Artists and footballers warm up for Manchester international festival

A Janelle Monáe residency, work by Yayoi Kusama and Ryuichi Sakamoto and a collaboration between footballer Juan Mata and artist Tino Sehgal kick off at this summer’s event

A group show by 11 pairs of footballers and visual artists, an exhibition of Yayoi Kusama inflatables and a new work by the pioneering Japanese experimental composer Ryuichi Sakamoto will take centre stage at this year’s Manchester international festival, which runs from 29 June to 16 July.

Artistic director John McGrath said that this year’s festival, which will also feature a citywide artistic Easter egg hunt for collectable coins by artist Ryan Gander, a three-day Janelle Monáe residency, and the world premiere of Kimber Lee’s lauded untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play, would “once again take the temperature of our times, and imagine possibilities for the future.