Drop in for a spot of culture and Utopia at Aviva
- Alan Hulme
- 5 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Manchester's Aviva Studios arts centre is going into the pub business with Utopia (February 19-21), a large scale installation inside its vast warehouse space that recreates the atmosphere of a working men's club.
The centre's six-strong Young Curators group has spent the past year working with leading industry professionals and artists to create the working pub installation, the culmination of which will be a take over from artist Trackie McLeod - a nod to the Glasgow
working men’s clubs he grew up in.
By day, Utopia will be open as a pub, exhibition and workshop space – with the opportunity to explore new print, sculpture, video and other work by McLeod. Audiences can also drop by for a free drink during Trackie’s Happy Hour each afternoon, while the artist himself works a shift behind the bar.
At sundown the pub will transform into an intimate venue that celebrates the grassroots talent of Manchester, wirth a programme of free events also selected by the Young Curators; featuring drag queen Bailey J Mills; round-table discussions with Rebecca Swarray aka DJ Mix-Stress; Dave Haslam and Rebecca Elizabeth Shaw; a DJ set by Rainy Miller; live music by mamba.exe, and a Saturday night take over by The DBA.
The Young Curators programme launched in 2024 as an opportunity for six young Manchester creatives to explore the art and encourage younger audiences. The team for 2025-26 is Anita Ezeh, Fauziya Johnson, Jack Clarke, Madison Marcantonatos, Otega Ajuchi and Rachel Morgan.
Factory International artistic director and chief executive, John McGrath said: “Utopia builds on the successes of our previous public curation programmes and develops our commitment to thinking about artistic venues in new ways.”
Trackie McLeod said: “I’m honoured to have been selected to exhibit at Factory International. It’s an amazing opportunity. You can tell how friendly a city is by how you’re treated in a smoking area and in Manchester, like in Glasgow, someone will always offer you a lighter...”
More info and tickets here