From local to global, this year’s festival shines a spotlight on Manchester’s diverse communities, with two projects that start in the city but have international reach. In the words of festival director John McGrath: “The ways in which artists have used the opportunity of the festival to reflect on life as we emerge from lockdown has been inspiring. Our programme is very different to the one we had almost fully planned at the start of last year, but I hope it feels urgent and right.” Portrait of Black Britain A bold new work offering a vision of Black achievement in the UK – a journey that starts in Manchester I aim for this to be the largest portrait series of Black British people ever taken before,” says campaigner and photographer Cephas Williams, announcing his new, landmark project, Portrait of Black Britain. Commissioned by Manchester international festival, the first set of images feature the faces of Manchester residents who responded to Williams’s invitation to take part. “This interest in making Black people visible is not just to see their face, but for us also to hear their voice,” he says. “A lot of our contributions, a lot of achievements, and actually our very existence can sometimes go unnoticed”. Driving all Williams’s ambitious, large-scale projects is a sense of real urgency. In 2018, Williams unveiled 56 Black Men: billboard-sized portraits of accomplished Black men, all wearing black hoodies. In the words of David Lammy MP, one of Williams’s subjects, it seeks “to liberate Black men from invisibility”. The murder of George Floyd in 2020 galvanised Williams further – he heard the news when he was expecting the birth of his son, shattering his hopes that his baby might be born into a world in which a Black man could walk down the street without fear. Subsequently, he published Letter to Zion for his son, outlining his vision for global dialogue, representation and equality. The same year, he developed the Black British Network, a platform for tangible change, which has drawn support from such industry giants as Sony, Clear Channel and Sainsbury’s. A community project with vast scope, Portrait of Black Britain makes a difference to everybody. “This is me taking control of my narrative,” says Williams, “and asking other Black people to join me in the re-introduction of our presence and stories in the 21st century.” Manchester Arndale, 1-18 July, free, no ticket required I Love You Too A poignant collection of love letters, sited at Manchester’s restored Central Library Many of us will have been made acutely aware of what we love, what we’ve lost, and what we miss over the course of this past 18 months – such that the idea of writing a love letter might seem a good one. A necessary one, even. Kemang Wa Lehulere’s tender new work, then, arrives with perfect timing: I Love You Too is a book that brings together hundreds of love letters created by Greater Manchester residents in collaboration with local writers, with an exhibition of new work by Wa Lehulere. The objects of their affection run the gamut from local haunts to beloved people; there are paens to Glastonbury, the Eiffel Tower, sneakers, manhole covers, live music, netball and the sea. And these poetic pieces shine with sincerity. “Born of Wythenshawe,” opens a piece by Roy, 67, “made in the factories, a place where workers like me were raised by the best jest and zest of a Manchester community.” Elsewhere, Holly, 23, celebrates Oldham: “A young woman, in her Kardashian-esque lounge wear and pink fluffy sliders, off to the newsagents for her fags – looking like a star!”; and Kemoy, 30, still thinks about Miss Evans, his secondary school form tutor – “one of the first to show an 11-year-old Jamaican boy kindness”. Conceived with the intention of creating a global love library, I Love You Too at MIF marks the beginning of a new series – one that’s set to become an international encyclopedia of devotion.