ARCSPACE-Manchester is a creative cluster. It is a cooperative set up
for nurturing the needs of creative community members from diverse
backgrounds.

We
aim to regenerate a prime area, close to Oxford Road and the
Universities through hosting a physical and virtual
creative cluster hub which will in turn be a trading zone for ethical
and
environmentally sound products. There will be workshop spaces,
computers, cafe, discussion space, early morning yoga /tai chi etc,
rooftop garden. Alongside being an autonomous artistic zone, the
project will have a gang prevention aspect, as it will be a vibrant
locale for all age-groups to interact with a core value of respect.

People from all ages and backgrounds can join this
holistc cooperative and we aim to bring positivity and innovation to the
well-located venue, which will not be used as a bar, but as a cultural
hotspot where ideas can be nurtured and realised. Within the virtual
hub there will be an online information centre - a sort of Yellow
Pages, with tv station, swapshop, project information, trading place,
board room and much more. This will become a new virtual hub where you
can socially network with like-minded people, book artists, trade, and lots of
other helpful stuff to help local, regional, national and international
communications become much easier.

The initiative is called ARC Space Manchester (Autonomous
Reflective Creative Space Manchester) and the aim is to creative a
holistic zone which seeds inspiration and peer to peer learning both in
the physical and virtual cluster. We will communicate with similar
projects internationally and nationally, and already have located many
potential partners all over the world. We will be using reconditioned
computers and open source software.

Should you like to be involved with setting up the
initiative or you know somebody who might, please get in touch. We have
numerous partners internationally and will be using Open Source
Technology, reconditioned computers, and making use of cutting edge
developments in ethical digital culture.

Local creatives, at a difficult economic time, will have the
chance to express themselves, promote and sell their work and engage in
meaningful peer-to-peer and intergnerational learning. People can share
skills locally and internationally using the cluster as a launchpad for
innovation. All along we will be incorporating ethical
principles which also will tackle poverty and other issues locally and
internationally. This will be a place where you can come and feel the
buzz of like-minded, creative people, where you can use resources, find
out what is going on, buy ethical goods and chill out.

Just a few of the organisations involved in the project are listed below:

Mothers Against Violence, Alkimu, TGL(The Green Light) TV, Drum Music,
Generate Project, Doodlebug, Single Cell Collective, Realfresh TV,
Community Event.co.uk, Solid Earth, Knitted Yarn Edit, Academics for Universities (Lancaster, Salford, MMU, Manchester). 

There
are a large number of individual creatives involved too - ranging from
MCs, writers, editors, VJs, graphic designers, visual artists across
the spectrum of creativity and holistic education.

Under development is our website www.arcspace-manchester.org.uk.

Please contact us for more information about getting involved!