The Artful Dodger: Manchester Meets Maradona Madness…
Hold onto your shin guards, folks! Manchester International Festival 2025 has kicked off with a line-up crazier than a squirrel on caffeine! The fête features a star-studded blend of 11 footballing legends turned Picasso wannabes and their artsy comrades. Picture a room where Juan Mata and Edgar Davids paint, prance, and ponder amidst Cantona’s majestic crooning — a spectacle zanier than a goalie trying ballet.
Not your everyday midfield muddle, the marquee act blends footie finesse with flamboyant artistry in a cosmic dance of pastels and pitches. The ‘Football City, Art United’ exhibition at Aviva Studios spins the ball with installations that include Edgar Davids’s tunnel of football soundscapes, Sandro Mazzola’s play den of pod-crazed goals, and a sculptural salute to Maradona’s notorious ‘Hand of God’ moment. Beware of Cantona’s whimsical automated spotlights that might slap a beam on you faster than you can say ‘offside’.
As you navigate through this football-art fiesta, be sure to kick a goal, step into Ella Toone’s Shetland pony mask, and prance around Keiken’s artsy turf. The festival runs until August, promising enough artistic antics and dribbles to leave you as entertained as a referee on roller skates at a clown convention. Goooaaall! Or should we say, Splatt!?
