football city, art united transforms manchester’s aviva studios into a pitch for creativity

Football City, Art United pairs artists and footballers

At Manchester International Festival 2025, Football City, Art United takes over Aviva Studios with an ambitious group exhibition that pairs eleven international footballers with artists across disciplines, from painting and sculpture to sound, video, performance, and architectural installation. The show, co-curated by Juan Mata, Hans Ulrich Obrist, and Josh Willdigg, explores what football and art can learn from each other, inviting audiences to rethink the cultural potential of both fields. The works are on view through August 24th, 2025.

Set inside Aviva Studios, the landmark cultural venue designed by OMA, the exhibition unfolds across its vast, industrial interiors. A towering green banner by Alvaro Barrington and Brazilian football icon Raí cuts across the main hall, while Philippe Parreno and Marco Perego transform the memory of home into a playable video game, layered with sketches and voices.

Among the more spatial and interactive works is The Playmaker, created by Stefano Boeri Architetti with Sandro Mazzola and artist Eduardo Terrazas. Composed of cylindrical arenas punctuated by circular openings and graphic patterns, the installation encourages movement through a reinterpretation of Mazzola’s iconic plays.

Football City, Art United pairs artists and footballers

Each work dives deep into the personal, mythological, and political layers of the sport. British artist Ryan Gander collaborates with Eric Cantona on a three-part installation that explores fame, solitude, and legacy, including a spotlight that tracks gallery-goers like a star player under pressure. Elsewhere, Keiken and Ella Toone invite participants to ‘wear’ a large spirit-animal mask, while listening to Toone’s reflections on introspection, routine, and personal transformation. Suzanne Lacy teams up with Vivianne Miedema and Ali Riley to spotlight the lived experiences of women footballers, blending documentary interviews and shared testimony into a filmic space for dialogue.

While some projects channel surrealism and play, like the flamboyant football mascot Brody, created by Bárbara Sánchez-Kane and Jorge Campos, others lean into introspection and memory. Jill Mulleady animates a holographic portrait of Diego Maradona in a haunting, dreamlike tribute to his status in global football mythology. In another quiet moment, Rose Wylie’s colorful drawings, made in response to an image diary by Lotte Wubben-Moy, spill over into Water Street as billboard-sized homages to women’s football and its growing visibility.

Originally launched at MIF23 as The Trequartista – Art and Football United, this expanded edition of Football City, Art United continues a wider curatorial vision to explore how sport and contemporary art can collide in unexpected ways. With its mix of nostalgia, critique, and imagination, the show becomes a field of cultural reflection, where the rules are fluid and the goals are open-ended.

project info:

name: Football City, Art United

festival: Manchester International Festival 2025

location: Aviva Studios – Factory International | @factory_international, Manchester, UK

curators: Juan Mata, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Josh Willdigg

dates: July 5th – August 24th, 2025

producer: Factory International

participating artists and footballers: Alvaro Barrington + Raí, Stefano Boeri + Sandro Mazzola + Eduardo Terrazas, Ryan Gander + Eric Cantona, Keiken + Ella Toone, Suzanne Lacy + Vivianne Miedema + Ali Riley, Jill Mulleady (inspired by Diego Maradona), Chikyuu no Osakana Ponchan + Shinji Kagawa, Philippe Parreno + Marco Perego + Zoe Saldaña, Paul Pfeiffer + Edgar Davids, Bárbara Sánchez-Kane + Jorge Campos, Rose Wylie + Lotte Wubben-Moy