How did the idea of the Manchester Peace Park come about?
| Cohesion Live | - Cohesion Live is at Platt Fields Park on Sat 23 Sept. Tickets are £19.50 (under tens are free with an adult)
- Artists performing include: Badly Drawn Boy, Elbow, The Longcut, Durutti Column, The KBC, The Answering Machine and many more
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"Back in 1999 when MAK formed, we initially did crisis aid, taking out about a thousand tons of aid in the first 18 months, during the war and immediately afterwards. People were then evacuated to Manchester after the liberation of Kosovo, in June of that year, and that included children, many of whom had multiple injuries from being shot. "It was those children that asked us to make the Manchester Peace Park in their own town. They’d been stimulated by the beautiful parks and gardens that they’d seen here, which don’t exist in Kosovo, and they felt that had helped in their recovery, so they wanted us to do the same thing for the people over there." How did you get involved?
 | | Refugee camps in Kosovo, 1999 |
"I took bags of blankets to the pub where the group had formed in about week two of the original effort and I suppose I never left! It’s become a huge part of my life and the children have become like a second family now, especially the five who were evacuated after losing their families in a massacre and now live here. "I feel really privileged to have been able to work in Kosovo and get to know the community and I feel that this is just the beginning." So the Peace Park is a line between what has passed and what’s to come? "It is. It’s like saying ‘let’s work on more educational and cultural projects’. We took books out at the beginning, along with the food and clothes, because what you get with ethnic cleansing campaigns is a desire to squash and repress culture.
 | | Children at the site of the Peace Park |
"So we took books to replace the burnt libraries and that was the start of recognising that the people could be supported in other ways. The park isn’t just for the kids; the old men had said to us that they loved playing chess, so we have included some beautiful chess tables, alongside the gardens and sports facilities. "It’s a huge site, over 20 acres, and it’s being used by everyone. Football teams from all over the country come and train on the site, which shows just how widely it can be used by all Kosovans. When we were there in August, it was brilliant. There were people running and playing, there was athletics going on, all sorts of things, even though it’s not finished!" Cohesion Live has some great bands on the bill. How did you choose the line-up? | "I took bags of blankets to the pub where the group had formed in about week two of the original effort and I suppose I never left!" | | Pam Dawes explains how she got involved with MAK |
"We did a concert in 1999 in the Trafford Centre as the convoy left and out of that, we produced an album. That was at a time of a big explosion in Manchester music. There was so much beautiful stuff coming out, so we drew together iconic artists like New Order and Ian Brown with the best of the lesser-knowns, like Elbow, I Am Kloot and Badly Drawn Boy. "This Cohesion festival revisits that time. Not that we didn’t have contact with them, Badly Drawn Boy’s our patron. But we also wanted to bring in new bands and new friends like Graham Coxon. "The second stage is mainly that little bit younger and were only kids when the ethnic cleansing was sweeping through the Balkans, but they have concerns about peace and justice issues. I know it’s great to be invited to play, but the ones that I’ve met are really behind the charity." What are you looking forward to at Cohesion?
 | | Cohesion headliners: Guy Garvey and Damon Gough |
"I’ve been spoilt because I put together the main stage, so they’re my favourite artists, but I’m particularly excited about seeing Graham Coxon live. He’s coming straight from Japan to us, so his band will be really tight from touring. "I also adore Lou Rhodes and we’re really privileged that she’s playing, because she’s not Manchester-based any more, she’s coming up from the south especially for the gig. "Toolshed are always exciting too, especially Seaming To. I think she’s got such star quality and I’d love to see her music career develop because I think Manchester has produced something brilliant there. "Alongside that though, there’s also art. We’ve got lots of artists coming down to do a peace trail and we’re starting two very big sculptures, one for Manchester and one for Kosovo, which will participatory so people can get involved. It’s going to be a very exciting day." | 
