Developed by artist Merel Smitt based on the stories of staff and service users at Yes Manchester, While Waiting, Wait Here has taken the reality of lives kept on hold and powerless to expose the systems, language and policies on which Universal Credit is based. It aims to start a conversation about whether these things can be changed to offer a more human and humane experience.

Merel Smitt is a Rotterdam-based artist interested in creating experiences which interfere with our daily lives. Because her work is research based, often immersive and in public spaces, audiences become part of it whether they know it or not. She collaborates with other creative people including performers, web developers and designers. Her work is informed by conversations with communities, activity, social workers and experts creating new, refreshing ways of looking at sometimes complex issues.

While Waiting, Wait Here 

is part of Mindscapes, a series of brand new artworks and online events happening in Manchester during Spring 2021.

It explores how the world around us - our homes, our streets, our cities - affects our mental health and the way we feel about our lives, in both positive and negative ways.

There’ll be public artworks, online games, poetry on the streets and an interactive phone app giving you a whole new perspective on where you live, and much more.