Emergency

Updated 4 October 2024

Emergency is our annual platform for Live Art and contemporary performance — offering a sneak preview of new live work over a single day in Manchester every autumn and now resident at Contact, its seventh home.

Manchester’s 24th micro-marathon of the bizarre, the bold, and the beautiful took over Contact on Saturday 28 September 2024 from Noon to 10pm — presenting 28 short works throughout the building and its multiple spaces.

Discover 2024’s artists and see images from the event.

Manchester’s annual Live Art & performance platform, Emergency aims to be:
— a free to access public micro-festival and open submission platform;
— an opportunity for artists to meet, show, and peer review work;
— a selection event for a number of small Works Ahead commissions.

We usually expect to present about 25 short works throughout the building — so if you would like to take part in what is probably England’s longest-running Live Art event, please check back for our next open call in June 2025.

Emergency 24 presented by Word of Warning + Contact; produced by hÅb; supported by Contact and using public funding by Arts Council England.

Enquiries: emergency@habmcr.org · emergencymcr.org

Past Editions

First held at greenroom in 2000, Emergency also took place at International Anthony Burgess Foundation, BLANKSPACE, Castlefield Gallery, Z-arts & STUN Studio, NIAMOS, before finding a new home at Contact from 2020…

Get a feel for it with 2023’s programme & image gallery, 2022’s programme/gallery, 2021’s programme/gallery, 2019’s programme/gallery.

Emergency 23 presented 23 new works throughout the Contact building on 30 September 2023 — with a daytime of performance installations, one-to-ones, and interventions from Noon — followed by an evening full of short shows from 4pm — see a gallery of images.

Emergency 21 was a socially-distanced live walkthrough event at a newly re-opened Contact on 25 September 2021 — with audiences guided on a one-way journey through the refurbished building, pausing en route in gallery fashion — see a gallery of images.

Emergency StopGap was a new iteration in Manchester’s NIAMOS on 27 February 2020 — a small informal platform to bridge the gap between gallery and theatre, and to fill the empty months of winter… An informal ‘Thursday Late’ style evening with 13 durational live works and interventions throughout the building — see a gallery of images.

Emergency 24 Call for Proposals has Closed

Artists working in Live Art, contemporary performance, time-based media, and interdisciplinary arts were invited to submit proposals; work can be in any relevant artform/medium, though some live presence is desirable.

Emergency 24 combines an Afternoon of durational installation, intervention, and limited capacity work; followed by an Evening of short (max 20 mins) show-type pieces of work, works-in-progress, or extracts of longer work.

For details & to apply please visit emergencymcr.posthaven.com
Proposal Deadline: Friday 2 August 2024, 5pm