

 

 

NEW YEAR’S EVE

Look 1

Jumpsuit: TOPSHOP Satin Animal Jumpsuit – 58.00 GBP

Necklace: Urban Outfitters Two-Way Necklace in Silver 12.00 GBP

Shoes: ASOS Switch Up lace-up Heels 40.00 GBP

Lips: TOPSHOP Lips in: Called Up – 8.00 GBP

 

 

Look 2

Dress: ZARA Strappy Dress – 39.99 GBP

Top: ZARA Sweater With Open Back – 25.99 GBP

Earrings: ACCESSORIZE Maisie Jewel Earrings – 10.00 GBP

Shoes: ASOS Hoxton Heeled Sandals – 42.00 GBP

 

 

Student takes ‘TukTuk’ hostage in pay dispute with Social Junkies

Written by Aidan Gregory on . Posted in News.

Social Junkies are embroiled in a pay dispute with a third year student, which resulted in an expensive prop of theirs being taken hostage.

The former employee, who wishes to remain anonymous, worked  for them during his first two years of university, then full time during Welcome Week 2013. He then decided to leave in order to concentrate on his studies. By that point, he claims that Social Junkies owed him a rounded down total of £800 in wages and expenses, of which he only originally received £300.

Speaking to The Mancunion, he said that “[Social Junkies] basically said that they wouldn’t pay me for the work I’d done during welcome week because I wasn’t carrying on the work. The intention in third year had been for me to event manage, and for me to be paid based on the profits of the night. So basically when the night made a loss, I wasn’t paid anything, and when it made a profit I would be paid 20 per cent.”

The student resorted to direct action, “When they said they wouldn’t pay me, I decided to take quite a valuable asset off them, and said that I would give it back as soon as they paid me.”

The student took hostage Social Junkies’ TukTuk – a rickshaw that the company bought to promote their Thai themed night held at Antwerp Mansion every month – it reportedly cost the company £1,300 to buy.

In an email, Louis Alexander, one of the original owners of Social Junkies, said, “We cannot discuss any settlement unless we know that the TukTuk can be retrieved from whence it is hiding. If it cannot, it is court.”

Faced with the threat of legal action, the student sought legal advice from the Students’ Union, who instructed him to return the TukTuk. Having done so, Social Junkies paid out a further £280. Following this payment, the student insists that he is still owed the sum of £250.

The well-known club promoting company told the employee in an email shown to The Mancunion that, “as a 20 per cent shareholder you were subject to 20 twenty per cent of the profits and 20 per cent of the losses. We had no intention of asking you to contribute to the set-up costs and losses if you were still working on the night as it would have made money and the losses would have been paid off within a few events.”

But, they continued, “It is clear that you have not been telling us the truth for a while now. You told us that you were going to help and work on TukTuk. This is clearly not the case”.

The student was also working for a rival club night. But, he said he originally “did have every intention of quitting the promotions scene altogether,” but due to the pay dispute “I was left with no option but to look to earn money elsewhere.”

Having discovered this, Social Junkies said “due to your lies and deceit and the predicament that you leave us in we feel we may have to ask for a proportion of the money owed by you to be paid if your new event starts to make money and you start to have accessible cash.

“The losses are currently at £5,235. Your share of this loss is £1047. Deducting the money we owe you from the money you owe us, this leaves an outstanding amount of £762.50 that you owe to us.”

The student maintains that holding him liable for the night’s losses in this way is “just ridiculous”, and that “I never agreed to that”.

Alternatively, Social Junkies offered to “forget the whole sorry saga and move on in different directions”.

The controversial nightclub promoters, who are responsible for nights such as the Bop, Pout, Rehab, and TukTuk, courted controversy last year with risky club themes, accusations of hall committee infiltration, and recruiting reps based on ‘looks and banter’.

The Mancunion made repeated attempts to contact Social Junkies for comment, but they were unresponsive.

And we’ll never be royals royals…

Written by Natalie Clark on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

To many, the Royal Family invoke the same feelings a relationship with marmite might; you love them, aren’t their biggest fan, or often call for a full-blown revolution. However, it cannot be denied that to the rest of the world, the Royals are undoubtedly a great symbol of our fair Isles. So, when one is representing an entire nation, one must be impeccably, elegantly and of course ‘economically’ dressed. But when it comes to fashion, are our regal representatives style icons?

It almost seems a silly question. Aside from a few bumps (Beatrice, we are looking at you for that Phillip Treacy whatever-you-want-to-call-it-lobster-hat) and hiccups (Zara Phillips…just no) along the way, there has been a long line of fashionable royals who have set trends throughout history.

Getty Images

As monarch, Queen Elizabeth II’s fashion freedom has been restrained, having to dress diplomatically and conservatively. Never would you catch a glance of Her Majesty’s cleavage or glimpse her sporting a mini dress. However, her ornate brooches, bursts of bright colour blocking, co-oridnated hats and of course that Launer (of which she must have every colour) bag she carries everywhere are just some of the things that make our sartorial sovereign an icon.

Princess Margaret’s nipped in waists, splashes of fur, statement jewellery and more ‘daring’ necklines granted the Queen’s sister fashion icon status in the late ‘40s and well into the ‘50s. She oozed Hollywood glamour balanced with majestic grace. As a patron of the House of Dior, who can deny her style’s iconic position?

Diana Princess of Wales will always be the ‘People’s Princess.’ Putting aside her marital problems and wonderful humanitarian work, she is an undeniable fashion icon of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Her royal status soon evolved into that of an international celebrity, and though the Palace’s lips began to purse, ensembles including that figure hugging cocktail dress worn with confidence to the 1994 Serpentine Benefit (said to be in response to the documentary aired on her husband’s infidelities), firmly cemented her fashion legacy.

 

Flickr: UK_repsome

The entrance of the Duchess of Cambridge into the fashion world has been met with tremendous enthusiasm. Her blend of high street and designer apparel has made her style extremely accessible and appealing. The Issa navy dress worn in her engagement photos sold out within hours, and every pair of her signature LK Bennett nude heels have been snapped up. Kate’s modern twist on the royal rules of fashion has made her an ambassador of British fashion.

The Royal family have always stuck to home grown British designers and continually promote the designs on the world platform. In recent years, Kate Middleton’s style status has projected designers such as Jenny Peckham and Alice Temperley to the forefront of the industry. These royal icons are just a handful of those who have left their mark on the evolving world of fashion, and will continue to do so as long as their reign shall be. God save our gracious Queen, and all of her fabulous hats too!

 

Noise and Signal

Written by Jasper Llewellyn on . Posted in Arts.

Daksha Patel has been making work for a number of years now across the North West, regularly displaying pieces across Manchester and Liverpool in galleries including The Cornerhouse in Manchester and FACT in Liverpool. The overarching point of focus throughout Patel’s career so far has been, what she describes as, ‘medical visualisation technologies’ and yes, it seems like a somewhat unorthodoxly scientific interest for such a visual artist, however, after five minutes looking at/with/in her work, it all somehow seems to make complete sense.

‘Would you like to see your body rhythms as part of a piece of artwork? ‘– This is the premise of Patel’s latest work, entitled ‘Noise and Signal’ which ran unfortunately for only 4 hours last weekend at the Cornerhouse. Using sensors monitoring the subtlest heat changes on the end of your index and middle fingers, Patel aimed to map participants’ responses to other pieces of artwork within the Cornerhouse by undertaking live drawing as the readings coming from the sensor were projected on to the wall of Cornerhouse’s ‘Annexe’ space, a room often devoted to live and installation art. Glimpses of abstract grid-like formations appeared on the wall with random frequency as participants ventured out into the main Cornerhouse gallery and bar area, complete with skin sensor and a wireless pack which sent readings back to the Annexe where they were combined with readings from Patel’s own body and then run through an assortment of programs before appearing physically as blueprint-esque projections. This is where Patel’s skill with a pen came into play as she keenly focused on the movements of the projections, drawing over the projected image and often personalising it with small touches of her own. I thought this was a fantastic piece, which raised some really interesting questions about how we view art on a sub-conscious level, and I’d really recommend keeping an eye out on what she does next. Check out her ‘Fat Drawings’ if you’re interested.

 

The Royal Opera House

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Arts.

Situated in Covent Garden and home to two of the most famous opera and ballet companies in the world, it’s a shame that many believe it to be a posh place where only old people go. I first attended the Royal Opera House when I was thirteen, and it has been a big part of my life ever since.  I grew up watching videos of ballet stars performing but watching it live and being in such a grand place is a completely different experience. The building was originally built in 1732, however most of what is seen nowadays was built in the 1990s. Before then, guests would have had to enter through a different entrance if they had cheaper seats in the amphitheatre. Now, people enter together, whether they’re in suit and tie or jeans, to be settled in one of over 2,200 places to watch a fantastic performance.

So how did I end up working for the one of the leading companies in the arts sector? Well when I first heard of the Student Ambassador scheme, I never actually thought I’d get a place on it. I hadn’t danced for a number of years and had never seen an opera, and yet something I said at the interview managed to work.

The Student Ambassador scheme was new last season; devotion to student interest is clearly a priority for the Royal Opera House. With the average age of visitors at over 55, it is crucial to bring in new people, particularly students. That is where the Student Ambassadors come into play. We have meetings where we discuss the new ways to involve students with productions on the various stages and with the Royal Opera House Live Cinema Season. The general conclusion of our last meeting was that the cheaper something is, the more likely a student will go and see it.

It’s not all boring meetings. As we are all either part of team-ballet or team-opera, there are treats for us all. So far, I have wandered around the backstage of the Royal Opera House (including standing on the main stage), listened to a speech from Kasper Holten, Director of The Royal Opera, and witnessed a rehearsal for The Royal Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker. So far, I’ve been to two Student Amphitheatre performances  – a ballet, Don Quixote, and my first ever opera, Wozzeck.

The Student amphitheatre performances are just one way in which students have the opportunity to see a ballet or opera. These are specified performances in which the entire amphitheatre is reserved for students, at prices between £2 and £20. There are also allocations of 20 tickets for every single main stage performance that students can buy before the general public. Finally, if you, are willing to drop anything to go see something, then there are also £10 standby tickets (which is where the name for the Student Standby Scheme comes from!), which is for any unsold seats up to 24 hours before a performance. If it’s difficult to get down to London, then you can always see a live cinema screening, where you can even see what goes on backstage in the interval breaks.

So there you have it. Ballet and opera is for normal people too. It’s not all elitist, and it’s definitely not all about fat people singing, or men in tights and women in tutus. Though trust me, the man in tights isn’t such a bad look. You never know, the rousing music and drama might be something for you.

Sign up for free at www.roh.org.uk/studentstandby to get access to great low price tickets at the Royal Opera House. To find live opera or ballet in a cinema near you visit www.roh.org.uk/cinema

Fashion, beauty and … technology?

Written by Mancunion on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

Image: www.shop.cutecircuit.comWith the increase of new technological channels such as blogging, social networking and the e-commerce explosion, it is no wonder that new technology has fused with fashion – and in such exceptional ways. Take for example Hussein Chalayan, one of the most innovative fashion designers in the world, who integrates fashion with architecture and technology to create extraordinary pieces of art that can also be worn. His catwalk shows are often perceived as performances due to his use of music, cinema and installation. In 2008, Chalayan designed a collection of LED dresses in collaboration with Swarovski – his work was on display at the Design Museum in London, 2009. Another incredible example of his fashion fusion with technology -Chalayan designed a living room where each object was created with the purpose of being worn or disguised. For example, the clothes were disguised as chair covers with suitcases as the chairs. A women’s skirt was also converted into a wooden coffee table. You can see all these incredible images on Chalayan’s website: www.chalayan.com/afterwords/Image: www.shop.cutecircuit.com

“Technology touches every part of our lives and is becoming increasingly prevalent in fashion in terms of fabric and design.” – Little Miss Geek founder Belinda Parmar. Other amazing examples of technology within fashion lie with Cute Circuit, whose ‘Ready to Wear’ collection was the “first ever micro-technology infused fashion collection on the market and continues to lead the way in interactive RTW.” (Cutecircuit.com 2010) The brand was endorsed by celebrities, such as Katy Perry who wore a light pink gown adorned with LED lights. Nicole Scherzinger also wore the world’s first ‘Haute Couture Twitter Dress’ which included the latest technology in LED lighting showing animations and realtime tweets. By using the hashtag #tweetthedress, fans could see their messages flash over the dress. See the video at: www.cutecircuit.com/collections/twitter-dress/. If you would like to get your hands on one of these extraordinary designs, the ‘K’ dress from CuteCircuit was inspired by the one worn by Katy Perry and would set you back £1,500.00. The LED lights can be set to whatever colour and pattern you choose via a controller and can charged using a USB right off your laptop!

New technology is not only being featured in Fashion, but also in Beauty…NASA technology for your skin? Yes please! This new ‘Youth Booster’ moisturiser by IOMA is boasting to use the same MEMS technology “found in the Curiosity robot currently investigating Mars as part of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory mission.” (Vogue) The MEMS sensor cap lets you test your skins hydration, by counting the number of LED lights that appear to tell you how many times to apply the cream. – Exclusively at Harrods: Priced at £149.

Top 5: Fashion apps

Written by Charlie Dick on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

1) Snap Fashion

Remember seeing that most beautiful dress on your favorite celebrity, looking perfect on the pages of your fashion magazine? Remember having no idea who or where the dress even came from? Well I do, and I also remember the feeling of disappointment of knowing that I’ll probably never know where to buy it. Well, let me introduce you to Snap Fashion. The fashion app that allows you to upload a photo of that perfect-for-my-next-occasion-dress (or any other much desired item) and it will find it online or recommend similar items. See it, snap it, buy it! Thank you Snap Fashion!  www.snapfashion.co.uk

 

2)    Pinterest.

From sports stars to kitchen sinks, this app allows you to keep a log of everything you like. Therefore, it comes with no surprise that fashion has become one of its most popular categories. The mobile version of the highly used social media site takes ‘pinning’ inspirational, beautiful and occasional novelty photographs on the move. By organising these images into categorised ‘boards’, it’s easy to keep a track of your wish-list items or potential outfits. You may even find a friend’s board that’s worth following, as long as you can ignore their 700 pictures of dogs in roller-skates. 

 

3)    The Hunt.

Desperately want that jumper from that Instagram you liked? Can’t find where to buy that necklace off of that Tumblr you saw? Worry not, because The Hunt is here to facilitate your materialism. Think of it like a sociable version of Snap Fashion. ‘Hunts’ can be created by uploading a photo of what you’re looking for either from your files or a linked social media site. Then, after adding a brief description, you hope that fellow ‘hunters’ will help you find it whilst you do the same for them. With a growing number of ‘hunters’, matches are becoming more and more successful.

4)    Style.com

The infamous fashion website can now fit into your palm, pocket or Mulberry clutch. The app brings you the latest information and photos on the most glamorous and important runway looks and parties. With constant updates direct to your phone you’ll feel like you were there too, rubbing shoulders with some of fashion’s most influential people. If browsing through endless ready-to-wear, couture, resort and menswear shows is too tedious for your bus ride, the app also gives you a simple look of the day as instant gratification for the eyes.

 

5)    GQ

Taking content from print to digital is not a new concept. However, when it’s done with effortlessly cool consistency using a layout of functional and aesthetic pleasure it’s difficult not to get excited about it. GQ offers an on-the-go style manual packed full of exclusive features as well as offering the chance to download and subscribe to current issues. With articles covering politics, cars, films, sex, music, technology and so much more, this really is an app for the modern man… as long as you have the memory space available.

Live: Kodaline

Written by Shanda Moorghen on . Posted in Music.

17th November

The Ritz

7/10

Previously known as 21 Guns, Kodaline made history in 2007 when their independently released track “Give Me A Minute” topped the Irish charts. With Steve Garrigan at the helm, the band from Dublin arrived at The Ritz in search of an even bigger audience for their album In A Perfect World

Starting the night off was talented young singer James Bay. His first EP having just been released, it proved a perfect opportunity to showcase his talent with tracks like ‘Move Together’ and ‘Stealing Cars’. Following the opening act, Irish folk pop duo Hudson Taylor took to the stage. As soon as they started, it became clear that they were destined for greater things. With excellent songs like ‘Care’ and ‘Battles’ highlighting their set, they even managed to get the crowd to sing along. By the time Hudson Taylor finished, the crowd was demanding for more and the duo hinted that they would be back in town at the end of the month for their own tour.

It was soon Kodaline’s turn to shine. Opening with ‘After The Fall’, Garrigan immediately connected with the audience with his beautiful pure voice. In a skillful and emotional statement of intent, cinematic in scope and able to cause goose bumps almost at will, Kodaline mastered the beginning of its set like rarely before. However, as strong as the start was, they struggled a bit to keep the audience in their grasp with their less known tracks. Given their album was only out this year, it was no real surprise.  Nevertheless, Garrigan was bound to make an impression. Disappearing after their performance of ‘All Comes Down’, they reappeared on the balcony of The Ritz, in the middle of the crowd, to sing ‘Bring It On Home To Me’, to the delight of the audience. In a somewhat expected turn, they closed with beautifully written song ‘All I Want’ with backing vocals from Hudson Taylor, hence providing an adequate finish to a great night of music.

Kodaline have still a long way to go before claiming their place as big-buck contenders but they have all the components for greatness, with choruses so beautiful and heart-wrenching that the drawing of thousands of people holding festival lighters singing in unison paints itself.

Warehouse Project DJ plays Fallowfield house-party

Written by Gawain Owen on . Posted in News.

A DJ duo who played at Warehouse Project turned up at a house-party in Fallowfield on the weekend.

Lancaster upcoming music duo Bondax headlined the party hosted by Kieran Jandu of The University of Manchester. Jandu grew up with the two members of Bondax, George and Adam, and was fortunate enough to have them play a set in his basement only hours after playing at The Warehouse Project on Saturday night, 16 November.

Alongside Bondax, Transmission Collective also played a set in the students’ basement. The house on Victoria Road was transformed into an unofficial after party for The Warehouse Project.

But, this was not the only big name playing at a house party in Fallowfield on Saturday night. Only a few streets down on Granville Road, well known garage and grime DJ, Preditah, graced attendees with an unexpected visit.

After playing a set in Red Rum, Fallowfield, two Manchester students invited him to a house party nearby.

To their surprise he agreed and within the hour was playing in their living room.

Interview: David Rieff

Written by Sam Dumitriu on . Posted in Features.

What gives a humanitarian institution in London or New York the right to go into someone else’s country and say they know what should be done?

It was this question David Rieff attempted to answer when he gave the annual public lecture at Manchester’s Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute. The question is not merely academic for Rieff, who as a journalist throughout the nineties covered almost every major humanitarian disaster, from Rwanda and Congo to Bosnia and Kosovo. If Rieff was in your country in the nineties, the odds were good that something bad was happening.

“I think there are a bunch of questions that need to be asked that we take too easily for granted about humanitarian action.  What gives it its legitimacy? People start in the middle when they talk about this question. They talk about what should be done, which is entirely appropriate. But, what gives a humanitarian institution in London or New York – or for that matter Rio De Janiero or Cape Town the right to go into someone else’s country and say they know what should be done?”

Rieff is correct; when we see the suffering on our TVs caused by super typhoon Haiyan, our first response is how can we help. Questions of legitimacy never enter into the equation.

“Kofi Annan’s favourite saying, which was taken from Edmund Burke was ‘the only thing needed for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing’. But, wanting to do something and knowing what to do are two different things. Saying something should be done and saying you have the right to do it, are not the same things.”

One aspect of humanitarianism where the question of legitimacy has come up is humanitarian intervention. Earlier in the year, when intervention in Syria was floated the public, along with MPs, broadly opposed it.  The optimism for intervention in the wake of Kosovo seems to have disappeared; Rieff has shifted with the public from optimism to scepticism. Why have the public fallen out of favour with humanitarian intervention?

“Humanitarian intervention and humanitarian action are two different things. What we mean by humanitarian intervention is humanitarian war, or war in the name of preventing massive war crimes. That is one extreme side of the humanitarian world.

“I don’t find it surprising that large majorities are against intervention in Syria because nobody knows what they would do there. I think there’s a lot of buyer’s remorse about Libya. Lots of things were promised by France and the US about what would happen if Gaddafi was overthrown and for the most part it doesn’t seemed to have worked out rather well.

“I don’t find that surprising at all, but let me be clear, to condemn that is not to condemn all humanitarian action, the things that Oxfam does, the things that Doctors without Borders do.”

Crises like Syria seem unsolvable; any action we take can seem futile in the face of all the suffering that will happen regardless. Is there a sense of pessimism challenging to humanitarian action?

“Did it live up to all of its promises? No. But what does. The relief organisations do a lot of work, think of medical relief work, of public health work, of famine relief. All that has been very successful, there used to be a famine every 30 years in some places in the world. Now, when there is a famine, at least in the last 15 to 20 years, fewer people die.

“If you look at just the vector of Somali famines in the past 100 years, you’ll see horrible as they are, tragic as they are, that actually they are stopped more quickly and efficiently. I don’t think there’s some general disenchantment.

“I think that’s what true is that in the first decade after the cold war that is in the nineties, the humanitarian actors seemed like magicians and a lot of hopes were vested in them that they couldn’t possibly have fulfilled. They were thought to be ten feet tall, and then there was a period where everyone was disenchanted. But I don’t think in 2013 that people still having the fantasies they did about Doctors Without Borders in Bosnia in 1994. That was 20 years ago.”

Various critics of humanitarian action have questioned the way we portray the subjects of humanitarian action. They argue that the way we portray victims of genocide and famine fails to respect their agency. Rieff is highly sceptical of the idea.

“What would agency for someone who is starving to death mean? I know people use these words but I don’t know what they mean. Humanitarian action is an emblem of social failure, political failure, state failure. Remember emergency relief isn’t the same as development aid. In development, I think those questions are very legitimate, to talk about agency, to say that big development agencies in the global north and in the UN system should listen more and lecture less. But when people are dying of hunger, if they could do something for themselves they would.

“Obviously when a crisis is over, then whether the relief agencies always do the right thing is in question and there is a problem with relief agencies exaggerating the disaster and the helplessness of the people suffering.

“Evangelical agencies that have been accused of trying to convert starving people, obviously that’s outrageous. But if somehow there’s an idea that this could be made into an equal partnership between the starving and the non-starving.  I think that’s wishful thinking.”

The popular view in humanitarian circles suggest that humanitarianism derives its legitimacy by being a part of political action as well as just providing aid. Oxfam International, for example, alongside helping the victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan actively campaigns for governments to take action against climate change.

“My view of humanitarian relief is that it does a limited number of things. It’s palliative it is not transformative. There are people within the humanitarian world who think of themselves as part of some larger solution. But there I agree with the former UN High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata who said ‘There are no humanitarian solutions to humanitarian problems’.

“I’m a sort of humanitarian fundamentalist, in the sense that humanitarianism does a comparably small, important, restricted thing very well. But no, it’s not an Archimedean lever to change the world.”

Rieff illustrates his fundamentalist view of humanitarianism with reference to his 2003 book A Bed for the Night, which is based off a Bertolt Brecht poem.

“He tells a story of a guy in New York at the height of the depression, who gives homeless people a bed for the night. The poem says the man won’t change the world, he won’t bring social justice, but for a night people won’t have snow falling on their heads. “

For Rieff humanitarian action derives its legitimacy from its limited scope. When humanitarianism becomes merely part of a broader political project we face problems, most importantly that people disagree. Rieff’s fundamentalist humanitarianism gives us reason to keep helping even when we lost faith in our political projects.

For more information on upcoming events hosted by the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute you can visit thier website: http://www.hcri.ac.uk/events/

Interview: Vicky Pryce

Written by Sam Dumitriu on . Posted in Features.

“I don’t think anyone expected me to go to prison, I was about the only who did.  I didn’t have anyone telling me what it would be like.”

Convicted in May of perverting the course of justice, Vicky Pryce was an unlikely candidate for prison.  Few expected her and politician ex-husband Chris Huhne to have been sentenced to prison for what ultimately amounted to lying about a few points on her driving license. Pryce chronicled her experiences in her new book, Prisonomics.

In not being fully prepared for prison, Pryce is hardly alone. She cites stats saying that 50% of women didn’t expect to be sentenced.

“I have met women who were in exactly that position, who were told by their probation officers and their solicitors that the chances of them going to prison was very small, so they turned up with just their handbag with nothing in it. And then were shocked, then the next thing that happens, is either; your sent straight down to the cells, assuming there’s any time to spend in there or you are taken straight to the prison.

“The only person you can talk to is your lawyer. You can’t ring anyone; you have to give away your mobile. It’s very anachronistic; it’s like going back to the Middle Ages. Once you’re there of course, you have to beg to have to make a phone call to select numbers and there’s no internet.

The worrying thing in some cases is that the woman convicted has made no long-term arrangements for her children. The Revolving Doors Agency found in a survey of 1400 women prisoners that 42 women had no idea who was looking after their children. Aside from the terrifying prospect that the children might be left on their own, it is intensely traumatic for the women entering prison.

“There is panic. In a number of cases the women would have left their children with a neighbour and expected to return in the evening. They have no contact and no ability to get anything in the next few days, in terms of anything to keep them warm and so on. It’s not very comfortable.

“It’s very difficult for the children as you can imagine. Also, sadly there are some women who don’t tell anyone anything about their children because they’re afraid they’ll be taken into care. They go away without any form of support.”

One of the most surprising things about Prisonomics was just how nice all the other prisoners seemed.  This wasn’t like in Orange is New Black where the prisoners starved Piper out (a show that coincidentally Vicky Pryce has not seen). Was she surprised by how nice the prisoners were?

“To tell you the truth I didn’t know what to expect. The moment I left the courtroom, and then got into the van to go to prison – the people in the van, the officers, another girl who was on remand, we were all in there in these separate cubicles – the photographers who were mostly men were banging their cameras against the walls of the Black Maria which takes you across to the prison trying to pictures of me through the cubicles. The interesting thing was that the Serco staff in there and this girl were so sympathetic. I realised there is a solidarity there and I found that in great measure once I got into Holloway and then again in East Sutton again.

“It wasn’t just for me, because of course I was well known. But, everyone who was coming in also was given a huge amount of help. It wasn’t just me they nice to.”

Pryce served time in two prisons. Four days in Holloway and two months in East Sutton Park open prison.

“The difference was black and white. I had no idea what open prison was about. I assumed you had slightly more freedoms . But I wasn’t expecting to go to a place in the middle of the country in an Elizabethan country house, with huge grounds around it, no fences, no lockups.

“People were running around doing their own thing. People didn’t have a cell; they had a room they shared. It was how I imagine a boarding house to be, not that I’ve ever been in one.”

Pryce reaches some radical conclusions, she argues that the vast majority of women prisoners shouldn’t be behind bars and that community sentencing is a better alternative. One of the many problems with Britain’s prison system is its inability to deal with drug addiction.

“A big percentage of prisoners do drugs for the first time while in prison.”

Many women who enter prison either have serious drug problems or suffer from mental illness. For instance, 37 per cent of women sent to prison have attempted suicide at one point in their lives, while just over half of female remand prisoners were addicted to drugs in the year before entering prison. Is prison really the best option in these cases?

“I seriously think that turning a prison into an amateur psychiatric unit, which happened in Holloway and happens elsewhere is a mistaken policy. Women on drugs are not necessarily responsible for what they are doing. They should be possibly treated in residential establishments for their particular problem or dealt with by the various women’s centres where are there are actually courses going on, instead of going to prison and being given Mephedrone.

“That’s not really what prisons were meant to be there for, and they’re frankly a huge strain on the prison officers and everyone else around them. “

When the topic of short sentences comes up, Pryce is scathing. Do they serve any good to society?

“I presume they make people happy that some action is being taken, the Daily Mail readers feel satisfied. But of course, they come up out and reoffend quite a lot. I’m not in favour of making sentences any longer, I’m in favour of not sending anyone who would get short sentences to prison, particularly mothers, when there are other ways of dealing with it.

“Community service and community orders are much cheaper and they have a better record in terms of reoffending. I mean they are hugely cheaper, they keep people in close with their families and they allow therefore integration to happen much more easily. It’s a no brainer really.”

But is community service an effective deterrent?

“All the studies suggest that prison is not a deterrent for crime. So if prison is not a deterrent, you might as well use something that’s cheaper. In terms of deterrence from crime, the greatest deterrent is the likelihood of being caught. It’s not the length of the sentences; it’s the whether you expect to get caught. Most criminals commit crimes because they don’t think they are going to get caught. People generally do not get caught. Targeted policing is a better deterrent than anything else. “

Britain puts more people in prison per 100,000 than any other country in the west bar America. Why is the prison population so large?

“What has happened is that sentences became longer. Particularly during the end of the Major years and the beginning of the Labour period when they were getting tough on crime and wanted to be even tougher than the conservatives. The whole climate changed and there were longer sentences and many more things people did were classified as offences. We saw a doubling of the prison population in 20 years. If we went back to where we were we’d save huge amounts of money.

“People try to link the reduction in crime to the increase in the prison population. But the correlation doesn’t work that way, we are putting more people in prison even though crime is going down.”

So how do we make prisons work?

“I think education and employment are two of the most important things which have the greatest return in terms of value for money. My view is that the cost-benefit analysis has not been done yet in government. Helping people find jobs and taking away the stigma of being convicted would be the biggest contribution to society. It would reduce unemployment and reduce the rate of re-offence.”

Vicky Pryce’s book Prisonomics, published by BiteBack Publishing is out now and available in all good bookshops. Royalties from the book will be donated to Working Chance a charity that helps former women prisoners find work.

 

University reception moved amid ‘security concerns’ over course closure protest

Written by Gawain Owen on . Posted in News.

‘Security concerns’ apparently posed by a student protest meant a social responsibility reception hosted by the University of Manchester had to move location last week.

The protest was in reaction to a recent decision made by the University to close Learning Disability Studies from 2014 onward.

The pre-planned protest was set to coincide with the Social Responsibility reception, which was originally to be held in the University’s John Rylands Library at Deansgate. But, concerns the protest would cause too much disruption to the event meant it was moved to Whitworth Hall on the main campus.

“Given the prospect of a protest, the main campus was considered to be a more appropriate venue,” a University spokesman said.

Support for the protest against the closure of the Disability Studies course has increased over the past couple of weeks. The online petition to save the course has exceeded one thousand signatories.

But there appears to be no signal from the University of any plans to u-turn on their decision to closing the course.

A spokesman for the University said, “We do not believe that we will be able to recruit sufficient students in the future to make this programme sustainable.”

Elbow singer opens £34m MMU School of Art

Written by Michael Williams on . Posted in News.

Manchester Metropolitan University unveiled a £34million School of Art building last week – with a little help from Elbow frontman Guy Garvey.

Garvey, who was awarded an honorary degree by the University last year, said he accepted the invite because “the measure of a community is how it treats its arts.”

“When arts funding is so scarce and MMU is investing £34m, it makes me proud to be a Mancunian,” said Garvey.

“I think the arts are a barometer of a city’s spiritual and moral health.”

Garvey was joined by property developer Tom Bloxham MBE, graphic designer Malcolm Garrett, and Director and CEO of Cornerhouse Dave Moutrey for the opening of the ‘Benzie Building’ last Monday, on the School’s 175th anniversary.

The building is named after outgoing chair of governors Alan Benzie, who also spoke at the event. Benzie was instrumental in securing funding for the building, which is England’s first municipal art school.

Starting life as the Manchester School of Design in 1838, the school provided, for a period in 1880, the only higher education offered to women. Eventually, the school joined with Manchester Polytechnic in 1978 and was later absorbed by Manchester Metropolitan University.

David Threlfall, best known for playing Frank in Channel 4’s ‘Shameless’, called the new Benzie building “a wonderful place to try out your artistic endeavours” when he spoke via video link at the event.

Manchester City Council Leader Sir Richard Leese said the new building is “quite revolutionary” and spoke of the School being “one of the city’s great institutions.” Sir Richard also spoke of the need for more acknowledgment of the arts as “economic drivers” and “improving the quality of life”.

Also appearing via video was animator Brian Cosgrove, who met friend Mark Hall at the original Manchester Regional College of Art and went on to form Cosgrove Hall Films – producing such classic cartoons as Count Duckula and Danger Mouse. Cosgrove spoke fondly of his time studying in Manchester, praising the feeling of “being among artists” and “understanding what art was”.

The Benzie Building is now open, and can be found on MMU’s main All Saints campus.