NEWS FROM THE “UNDERCLASS”

Press Release

"walk past a restaurant // smile @ them thats th mask // I wont let them see me hungry #rainer" (Tweet from Engels)

Tweet From Engels an 'anti-epic' poem made from encounters with homeless people by arts organization arthur+martha, will be projected onto the side of Manchester Town Hall on 29 March 2014.

The poem was originally tweeted and will now be projected as part of the Big Digital Project, alongside work from many Manchester communities.

The 'verses' are snapshots in text of homeless lives, in all their moods - joy, terror, humour, resilience, anger. Famously, Engels wrote about the harshness of 19th Century Manchester; people today who live a comparable existence are the homeless. The poem imagines a dialogue between Engels and the homeless people of Manchester. Interspersed through the poem is found material from Engel's correspondence with Marx, and his classic The Condition of the English Working Class.

"my friend got murdered ystrday backdoor open lights on = stoppd // that was th last time I // spoke 2 her he batterd her again #rai"

projected poem as part of the Stockport Big Digital event

Sound recordings made with homeless people in Stockport, Manchester and Bury will accompany the event.

The sound recordings were made at various homeless drop-ins: The Wellspring at Stockport, The Booth Centre and The Big Issue in the North in Manchester.

The Big Digital Project has been organised by the Let's Go Global organisation. TWEET FROM ENGELS is part of a wider epic poem, Albion, made in collaboration with marginalised people in the UK.

Albion has been funded by the NALD.