David Caines

David Caines

Animals of Manchester (including Humanz) was an intergenerational and interspecies live art project organised by Theatre of Research, Hamburg and the Live Art Development Agency, London, that explored ways to reinvent our relationship with animals. It took place on 20 & 21 July 2019 at the Whitworth gallery and park and was the closing event of the Manchester International Festival, attracting 16,000 visitors over the weekend. My role as ‘Scribe’ was to keep a visual record of the events that took place in the Town Hall (Standing Conference of Animals) over the weekend. At the close of the event my 10 artworks were presented to the human Lord Mayor of Manchester, Abid Latif Chohan, in the presence of the two cow mayors, Petal and Pandora. The artworks were eventually published in a limited edition and became the Animals of Manchester (including Humanz) Report.

Scroll to see the artworks and photos from the event

1. Animals of Manchester is open! Pencil, pen, acrylic paint and collage on paper 594 x 420mm ©2019 — 1. *Animals of Manchester is open!* Pencil, pen, acrylic paint and collage on paper 594 x 420mm ©2019

2. Open Town Hall Meeting. Be heard! Be the herd! Ruminate! Humans are animals too! Pencil, pen, acrylic paint and collage on paper 594 x 420mm ©2019

3. Cows and Humanz. 300,000 cows die for Manchester each year. Giving thanks to the cow. Pencil, pen, acrylic paint and collage on paper 594 x 420mm ©2019 — 3. *Cows and Humanz. 300,000 cows die for Manchester each year. Giving thanks to the cow.* Pencil, pen, acrylic paint and collage on paper 594 x 420mm ©2019

4. Open Town Hall Meeting #2. We have to stop killing animals! Pencil, pen, acrylic paint and collage on paper 594 x 420mm ©2019 — 4. *Open Town Hall Meeting #2. We have to stop killing animals!* Pencil, pen, acrylic paint and collage on paper 594 x 420mm ©2019

5. Rights for microbes! An injury to one is an injury to all. Pencil, pen, acrylic paint and collage on paper 594 x 420mm ©2019 — 5. *Rights for microbes! An injury to one is an injury to all.* Pencil, pen, acrylic paint and collage on paper 594 x 420mm ©2019

6. The Microbe Parade. We may be small but we are many! Pencil, pen, acrylic paint and collage on paper 594 x 420mm ©2019 — 6. *The Microbe Parade. We may be small but we are many!* Pencil, pen, acrylic paint and collage on paper 594 x 420mm ©2019

7. Open Assembly. Animals of Manchester Mayors Petal and Pandora are half-sisters and are both pregnant! Pencil, pen, acrylic paint and collage on paper 594 x 420mm ©2019 — 7. *Open Assembly. Animals of Manchester Mayors Petal and Pandora are half-sisters and are both pregnant!* Pencil, pen, acrylic paint and collage on paper 594 x 420mm ©2019

8. It's a Pigeon Party! We're making homes for pigeons. Pencil, pen, acrylic paint and collage on paper 594 x 420mm ©2019 — 8. *It's a Pigeon Party! We're making homes for pigeons*. Pencil, pen, acrylic paint and collage on paper 594 x 420mm ©2019

9. Open Town Hall Meeting #3. Cows and humanz have babies, are mammals, produce milk, have childhoods, enjoy music, eat vegetables! Pencil, pen, acrylic paint and collage on paper 594 x 420mm ©2019 — 9. *Open Town Hall Meeting #3. Cows and humanz have babies, are mammals, produce milk, have childhoods, enjoy music, eat vegetables!* Pencil, pen, acrylic paint and collage on paper 594 x 420mm ©2019

10. A Memorial for Every Extinct Species. We were alive. We were here. We were animals. Pencil, pen, acrylic paint and collage on paper 594 x 420mm ©2019 — 10. *A Memorial for Every Extinct Species. We were alive. We were here. We were animals.* Pencil, pen, acrylic paint and collage on paper 594 x 420mm ©2019

The finished Animals of Manchester (including Humanz) report — The finished *Animals of Manchester (including Humanz)* report

“The weekend ended on Sunday afternoon with the presentation of a document both recording the event and setting out a new manifesto – an animafesto, perhaps – of future co-existence. Hand-made over the course of the weekend by the artist David Caines, it was given to the Lord Mayor of Manchester, dressed in all his regalia, on behalf of the two cow-mayors. Caines had occupied his own small gazebo in front of the town hall: here he wrote, drew and collaged ideas and sentiments that arose from every activity, discussion, idea and unpredictable unfolding in the space between him and the cows. His live documentation is both a beautiful record and an incomplete archive of Animals of Manchester. Its gaps are part of its beauty – the sponge-like pores in which other ideas can enter.”

From A Conference about Animals of Manchester by Maddy Costa and Mary Paterson

Click on image to enlarge

Animals of Manchester (including Humanz)
Sibylle Peters – Lead Artist & Curator Lois Keidan – Curator
A project by Theatre of Research & Live Art Development Agency
Featuring specially commissioned artworks by Angela Bartram, Ansuman Biswas, David Caines, Rebecca Chesney, Marcus Coates, Katharina Duve, Andy Field & Beckie Darlington, Krõõt Juurak & Alex Bailey, Bruce Gilchrist & Jo Joelson (London Fieldworks), Martin O’Brien, Esther Pilkington & Daniel Ladnar (random people), Benji Reid, Joshua Sofaer, Tim Spooner & Dmitri Logunov (Manchester Museum), and lectures by Jack Ashby, Laura Cull Ó Maoilearca, Antony Hall, Kerry Morrison, Kira O’Reilly, and David Weber-Krebs & Maximillian Haas.