Bunker Talks Autumn 2025
New talks confirmed for Autumn 2025 feat. @alexander_kelly , Mufaro Makubikia, @rachthesmith & @triennialmcr
Bunker Talks invite artists and researchers to talk about who they are and what they do.
Curated by the Performance Research Group at Manchester School of Art, Bunker Talks explore geopolitical, ecological or economic concerns. The talks create space for critical encounters, presentations, provocation and dialogue by interviewing industry guests about practice & research.
Tuesday 23 September, 5:30pm. Salutation Pub (Upstairs), Higher Chatham Street, Manchester, M15 6ED
Alex Kelly is a theatre & games maker, writer, performer and mentor. He creates performance and participatory projects that connect the territories of theatre, games, conversation, installation and digital media.
Tuesday 7 October, 5:30pm. Salutation Pub (Upstairs), Higher Chatham Street, Manchester, M15 6ED
Mufaro Makubika is an award-winning writer of Zimbabwean descent from Nottingham.
Tuesday 4 November, 5:30pm. Salutation Pub (Upstairs), Higher Chatham Street, Manchester, M15 6ED
Rachel Smith is a writer and performer living in the North West.
Tuesday 18 November, 5:30pm. Salutation Pub (Upstairs), Higher Chatham Street, Manchester, M15 6ED
Since 2008, the Asia Triennial Manchester (ATM) has brought together international artists, audiences and institutions to celebrate Asia through different themes, and explore the complexity of the British Asian diaspora
Tuesday 2 December, 5:30pm. Salutation Pub (Upstairs), Higher Chatham Street, Manchester, M15 6ED
Tony Schumacher
🎥 All talks are recorded, edited, captioned and archived to create an online catalogue, capturing how artists think about the world today.
Recent Archived talks from the world of visual arts, theatre, literature, design and performance include; Zodwa Nyoni writer of critically acclaimed play Liberation.
‘Bunker Talks started in February 2020 with a talk in the basement of No 70 Oxford Road. They continued during 2020/2021 as online talks and in 2022 returned on campus to The Salutation. As we aim to reach 150 talks in the archive in July 2025 I am pleased to have captured so many different views on what it takes to be an artist in the 21st Century and hope it is useful to students, staff and the wider public. I imagine them as a time capsule of how artists respond to the world today and deal with the challenges they face. Making them accessible via an online archive is part of our civic agenda to be an art school without walls.’
Michael Pinchbeck Professor of Theatre , Senior Research Lead , Art and Performance , Manchester Metropolitan University
