TWE – Got What It Takes?

A hardcore of about 50 people are remaining in the wigwam and continuing the discussion. Interactivity has picked up with a more 2-way dialogue, and the atmosphere is much more relaxed than it was early last night.
Talk has moved in some parts to what should happen next year, but before I get to that here’s an interesting point that came out of one discussion: Joy Division is in part mythologised because of a suicide. The Hacienda is in part mythologised because of the ecstasy drug culture that emerged from there. If we encourage creativity within the city, are we not going to have to address mental health and drug issues at some point? Are they not inherently wrapped up in this sector?
I don’t think it’s no secret that Tony Wilson himself dabbled with drugs. It’s certainly well known that the Happy Mondays’ story weaves in and out of various drug addictions. The Hacienda’s biggest problems were caused by gangs fighting for a share of the drug industry inside. One of the most inspiring musicians of the Tony Wilson era committed suicide after recording ‘Atmosphere’.
And going forward, the picture doesn’t look so clear either. A large number of career poets suffer from bi-polar disorder to some extent. The largest clubs in Manchester sell little alcohol but plenty of water on a weekend night because of ecstasy use. These things have long term health and welfare effects we don’t seem to be really grappling with as part of the discussion on creativity.
Whose responsibility is to talk about these issues? Do we just accept writing is a solitary and insular activity, dance culture has pills and powder core to its being, or do we tackle it head on? Do artists themselves take responsibility? Should the council? Or the funding bodies?
I don’t have answers, but it’s one of the more thought-provoking issues from this morning.
Moving forward, I spoke to both a project manager within the council, and leader Richard Leese himself about the future of this event.
This was a stop-gap measure driven by Wilson’s friends and it’s not immediately clear if it will happen again next year. There is talk of a Summer school, but that might fall foul of one of the major criticisms of the event so far, it being mostly a seminar environment. It seems clear to me there isn’t a massive hunger for the council to fund this and so some route to self-sustainability needs to be found.
For my part, I discussed the BarCamp format the tech industry locally has found so successful and I’ve been thinking myself about how to encourage grassroots activity similar to the GeekUp community that has helped foster growth within the digital sector.
It’s also not clear yet whether the filmed sessions will be released online for free yet – I hope it will be, and apparently if/when it is, it will be announced via the Facebook group. When I hear, you’ll hear.
Next up, a formal proof of how Manchester is the centre of the Universe from Dr Brian Cox, and I’ll be producing a review of the event as a whole. Almost there – just a little over an hour to go.