As Manchester becomes the first UK city to partner with Barcelona’s iconic La Mercè Festival, designer Dave Sedgwick curates an ambitious design exhibition celebrating emerging talent, creative kinship, and a decade-long relationship between two industrial powerhouses.
What began over a decade ago as an instinctive cultural exchange is about to take on a bigger stage. On 25 September, MCRBCN – a one-day design exhibition curated by Manchester-based designer Dave Sedgwick – will open in the heart of Barcelona as part of the city’s much-loved La Mercè Festival.
The project is a creative celebration of the growing relationship between Manchester and Barcelona, bringing together 40 emerging artists, illustrators, designers and typographers from both cities for a striking installation of printed artworks.
For Dave, this moment has been years in the making. “Manchester is home, it’s where I live and work, but I’ve felt drawn to Barcelona for years,” he says. “There’s something about the place I find creatively inspiring. It’s full of energy and expression, and I’ve always felt it shares a lot in spirit with Manchester.”
The connection began in 2013 when he first launched BCNMCR – a grassroots exhibition project that introduced Barcelona-based creatives to audiences in Manchester through a series of exhibitions, talks and events. It returned in 2014, and again in 2023 for its tenth anniversary, evolving from a simple showcase into a lasting cultural dialogue. Many of those early visitors are now creative directors and studio leads, with some even crediting the experience as their first real exposure to the power of design.
This year, the relationship gets formal recognition. Manchester has been named the official partner city of La Mercè 2025/26 – the first time any UK city has received the honour. The wider festival runs from 23–28 September, with MCRBCN forming a key part of Manchester’s creative presence.
“I was approached by Marketing Manchester, who knew about my past projects,” Dave explains. “They asked if I’d curate something to mark the partnership. It felt like the right moment to return to Barcelona – this time to take Manchester’s creativity there and show what we’re capable of.”
Visual love letters
The centrepiece of MCRBCN is a collection of 20 large-format printed cubes, each co-created by a pair of emerging creatives – one from Manchester, one from Barcelona. In total, 40 practitioners are represented, with each contributing two faces of a shared cube. The final results act as visual love letters to each city that are personal, expressive, and joyfully eclectic.
“From the start, I knew I didn’t want this to be just a one-day event,” says Dave. “I wanted the creative conversations to start long before anyone arrived in Barcelona.”
The remote collaboration process was entirely organic. Most of the pairs got to know each other via social media or email before diving into creative calls and concept sharing.
“Many of them have already built friendships,” Dave adds. “These are the kinds of connections that will last long after the show’s taken down.”
The remaining two faces of each cube carry the project’s branding, but otherwise, there were no strict rules or visual constraints. The results span a wide range of styles and disciplines, reflecting the variety of voices emerging from both cities today.
Studio banners and veteran voices
Alongside the 20 cubes, MCRBCN also features a series of large-scale hanging banners created by 12 established Manchester-based designers and studios. These 2.5 metre-high pieces bring an added layer of depth to the show, offering a broader view of Manchester’s creative legacy.
“It felt important to show the full picture,” Dave explains. “Emerging talent is the future, but I also wanted to highlight where that journey can lead.”
The line-up includes names like Craig Oldham, Only Studio, and Edit, alongside Central Station – the legendary design collective known for their Factory Records-era visuals, now working under the name Sublime Limbo.
“Many people know their work, even if they don’t recognise the name,” says Dave. “They’re still producing bold, brilliant work decades on.”
The exhibition aims for a mix of styles, disciplines and voices, from solo artists to larger practices – a kind of creative cross-section of what Manchester has to offer today.
Manchester meets Barcelona
Held at OpenBCN Studios, MCRBCN opens to the public from 1pm to 4pm on 25 September, free of charge. A private evening event will follow, including talks from Dave and Àlex Gobern Gorris, the current president of Barcelona’s prestigious design association, ADG FAD.
While MCRBCN is just one part of a much broader programme taking place during La Mercè, it plays a unique role in connecting the dots between the two cities’ design cultures. Both cities share an industrial heritage rooted in labour, craft and working-class creativity, but they’ve also emerged as major players in contemporary visual culture.
“With MCRBCN, I wanted to carry on that legacy and put Manchester forward as a place of real creative substance,” Dave explains. “If visitors from Barcelona see the show and come away curious about Manchester – whether to visit, to work, or to collaborate – then we’ve done something right.”
It’s also the beginning of a longer relationship. Manchester’s partnership with La Mercè continues into 2026, and Dave hopes the creative links forged through this exhibition continue to evolve beyond the festival itself.
Building creative futures
Looking ahead, the real value of MCRBCN may lie in its ability to foster ongoing collaboration between new generations of creatives. “For me, it always comes back to people,” says Dave. “Especially now, when everything’s speeding up and becoming more digital, human connection feels more important than ever.”
It’s a sentiment that defines the whole project. What started as a one-person initiative to bridge two cities has become a cultural network built on shared values, mutual curiosity and long-term creative friendships.
“I never set out to build a legacy back in 2013,” Dave reflects, “but maybe what we’ve created will help this next generation of creatives to keep that relationship going.”
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