Mark Ball To Program New Manchester Venue

When Manchester, England, venue Factory opens in 2020, it will be Lift Festival CEO Mark Ball in charge of its artistic program.

Ball was hired by Manchester International Festival, which is the operator of the future 5,000-capacity venue, after the £110 million project had received the go-ahead by Manchester city council. His official job title is associate artistic director. Ball, who will start his new role in June, will work closely with Manchester International Festival artistic director and CEO John McGrath to unify their vision for both the venue and the festival.

– Factory Manchester
Rendering

Factory was designed by Rem Koolhaas’ Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). It marks his first major public project in the UK. The new Factory is not to be mistaken for Manchester’s live music venue and nightclub Fac251, which is also commonly referred to as the Factory.

Ball’s departure from Lift will open up the position of artistic director at the biennial festival. “Lift is an organization I love dearly and its art, its values and its people I cherish. I will miss it enormously, but after 8 years leave confident that it’s in great shape, and I look forward to seeing Lift evolve under new artistic leadership,” Ball said.