Stimulating… extraordinary… performance…

Updated 8 February 2024

hÅb is a Manchester-based producer, developer, and strategic advocate of Live Art, contemporary performance, and sited work in the North of England.

greenroom’s key partner for over a decade, hÅb aims to maintain its legacy — working in collaboration with a range of partners to produce showing opportunities, platforms, and artist development projects including: Divergency, Domestic, Emergency, Haphazard, Turn, and Works Ahead.

Essentially industry-facing, hÅb works with artists, peers, venues, and others to create the best possible opportunities for new work to flourish. We also offer free 30-minute Advice Sessions on Mondays with Tamsin Drury via Zoom.

Supported using public funding by Arts Council England, hÅb is also:
a Divergency core partner — encouraging diversity in Live Art;
a Manchester Independents lead partner — highlighting GM artists;
a Live Art UK member — supporting & developing Live Art infrastructure;
a member of GM Artist Hub, GMAST, GM LGBTQ+ Arts & Culture Network.

Since January 2012, hÅb has been ‘public’ in the guise of Word of Warning — a peripatetic programme of, and online signpost to, contemporary live work in Manchester + beyond… NB this part of our site aims to offer information to artists wishing to know more about hÅb’s work and how to get involved; for information on our public-facing programme please see Word of Warning.

From Emergency, our annual micro-festival for new live work presenting 20 to 30 short works in a day each autumn with Contact; through to Works Ahead, a series of small commissions for new work — hÅb aims to provide a joined-up set of opportunities for emerging new work and artists in Live Art, contemporary performance, and sited work. Please see our News page for latest information.

hÅb curates sited performance and interventions — presenting Hazard, a biennial micro-festival of intervention that takes performance out of the black box environment and into Manchester city centre; as well as Haphazard, our frequent foray into all ages Live Art with Z-arts. We also present Turn, Greater Manchester’s annual dance platform for North West dancers and dance-makers.

In spring 2020 hÅb began an online Domestic series, offering artists an opportunity to informally try out new ideas live from their homes — our rolling open call sought proposals for performance works to be presented online, within an artist’s available resources. Alongside live works, artists proposed pre-recorded pieces — so in December 2020 we introduced Domesticated, a home for video performance, featuring eight works.

In any given year, hÅb might work with 100 artists — and present a couple of platforms, a sited festival, and over 50 pieces of work as Word of Warning.