As a part of MIF 2019, radical Japanese art collective, Chim↑Pom, were invited by ‘Contact Young Curators’, 5 local and emerging artists brought together by MIF19 and Manchester’s Contact Theatre.
The installation sees Chim↑Pom’s respond to the historic Manchester cholera epidemic of the 1830s. Told you it was an unlikely inspiration.
Cholera swept through Manchester around 200 years ago, burying people in cholera pits in the streets surrounding what is now Victoria Sation and Angel Meadow. Thousands of people did survive though, avoiding drinking contaminated water by drink none other than BEER!
Yes, beer.
The city was drunk for a good few weeks.
Chim↑Pom’s A Drunk Pandemic takes place in a temporary brewery, which is being
specially built for the installation in a disused tunnel beneath Victoria Station.
They are hosting intimate and immersive hour-long tours of the brewery, ending with the opportunity to try the beer brewed on site exclusively for MIF19 by Salford’s Outstanding Brewing Company.
As well as the daily tours, Contact Young Curators and Chim↑Pom are hosting an
anarchic performance-art pub quiz in the subterranean brewery, accompanied by the beer
brewed on site.
In a one-off special event, Sanitising the Working Class, a host of local academics and other experts curated by Contact Young Curators will be discussing issues such as migration, sanitation and infection. They will be exploring the ways in which understanding of diseases such as cholera have affected historic and contemporary representations of the working classes at home and abroad.
A collaboration between Contact Young Curators and Chim↑Pom sees the creation and presentation of a programme of special events that will accompany A Drunk Pandemic.
It’s a unique opportunity to not only find out more about the fascinating part of Manchester’s history but see inside a part of the city that is rarely open to the public.
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Chim↑Pom @ MIF 2019
When: Friday 05 July – Sunday 21 July
Venue: Victoria Station Tunnels
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