Transatlantic Cities - Thematic introduction Written by Aidan O'Rourke
2005-06-08
In Transatlantic Cities I uncover the hidden parallels echoes and sensibilities between cities on either side of the Atlantic, exploring subtle and often forgotten links and similarities. My own experiences are based around northern England the north eastern US, but the concept can extend to other countries in Europe and the Americas.
The idea of living an imaginary transatlantic city arises from my childhood growing up in the 1960s in grim but atmospheric northern England when, like many people, I wanted to be in that place I knew so well from films, tv and especially music: the US. In my imagination, I turned Manchester and northern England into my own version of America.
In my imagination, distant cities and my home environment seemed to merge into one another. I could take the tunnel or ferry from Liverpool to New Jersey, drive through the Cheshire countryside into Maine or Massachussetts, or walk through the streets of Manchester into Manhattan.
When later in life, I visited New York I immediately felt at home there and still do today. I was struck by the similarities between New York and Manchester and their neighbouring cities, and wanted to to visually explore them, placing images from both places side by side. I found that the echoes and commonalities I felt were not just a figment of my imagination but exist in architecture, music, town planning, migration patterns, transport links and many others.
Some interesting points:
Manchester and the northern cities have in many ways more in common with North American cities than with smaller British cities or towns, or with London. Like the north esatern US cities, the northern cities of the UK rose to greatness in the 19th century through industralisation and rapid economic development. There were links across the Atlantic through the cotton industry, as a statue of Abraham Lincoln in Manchester commemorates.
Manchester and Liverpool are the only cities in the UK to have added American style buildings to their skyline, in Liverpool the Liver Building and in Manchester the CIS Building. Today Manchester is continues to move towards an American style skyline.
In the 19th century when Jewish people were migrating from central Europe to the US, they often travelled by ship to Hull, train to Liverpool and ship to New York. Some alighted at Manchester's Victoria Station and initially thought they were already in America. They stayed in the neighbouring district of Cheetham, and their descendants live in north Manchester to this day. (Information provided on a tour by the Manchester Jewish Museum)
They are places of immigration where people from many different countries and cultures live together. They have faced similar challenges through economic and social trauma in the 20th century. Whether New York, Liverpool, Philadelphia, Manchester, Detroit or elsewhere, the presence of black people has made these cities highly influential in popular music.
When the directors of the remake of 'Alfie' (2005) starring Jude Law were looking for a UK location to film sequences set in New York, they chose Manchester's Northern Quarter because of its visual similiarities with Greenwich Village. The film 'Hell Is A City' (1961) attempts to overlay an American sensibility onto Manchester - with mixed results!
Liverpool, as a port city, and Manchester through its Ship Canal and Docks were closely linked to Canada and the United States. Ford used to manufacture cars in Manchester's Trafford Park, which still has a 1st, 2nd and 3rd Avenue. Kelloggs remain there to this day.Transatlantic shipping links have all but gone but North America is now only seven hours by air from Manchester Airport.
With the decline of north Atlantic shipping links and a recent trend towards Europeanisation, transatlantic connections have been all but forgotten. Perhaps now is the time for distant cousins to become re-acquainted.
The theme 'Transatlantic Cities' could be developed into an exhibition, book and tv project. For more information please Contact. Aidan O'Rourke 8 June 2005.
2005-06-08
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