Turner Prize-nominated artist Phil Collins returned Friedrich Engels to the city where he made his name – in the form of a decommissioned Soviet-era statue, driven across Europe and permanently installed in outside HOME in the centre of Manchester. Performers, musicians and the people of Manchester created a live film to bring MIF17 to a close, mixing footage of the journey with live coverage of the artwork's inauguration. The welcome celebration also included a soundtrack by Mica Levi and Demdike Stare, a new anthem by Gruff Rhys, and stories of today’s Manchester workers filmed by Collins during his year-long MIF17 residency.

The radical son of a German mill owner, Friedrich Engels arrived here in 1842, documenting the plight of the city’s working classes during his 20-year stay. It’s now exactly 100 years after the ideas from The Communist Manifesto, written by Engels and Karl Marx, changed the course of history by inspiring the Russian Revolution during the final phase of the First World War. Reflecting on the conditions of contemporary workers and the last century of change, as part of 14-18 NOW, Ceremony has returned Engels to prominence in Manchester, reasserting the city’s crucial role in the history of radical thought.

Commissioned by Manchester International Festival, 14-18 NOW: WW1 Centenary Art Commissions and HOME, Manchester. Produced by Manchester International Festival, HOME, Manchester, Shady Lane Productions and Tigerlily Productions. Supported by Arts Council England’s Ambition for Excellence, the BBC and
My Festival Circle.