As live entertainment re-emerges from the pandemic, Manchester Collectiveâs latest project, Dark Days, Luminous Nights reimagines the live experience with an immersive, audio-visual installation that captures a city in transition.
The ambitious collaboration features work captured and recorded in Manchester and Salford during the pandemic from artists Simon Buckley and Blackhaine, alongside a score by Edmund Finnis, BĂ©la BartĂłk, and Wojciech Kilar.
Carmel Thomason talks to Manchester Collectiveâs co-founder, Adam Szabo to find out more:

Where did the idea of Dark Days, Luminous Nights come from?
Adam: âVery early on in the pandemic, it became clear that it wasnât going to be possible for us to continue making work in the ways that we had become accustomed. Weâre a touring organisation, but touring was off the menu. The idea for Dark Days, Luminous Nights was born out of a question: if you wanted to create an intense, artistic, musical experience for audiences that didnât involve any live musicians, what could that look like?â
How did you choose the two artists to work on this project?
Adam: âFrom the beginning, we were quite attracted to the idea of creating a piece that was rooted in a sense of place. None of us could travel, so it made a lot of sense to look inwards, to our homes and to our home cities. Simon Buckley has a very special connection to Manchester and Salford, and it was a real treat to see these twin cities through his eyes. Blackhaine on the other hand is just a phenomenon. We came across his brilliant music video for âDown By The Treeâ, a Pearl City track, and were hooked. We knew about 20 seconds in that we had to have him working on Dark Daysâ.
What is it about?
Adam: âItâs a pretty open work, I think people bring a lot of themselves to it. For me, itâs about the ways that cities change, and about the fact that in the end, nature always wins. In almost every frame and every photograph, there is a sense of nature waiting in the wings, slowly taking back control of this urban nightmareâ.
Has it changed your view of the city?
Adam: âAbsolutely. I didnât know Collyhurst at all before we shot the film â now itâs a place where I love spending time. Weâve all gotten to know the river Irk rather wellâ.
Who is the project aimed at?
Adam: âI think anyone can come to Dark Days and have an experience that is valuable and moving, but in particular, we had the citizens of Salford and Manchester in mind when we created the piece. The landscape of the film and photographs is not one that you get to see on screen very often, and thereâs something very special about seeing your home on screen through a filmmaker or photographerâs lensâ.

What can audiences expect from the experience? It is a new eclectic mix of art forms. How would you like the audience to approach it?
Adam: âCome with an open mind. Itâs an hour long â film, music, photographs. I guess weâre hoping to create a strong feeling in the hearts and minds of our audiences, but weâre never prescriptive about what that feeling should be. Iâm sure some people will have a strong reaction against the work, and thatâs fine. All we ask is that you come and listenâ.
What inspired you to be so ambitious during a pandemic?
Adam: âLast summer we had the option to close up shop, mothball, and wait it out till it all blew over. That option just seemed impossible for us. I think we all felt that if we stopped creating, then we would stop being artists. We wanted to keep working, and of course we had a responsibility to our players to create work for them if we could. Tying this whole piece together is a one-hour sound installation, recorded, mixed, mastered during the pandemic by our string orchestra. For many of those players, the piece we created together was their first bit of creative work for months. Stopping was never really an option for usâ.

How has the pandemic impacted the work of Manchester Collective?
Adam: âIn many ways itâs been pretty diabolical. We had a wonderful season of live work planned â European festivals, UK tours, all cancelled. But itâs not all been bad. Sometimes it can be liberating to have your hand forced when it comes to creating work in a different way. In the last 18 months weâve really pushed our work in the studio. We made Dark Days, Luminous Nights, we commissioned a huge amount of totally new music. This year has been very extending for us as well, and now that weâre starting to come out of the darker times, there are exciting opportunities aheadâ.
How will this project influence the future direction of Manchester Collective?
Adam: âWe would never have come up with this project had the pandemic not happened. Creating this kind of cross-arts collaboration wasnât something that we had ever done before. It was very difficult â every aspect of this project was something that we were doing for the first time! From shooting at night, to pre- and post-production on a short film, to learning about rigging and art exhibitions, to ticketing a 10 day run in hourly slots â itâs been a steep learning curve. But, now that weâve done it, I canât wait to see what the next project will beâ.
Is there anything else youâd like to say about the event?
Adam: âI hope that people like it. But more than that, I hope when they see it, they feel something. In many ways, this year has been paralysing â the monotony, the uncertainty. Great art can shock you out of that kind of rut. I hope people come and that they feel something againâ.
Dark Days, Luminous Nights is at The White Hotel, Salford from 3-10 June 2021. Visit manchestercollective.co.uk for details.