Flyer for Embracing Manchester

A few days after the Manchester Arena attack, I came across a short film on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/c/TheLifeOfBako

It showed a young man standing in Saint Ann’s Square in central Manchester. He was blindfolded, standing with his arms outstretched; a handmade sign at his feet:

‘I’m a Muslim and I trust you, do you trust me enough for a hug.’

I was deeply moved by his courage, vulnerability and the power of such a direct appeal – the attempt of one person to do something good in the face of another’s terrible action. As an important part of my practice is to make daily paintings based on images taken from the news media the 365 Series, it seemed a natural response to make a painting of him.

I watched the short film, as many others have done, with some trepidation. Would his appeal meet with animosity or indifference? It was deeply moving to see the decisions that people made. At first people simply walked, by unsure how to respond, until one man turned back to accept the invitation. Others quickly followed suit and in no time queues began to form, and for an hour so, an extraordinary cross section of people embraced Baktash and gave words of support and appreciation.

I decided to attempt to try to paint each embrace, or as many of the embraces were possible to see clearly on screen. I realised that I was painting a subject that was central to my current major series of works, The Seven Acts of Mercy. Without realising Bako’s actions on that day gave the image I’d been searching for to exemplify ‘Welcome the Stranger’.

An exhibition of 40 of these paintings will be on view at Saint Ann’s church, Saint Ann’s Square, Manchester from Thursday 17 May until Wednesday 6th June as part of the marking of the first anniversary of the Manchester Arena attack.