Major new public art commission
A participatory artwork by Matthew Rosier commemorating the 17,000 labourers who dug the Manchester Ship Canal
Navvies
An artwork recognising the role of the 17,000 navvies who dug the Manchester Ship Canal. From their labour flowed the city of Salford, Greater Manchester’s industrial success, and eventually: Salford Quays and Media City itself. It is estimated by the Navvies Union that up to 1,100 of these navvies died digging the Canal, with more injured. These were men who migrated from all areas of the UK, alongside thousands from Ireland, who in particular faced extreme prejudice.
The project will be formed around the action most synonymous with the navvy: digging. This will be a multi-strand project made with the Salford community comprising a series of workshops and events, a new co-created piece of orchestral music, the creation of a navvies community garden at MediaCity, and culminating in an audio visual installation in the Ship Canal itself.
The artwork and related events will, for the first time, recognise and commemorate those who lost their lives and tell their story to today’s audiences.
As a multi-strand project, Navvies will comprise a series of workshops and events and will include a new co-created piece of orchestral music by composer Hayley Suviste, arranged by Daniel Whibley and recorded by the BBC Philharmonic.
The community garden at MediaCity will be co-created by Matthew Rosier and Salford’s Loaves and Fishes charity, who will help manage it into the future. The sustainable garden, which the public will be able to walk through and enjoy, will feature fruit trees, ornamental plants as well as vegetable beds with its seasonal produce donated to Salford Food Bank. Food poverty was a key driver in Irish migration during the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal and the community group felt it important to address this through the garden.
Matthew Rosier
Artist and creator
“Since I first heard the navvy story of the Manchester Ship Canal, I’d been in awe of the scale of the collective effort. I also felt that this scale was not sufficiently recognised within society. With the support and engagement of so many individuals and organisations, this project has also become a collective endeavour. Every aspect of the resulting artwork, comprising music, a garden, and an audio-visual installation, is a community collaboration. Above all else for me, the most powerful part of this project is the sense of connection and comradery, between this community that has formed around the Navvies story and those 17,000 men and their families who toiled here over a century ago.”
PUBLIC LAUNCH
Navvies Lightwaves Installation
In December 2022 dozens of anonymous individuals, endlessly digging under the water, will be projected into the Manchester Ship Canal – only their white spades and barrows moving. The role of the navvies here will be represented by the footage of members of the Salford community digging, connecting labour past and present. The projection into the canal will be accompanied by the new co-created navvies musical composition by Hayley Suviste, arranged by Daniel Whibley and recorded by the BBC Philharmonic.
The installation will launch as the headline project of Lightwaves Festival 2022 and will run from December 1st – 10th at Huron Basin in Salford Quays.
Navvies Garden
The Navvies Garden has been co-created by the artist and the community group from Salford Loaves & Fishes, who will manage it into the future. Its trees and plants will embody elements of the navvy experience, and its seasonal produce will be given to Salford Food Bank. Food poverty was a key driver in Irish migration in the navvy period, and the community group felt it important to address this through the garden. The digging of this garden by community participants will form the basis for the projection into the canal.
As part of the Navvies project, Matthew and Dr Jessica Symons ran a series of community workshops with Loaves and Fishes exploring the navvy legacy in Salford. A special workshop was hosted at the BBC Philharmonic studio, with musicians from the orchestra and composer Hayley Suviste working with participants to gather material, sounds, feelings and ideas that will form part of the musical composition.
This series of projects are Commissioned by Quays Culture, MediaCity and Mediale. Produced by Mediale and Quays Culture, with support from Loaves and Fishes and BBC Philharmonic. Supported by Arts Council England, Historic England and Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
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Artist
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Artist
Matthew Rosier
Matthew Rosier (1990) is an artist based in London. His work mixes technology with film and sound in the form of interactive and immersive installations in the public realm. His practice is collaborative and includes the surrounding community both in the creation process and the finished work.
Artist Bio
