MANCHESTER.- HOME announced the world premiere of The Scar, taking over HOME’s main gallery for the first major UK solo exhibition by artists Noor Afshan Mirza and Brad Butler.

The Scar spans three chapters (1. The State of the State, 2. The Mouth of the Shark and 3. The Gossip), loosely inspired by a real car crash in Turkey in 1996. Four passengers are on a journey in a black Mercedes, unaware that their fate will lead to the largest social protest in Turkish history. Three of the passengers are State archetypes: the Head of Police, a Politician and a Right-Wing Assassin, whilst Yenge, the only female traveller, is silenced by the men’s gangster talk and the genre conventions of her role in the film. In chapter 2, Yenge’s noir voiceover begins to interrupt the male character’s forced bravado as the Resistant Dead haunt them - the residual movements created from stories of people refusing to be forgotten. The film’s final part, The Gossip, addresses tales of female emancipation and empowerment, where a group of female activists transcend time, geographical borders and linguistic barriers to gather in a neutral nether-realm of conversation and mutual support.

Noor Afshan Mirza commented: “Inhaling patriarchy and exhaling wo(fem)inism, The Scar has definitely been the most ambitious, challenging and inspiring project for me as an artist.” Brad Butler added “I wanted to make a hallucinatory violent narrative that the characters were trapped inside and which they were living as if it were ‘normal’. And then I wondered how this condition could be shattered and transformed. And what would happen to these people if that were the case?” Sarah Perks, Artistic Director: Visual Art, HOME, said: “It’s been an epic and amazing journey with Noor, Brad and the wider team, to create and produce such a timely and important cinematic work and for us to premiere it here at HOME. I know I’m not alone in feeling the negative weight of patriarchy and toxic masculinity, and there has to be a space for alternatives at all levels of society and for all types of communities. We want people to engage with and talk about this work, at HOME and then beyond as the work travels in exhibition and single channel form following this moment in Manchester.”

Maggie Ellis, Head of Artists’ Moving Image at Film London, said: “When we read Noor and Brad’s application we knew they were onto something special, and also that it was the right time for them to take their next bold creative leap in terms of scope and ambition. They’ve met the challenge head-on, creating a piece of work that’s impressive, important and utterly immersive. Working with them from development to completion has been extremely rewarding, and, like the many films FLAMIN has commissioned, the end result tests the edges of the art form while challenging the viewer intellectually, emotionally and aesthetically. As with any project it’s always healthy to collaborate with like-minded supporters – we think we’ve found the perfect partners in Manchester’s HOME, and are very much looking forward to The Scar’s February premiere.”