The Whitworth

Headshot of poet Rommi Smith at the Whitworth

Image of Zaffar Kunial standing in front of patterned blue wallpaper

  • Headshot of poet Rommi Smith at the Whitworth
  • Image of Zaffar Kunial standing in front of patterned blue wallpaper

Rommi Smith – Bodies of Colour
Rommi Smith was commissioned by Manchester Literature Festival and the Whitworth, The University of Manchester to create a poetic response to the Bodies of Colour: Breaking with Stereotypes in the Wallpaper Collection exhibition. The resulting script, a collaboration between poet, playwright and performer Rommi Smith, musician and composer Dave Evans and performance director Sonia Hughes was performed at The Whitworth on Thursday 18 October as part of the 2018 Manchester Literature Festival. You can watch videos of their performance by following the links below.

Zaffar Kunial – Layers
Zaffar Kunial was commissioned by Manchester Literature Festival and The Whitworth to create a sequence of new poems responding to the work of artist Raqib Shaw. He also took inspiration from a visit to Raqib Shaw’s studio in Autumn 2017. The poems were performed at a special event at The Whitworth on Thursday 19th October as part of the 2017 Manchester Literature Festival. You can read the resulting work by clicking on the link above.

Kei Miller – A Rake's Progress
Kei Miller was commissioned by Manchester Literature Festival to write a sequence of poems responding to the Hockney to Hogarth: A Rake’s Progress exhibition at the Whitworth Art Gallery, showing 6 October 2012 – 3 February 2013. The resulting work was performed at an event in the Whitworth Art Gallery on Sunday 14th October. You can watch Kei perform an extract of his new work at the Whitworth Art Gallery below and download the full text of the poems above.