Name and Contact info:

Josef Minta

Email: jpminta@hotmail.com

Website: www.josefminta.com

I am an artist, writer, poet and musician based in Bury. I also work full-time as a Primary School Art Specialist teaching Years 3-6. As an artist, I create work based on space and places with a focus on finding hidden histories and telling new stories.

Arts:

As one half and founding member of The Manchester Art Authority, I have been creating work which responds to or is grounded in the city of Manchester. From exploring the edgelands and their necessity to the city in their series of exhibitions looking at Pomona, to recreating familiar places in new spaces with Living and Dying in our Grandfathers’ Houses. The Manchester Art Authority use images, text and site specific installations to examine the individuals relations with the spaces they inhabit. Recent events have seen us engage with communities in barter exchanges (Stock Exchange) and to engage communities to help define the future of their shared spaces (Reimagining Radcliffe). Our current works are looking at the concepts of value in culture, the changing face of the city and the individual interaction with their environment.

Poetry:

As a poet I have won the commission for the Bury Town of Culture and produced a series of poems based on the hidden histories and stories of the town. The poems where then recorded by different local people to create an audio tour. The poems were also printed and exhibited as part of a joint exhibition at Bury Art Museum. I continue to develop and a deliver a range of projects which engage with young people and community groups. Recently I was commissioned by Manchester University and Manchester Histories Festival to compose 3 poems in response to the 200 Year anniversary of the founding of Manchester Metropolitan University. The poems from this were then displayed with objects I created in Manchester Poetry Library.

Co-curation:

I have worked as a co-curator on a number of large-scale public engagement projects with Aviva Studios and Factory International. Looking forward to Tomorrow was a tw oday conference of talks, workshops and activities looking at environmentalism and race. The Welcome was a 9-day festival designed by the people of Manchester to welcome people into Aviva studios and make it feel like their own.

Workshops and arts leadership:
I lead a number of art sessions to all ages, have delivered a series of workshops for Men and their Children in St Helens to create resources for other new dads and led several youth arts projects with Creatives now in Bolton and the young leaders programme at The Whittaker in Rawtenstall. Recently I led workshops as part of Bury’s festival of the arts.

Exhibitions
2006 Within the Frame Group Exhibition. Bury Art Gallery, Museum and Archive.

2007 Re:Works. Group Exhibition. The Met Theatre, Bury.

2007 Sketch City: Ongoing works Contact Theatre. Manchester

2011 Manchester Artists’ Bonfire, Islington Mill, Manchester

2011: Bury Art collective group show. The Met Theatre, Bury.

2012  Manchester Artists’ Bonfire (exhibitor and organizer) , Islington Mill, Manchester

2012 Annual Open Art Prize. Waterside Art Centre, Sale.

2015. In time, over time. Neo Art Gallery, Bolton.

2016  My Pomona. Online exhibition.

2016 Pomona is Rising. Nexus art Cafe, Manchester

2017 Pomona Year Zero, Nexus art Cafe, Manchester

2018 Living and Dying in our Grandfathers Houses, Insitu, Manchester

2018 Rewilding Ramsbottom, Head to the Hills Music Festival, Ramsbottom.

2021 Creative Commission Town of Culture, Bury

2021 The Happy Festival, Poetry Performance, Bury

2021 Sense of Place, Bury Art Museum, Bury

2022 Anatomy of a Town Crompton Place, Bolton

2022 Gweilo Dr Lee Kai Hung OBE Cultural Bursary Commission, Manchester Metropolitan University

2023 Tees, Rogue Studio, Manchester. Online Catalogue

2023 Open Bury Art Museum

2023 A Space Banner Commission Winner.

2024 ISWAS Festival Commission for MMU 200 Year Anniversary

2025 Going to the match Bury Art Museum. Poetry co-created with school pupils

2025 ISWAS Exhibition Manchester Poetry Library

2025 Community is a Social Construct, Creatives Now, Market Place Bolton