Organised by The Guardian
Join us for a livestreamed event with Argentine artist Marta Minujín on the opening evening of Manchester International Festival (MIF).
"People need this! We need new ideas and new places where people meet. Global symbols like Big Ben stand up straight and never change – but the world is always changing."
Marta Minujín
Renowned for her conceptual and participatory "living art", Minujín has created the centrepiece interactive installation for this year’s MIF - a colossal 42-metre model of a toppled Big Ben, made out of 20,000 political books that have shaped British politics and that will be taken down and given away free at the end of the festival.
As part of The Guardian’s 200th birthday celebrations, and on the eve of the installation’s opening, Minujín will present an exploration of what it means to be a "work in progress" drawing on seven decades of creating radical, pioneering art. She will then discuss these themes further in conversation with Alex Clark – and you will also have the chance to put your questions to this incredible and iconic artist in real-time.
Minujín’s first major large-scale UK commission, Big Ben Lying Down with Political Books will appear in Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester’s city centre for the duration of the festival. This follows previous installations by Minujín, such as The Parthenon of (once banned) Books in Documenta 14, Kassel, Germany and The Tower of Babel in her home country, which have powerfully reimagined global symbols to explore ideas about art, democracy and free expression.
Big Ben Lying Down with Political Books opens in Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester on July 2 and runs until July 18. On July 17 and 18,everyone is invited to come to the site and take away a book for free.
Running time: 45 minutes
Closed captions will be available for this event. To make use of this function, click the globe icon at the bottom of your screen once you have logged in to the event.