Our Manc of the Month series is back, and it’s time to give one honorary Mancunian the plaudits he truly deserves.
We all know that Manchester is home to some special people, some born here and others drawn here – and after a bumpy year that effectively amounted to one big lockdown, its these special people that have inspired and led us through the tough times.
So, we decided to start a series that shines a light on those who should be celebrated, following on from our ‘The Mancs of the Year’ feature towards the end of 2020.
In case you missed it, Manc of the Monthofficially kicked off in July with none other than Manchester United and England star Marcus Rashford MBE, whose achievements both on and off the pitch have undoubtedly made him one of the most prolific Mancunians throughout the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic – but this month, we’ve chosen someone who’s had a hand in ensuring Rashford’s presence is always felt in the city.
It’s the rightful turn of Akse P19.
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A French-born street artist of Vietnemese heritage and a renowned member of the iconic P19 Crew, Akse has, in his own words, been “spraypainting walls since 1992” and has quite literally been leaving his mark on Manchester since he moved to the city and started calling it his home all the way back in 1997.
For the past 15 years in particular, Akse has made his name through a series of critically-acclaimed freehand high definition photo-realistic portraits of famous faces and figures that he hopes “bring inspiration to the local community”.
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These murals – which usually reflect the social, political, or cultural mood of the moment – are known to appear, and then often disappear, from prominent walls and holdings around the city centre and surrounding areas.
Choosing to keep a degree of anonymity and often preferring to let his creations do the talking, Akse is rarely seen in public without his ventilated mask – which is as much for his disguise as it is for his safety.
But even if you’re unfamiliar with his face, you’re sure to be familiar with his work.
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Akse has been “spraypainting walls since 1992” / Credit: Facebook (Akse P19)
He moved to Manchester, and started calling it his home all the way back in 1997 / Credit: Instagram (@akse_p19)Akse hopes his work “brings inspiration to the local community” / Credit: Facebook (Akse P19)
That now world-famous mural is the work of Akse P19.
There’s also a good chance you’ve clocked eyes on some of the murals he’s created for Northern Quarter public art project Outhouse MCR in Stevenson Square in recent years too, which have included the likes of David Bowie, Arya Stark from Game of Thrones, Eleven from Stranger Things, and of course, the highly-publicised George Floyd mural – also sadly defaced on a number of occasions last year too.
Other notable pieces created by Akse across Manchester include Captain Sir Tom Moore, Factory Records co-founder and manager of the Haçienda nightclub Tony Wilson, and late Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis for World Mental Health Day in 2020 – all erected in the Northern Quarter.
There’s also the ‘Battle of the Birds’ depicting Martin Luther King and Donald Trump, Princess Leia from Star Wars at Projekts Stakepart MCR, Ariana Grande to mark her return to the city for Manchester Pride in 2019, drag queen Divina de Campo in the Gay Village, local Operating Department Practitioner Debra Williams on the site of Sweet Mandarin for International Women’s Day 2020, Liam Gallagher for the launch of his 2019 album ‘Why Me? Why Not’, and so many more.
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He’s created so many iconic and instantly-recognisable pieces that have meant so much Manchester over the years, that it can be hard to keep track.
But it’s true – Akse P19 really is the mural king of Manchester, and we can’t think of a person more deserving of being named Manc of the Month for August 2021.
Starting off life as a little coffee trike back in 2021, and now based inside a bright-yellow shipping container in Levenshulme‘s Cringle Park, Grounded MCR CIC is a social enterprise that does more than just make you a brew.
Set up with the idea of creating a welcoming space for the whole community to gather, with a key focus on sustainability, Grounded serves up specialty coffee, lots of other hot and cold drinks, and yummy homemade food – much of which is grown by hand, on and around the container.
This is Grounded MCR / Credit: The Manc Group
Coffee beans sourced from a local roaster that pays farmers properly, tasty bakes on offer from a handful of local makers – including bread from the incredible Stockport-based charity, Pure Innovations – and dozens of free community events organised throughout the year are just a few of the reasons why Grounded goes above and beyond your typical cafe.
Sustainability – and affordability, especially amid the ongoing cost of living crisis – are two huge driving factors for Grounded, especially through their partnership with FareShare Greater Manchester and utilising the ‘Too Good To Go’ scheme.
By delivering and using surplus food that would’ve otherwise gone to waste, Grounded is able to keep their prices low whilst still creating some delicious scran.
The Levenshulme community cafe crafting coffee for a great cause / Credit: The Manc Group
Their ‘FareShare Fridays’ are hosted each week, where that morning’s delivery is dedicated to one specific dish and served up for just £1.
To top it all off, Grounded also works with vulnerable adults in honing their barista and hospitality skills, and is also in partnership with ‘Women in Probation’ too to ensure their impact goes further than just what comes in a cup or on a plate.
”We’ve worked hard to create a space that feels safe and welcoming for all,” Grounded declares in a statement on it’s website – and we think they’ve succeeded.
Finding Emily – the hit new romcom that really romanticises Manchester
Daisy Jackson
When news broke of a new romcom filmed and set in Manchester, forgive us for an eyebrow raise.
You see, when TV shows and films choose our city as a backdrop, it can sometimes get a little slapstick, a bit gimmicky, riddled with stereotypes (see: Jack Whitehall’s BRITs gags).
Either that, or the local sets are so aggressively styled for the screen, they’re barely recognisable as Manchester anymore (see: every Harlan Coben drama).
But then we kept catching glimpses of the Finding Emily cast and crew around town a couple of years ago, taking over iconic boozers and milling around legendary gig venues, and that sceptical eyebrow came down a peg or two.
So imagine our delight after seeing the film and finding a well-researched, authentically Manc, love letter to our city that actually romanticses what it’s like to live here in the present day – not a Hacienda stripe in sight.
The plot of Finding Emily follows Owen (Spike Fearn) on his mission to track down ‘Emily’, a girl he met on a night out who mistakenly wrong-numbered him, with the help of another Emily (Angourie Rice).
Throughout the film, the duo drink, dance, and dig for clues in all corners of the city, with backdrops that will be very familiar to those of us who live here.
There’s a bar crawl all along Canal Street, including a drag cabaret show at VIA; a job hunt in Piccadilly Records; a queue joined outside Rustica.
We see scenes set inside some of Manchester’s most beautiful spaces, like the Whitworth Cafe and the Sackville Street Building, and plenty of iconic cityscapes like the view from Deansgate station and the backdrop of the University of Manchester.
They even play darts in the Peveril of the Peak.
Finding Emily romanticises the less glamorous, more authentic side of the city too – Northern Quarter alleyways, a Fallowfield house party, a proper kebab on the Curry Mile, and an all-nighter in the Central Library.
While a lot of film crews hop over to leafy Didsbury to house their characters, our lead figures in the film instead live in terraces beneath the viaducts in Smedley, or in a converted mill apartment in Chorlton Mill.
It’s not only the location scouts that put in the work on Finding Emily – there’s also a respectable number of local characters and artists who pop up with cameos.
Antony Szmierek features heavily on the soundtrack, and appears in-person in the closing credits.
There’s a video game played by Owen’s brother with graphics designed by celebrated local artist Stanley Chow.
Anna Phylactic performs on stage on Canal Street, W.H. Lung headline a gig at Night & Day, Luke Una stands behind the decks as a disgruntled ‘No requests’ type of DJ, and Stockport’s beloved Blossoms perform at the cast’s graduation ball.
I’m not sure we’ve ever seen a film or TV show so perfectly capture Manchester before, celebrating all its beauty and all its edges. It’s not performative at all.
If you’re a Manchester local, Finding Emily is a must-watch. But even if you’re not, this is a modern romcom with likeable characters and plenty of charm.
Emily Sergeant -
31st August 2021 
