Papillons
Photo credit: Rosie PowellAs their habitats deteriorate, butterflies are losing their colour. How do we appreciate something in a time of loss?
Photo credit: Rosie PowellPart performance, part reflection, Papillons invited the audience into a world where artists respond to music through movement and composition, visual art and conversation.
We collaborated with the boundary-pushing Manchester Collective, multimedia artist and composer CHAINES, Laura van der Heijden (one of the leading cellists of her generation) and The Camberwell Incredibles (an arts collective of practising and learning diverse artists).
At its heart of the show is Kaija Saariaho’s ‘Sept Papillons’ (Seven Butterflies) – an exquisitely brittle and luminous set of seven miniatures for solo cello. Weaving haunting electro-acoustic sound worlds, delicate choreography and live visuals together with personal reflections, Papillons celebrates the power of subjectivity and creativity within each of us.
Papillons is fully captioned and partially audio described.
The show was performed in 2026 at Southbank Centre as part of Multitudes Festival, The Bradshaw Hall (Birmingham), Lakeside Arts (Nottingham) & Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester).
Photo credit: Rosie PowellReviews
★★★★ “nourishing … a performance in which each partner had immersed themselves in the working practices of the others”
The Guardian
“Here we see something that aims to set about a change in how we view the arts in general. It is refined, experimental, and showcases some of the very best talent in Britain today”
A Youngish Perspective
“Access is not an addition to the work. It is the work. Not in the sense of simplification or accommodation, but in the shaping of attention itself: how it is directed, how it is shared, how it is allowed to move.
The result is something deceptively rare and, quite frankly, tragically novel these days. A work that is formally rigorous, structurally precise, and yet fundamentally open. An invitation fully realised.”
LeftLion
Photo credit: Rosie PowellCredits
Papillons was co-created by Manchester Collective, Thick & Tight, CHAINES and Laura van der Heijden.
CHAINES’ new work was commissioned by Manchester Collective with support from Hinrichsen Foundation and The Leche Trust.
Thick & Tight’s work with the Camberwell Incredibles was supported by Lowry.