Words by Estelle Derraj
The Art Collective, TAC, is one of the University of Manchester’s newest societies. They grew from an observation: Manchester’s creative scene, although riddled with fragmentation, sought opportunities to share art and joy within broader communities.
Being a UNESCO creative city, Manchester’s DIY arts scene is inevitably bursting at the seams with music, art, and poetry, however, events are often divided by discipline and occur separately. TAC is determined to create multi-disciplinary spaces which are authentic and welcoming to those entering the creative community as well as those who have experience within it: spaces for all who share a passion for art in its many forms, which blurs the line between creatives and audience.
The Mancunion spoke with TAC’s committee Chair Shriya Bajpai and Inclusion Officer Saira Zaman during their first and latest exhibition ‘Dissect’, to understand what changes they want to make and why the existence of societies like TAC is so important, not only for students, but for Manchester’s creative scene at large.
The Art Collective’s story did not begin when they formalized as a society. Rather, it was an idea birthed by Hamzeh Zaidan, TAC’s Treasurer, and developed by Shriya in the months before making TAC a fully-fledged society in September. “We recognised the fact that the artistic community was fragmented, but people cared about each other. We wanted to build a space where they could come together […] to remove the prerequisites, and allow people to interact and have fun”.
From there, feelers were put out on social media to see if the idea gained traction, and, over the 2024 summer, Shriya and Hamzeh got to work putting their idea into action, reaching out to form the full committee — Inclusion Officer Saira Zaman, Events Officer Ben Chesworth, and Communications Secretary Soracha Boehm.
So far, their socials, held at Withington Public Hall, have connected creatives from within and beyond the student body. While TAC is still in its early days, the response from its members has been overwhelmingly positive. Shriya explained that they’ve “had incredible feedback that this space feels very welcoming and warm”. She added, “I remember we came off of the second social and people were forming their own jam groups, coming together to perform by themselves. These are a lot of first-year students who have just met people, and to see that sort of community and interaction happening in our socials was lovely.”
TAC has also held open-call jam sessions — fully improvised and collectivist in nature, these focus on connecting sounds between musicians, rather than showcasing individual talents. Looking forward, the committee wants to continue these jams and socials, as well as welcoming ideas from its members about hosting workshops or events of their own.
The Art Collective held its first exhibition, ‘Dissect’, at Withington Public Hall on 30 November 2024, with all proceeds donated to Refugee Women’s Connect. Curated by Soracha Boehm, the interpretations of 12 artists explored themes of deconstruction and reconstruction through painting, collage, photography, and mixed media pieces. Driven by the values of multi-disciplinarity, community, and accessibility, the evening was a clear manifestation of the positive changes TAC hopes to foster within Manchester’s creative community.
‘Dissect’ was by no means your typical quiet affair. The evening ran alongside live improvised ambient music led by Miftah Amir (@amirism.space). This metamorphosis of sound acted as a deconstruction of genre itself — perfectly on theme. The fusion of drone, sampling, percussive elements, shoegaze-esque distortion, and noir jazz combined with repeating visuals and refrains held exhibition goers in an ambient purgatory. The layout, artwork surrounding the musicians in the centre of the room and mirrored on the outer walls, was designed to create conversation amongst people, but also between the pieces themselves.
To overcome barriers to submission, TAC put out an open-call for submissions from students and the public, displaying all the art they received. “You didn’t have to have a specific following to submit your art to this event […] we want to make sure it’s accessible for everybody”, Inclusion Officer Saira explained. For TAC, providing creative opportunities is important, but it is the building of supportive communities that is at the core of their mission. Shriya noted that TAC is “rooted in the concept that artistic identity has no correlation with specific artistic output [… ] creative output is not a prerequisite to artistic identity and we want to uphold that through our events and our conversations.’’ ‘Dissect’ was just that: a space for artists, musicians, storytellers, photographers, and art-lovers to come together in a night of creative conversation.
Withington Public Hall has become home-turf for TAC. As an establishment that is no stranger to South Manchester’s creative coming-togethers, such as Blah Open 2024, there could be no place more suitable. “Withington Public Hall has a very special place in our heart”, Shriya explained. The community hotspot has been an avid supporter of the University of Manchester’s societies, having hosted the Once A Month x SUBLiME period poverty fundraiser in December 2024. The TAC committee describes being welcomed with enthusiasm and open arms after presenting their ideas for a society to Withington Public Hall’s Neil Woodward. “It’s been very exciting to be able to work with [WPH], they’ve been very accommodating and understand we’re students, so they accommodate financially, they accommodate logistically, and of course, it’s a two-way road. We also make sure we are as considerate of them as possible”, Shriya explained.
In the future, TAC also looks to be more inclusive of the geographical diversity of the student body and hold events beyond Withington, such as their upcoming city centre event ‘DIGITAL LOVE’ at Fuel The Music.
Some hours into ‘Dissect’, it was away with the easels and in with the amps, as the space was reconstructed for a gig to bring the evening to a close. Poppy Holmes opened with an acoustic set, her performance of ‘Patchwork’ holding a powerful simplicity — a time to reflect on the art still resonant in the room. After, Grub’s reactive collage of sound journeyed from shoegaze to math rock to psychedelia. This was followed by producer Zolatec, with processed ethereal vocals and steel pan divulging into dark dance music. Lastly, Bipartisan closed the show.
‘Building for the community’ is at the core of The Art Collective and, as the final pints were poured and the night drew to a close, there really was a strong sense of community alive at WPH.
The future for TAC looks bright. They are much more than just a university society; the ideology fuelling TAC reflects a larger change that is coming to fruition within Manchester’s creative community, and hopefully in the wider world. This is a creative community that is welcoming and warm, free of fragmentation, where a lack of experience in no way makes you less of an artist. When The Mancunion asked about TAC’s goals going forward, Saira noted that they want to continue “building momentum.” and making events “more consistent so people feel like they have a place to belong to”. The Art Collective will continue to put community first, working on a “feedback-based basis” to “facilitate the community and where it wants to go”. They are steered by the values of giving something back to the creative scene that has allowed them to thrive.
You can support TAC at their next event ‘DIGITAL LOVE’ at Fuel The Music, 9pm-2am on Friday 21st February. Expect a high energy night of hyperpop and electronica with sounds from Phantasm, Noelle, Selva Solstice, PETRABOMB, and FOULMOUTH. Tickets start at £4 for members and £6 for non-members or OTD. Find out more about The Art Collective and their upcoming events on Instagram @tac_theartcollective and their website https://tactheartcollective.wordpress.com/.
