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Manchester Now

Discover what’s happening right now.

Is already excited to fly over to Manchester tomorrow: #Muse at Old Trafford on Saturday ... @MikeBN

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Arts

Manchester has attracted international arts and culture ever since we held the famous Art Treasures of Great Britain exhibition back in 1857.

    • Da Vinci: The Genius

      Da Vinci: The Genius

      ArticleA major touring exhibition that offers a unique look at one of the world's most revered artists and inventors

    • Screenfields

      Screenfields

      20 May 2010 - 09 September 2010

      MVIC Surface eventScreenfields is back! Lazy days in the sun, Thursdaynight films, the best of live sport, a brand new family film club and the proms. All screenings are free and we hear this summer’s going to be a scorcher.

    • Marvel Art Exhibition

      Marvel Art Exhibition

      29 July 2010 - 09 September 2010

      ExhibitionAward winning art gallery Generation Pop will be hosting a tribute to Marvel with a six week exhibition of the official Marvel Fine art collection.

    • The Modern Lesbian

      The Modern Lesbian

      20 August 2010 - 05 September 2010

      ExhibitionThis latest body of work from photographer Rachel Adams.

    • Feral Trade Café

      Feral Trade Café

      27 August 2010 - 10 October 2010

      ExhibitionFor 6 weeks, the Feral Trade Café at Castlefield Gallery will serve up an array of ‘ferally’ traded drinks and snacks along with delivery documentation collected by the artist.

    • The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair 2010

      The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair 2010

      21 October 2010 - 24 October 2010

      ExhibitionNow in its third year, The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair is a high profile, high quality, selected fair, where over 140+ cutting edge designer-makers will be given the opportunity to sell their work directly to the public and trade.

    • Mister Sixties: Philip Townsend’s Portraits of a Decade

      Mister Sixties: Philip Townsend’s Portraits of a Decade

      18 September 2010 - 07 November 2010

      ExhibitionThe Swinging Sixties is at the heart of a new exhibition from celebrated 60s photographer Philip Townsend.

    • Welcome to My World

      Welcome to My World

      20 August 2010 - 20 September 2010

      ExhibitionThis photographic exhibition is based around a number of celebrities who have gay relatives or friends. Each shot is accompanied by a slogan, “my brother/mother/friend is gay”.

    • Scary Mary’s Hairy Beary Fairy Tales

      Scary Mary’s Hairy Beary Fairy Tales

      19 August 2010 - 16 September 2010

      ExhibitionSee Scary Mary and her flock of sheep, the Three Bears, with two daddy bears, and you won’t believe what happened to the Three Little Pigs.

    • Krysko & Kashiwagi

      Krysko & Kashiwagi

      02 October 2010

      ExhibitionPart performance art and part club night, DJ Matthew Krysko (The Warehouse Project) and artist Naomi Kashiwagi combines electronic music, wind-up gramophones, shellac records and the latest in digital.

    • Beer and Jazz Festival

      Beer and Jazz Festival

      23 September 2010 - 24 September 2010

      ExhibitionA selection of 40 cask ales and ciders with a full bar service. Food available all day. Live music including The Bavarian Beer Band, folk fusionists Twelfth Day.

    • Manchester Model Railway Exhibition

      Manchester Model Railway Exhibition

      02 October 2010 - 03 October 2010

      ExhibitionOver twenty layouts in a variety of scales and gauges. A full range of traders and specialist societies will be present, carrying a wide range of model railway and railway related products.

    • Abandon Normal Devices

      Abandon Normal Devices

      01 October 2010 - 07 October 2010

      ExhibitionAbandon Normal Devices (AND) is a regional festival, taking place across the Northwest and is a catalyst for production and experimentation at the intersection of Digital Culture and New Cinema.

    • Manchester International Festival

      Manchester International Festival

      01 July 2011 - 31 July 2011

      ExhibitionThe Manchester International Festival of new, original work will transform the city into a festival-zone bringing specially commissioned work by some of the world’s best artists in visual and performing arts and music.

    • Warrington Art Group Exhibition

      Warrington Art Group Exhibition

      28 August 2010 - 12 September 2010

      ExhibitionNow in its seventh year, the exhibition celebrates local art and is designed to encourage artistic talent in the community. Come along and vote for your favourite piece of art work in the people’s choice competition.

    • THE SUMMER SHOW

      THE SUMMER SHOW

      06 July 2010 - 04 September 2010

      ExhibitionAn exhibition of work inspired by beach huts, the seaside and sandcastles including ceramic vessels inspired by nature.

    • Food Festival

      Food Festival

      05 September 2010

      FestivalA festival showcasing Saddleworth's local produce. From sausages and beef to dairy ice-cream, and from vegetables and chutneys to cakes.

    • Salford's Totem Pole

      Salford's Totem Pole

      01 June 2010 - 31 December 2010

      ExhibitionSalford's very own totem pole stands 30 foot tall with the proud Thunderbird on top.

    • Recorders: Rafael Lozano-Hemmer

      Recorders: Rafael Lozano-Hemmer

      18 September 2010 - 30 January 2011

      ExhibitionAll the pieces depend upon your participation to exist: all their content is "crowdsourced". The installations react to and record your interaction with them, from your appearance and the movements you make, to your voice and even your pulse.

    • Threadbare: Drawings by Debbie Smyth

      Threadbare: Drawings by Debbie Smyth

      03 July 2010 - 30 October 2010

      ExhibitionUsing pins to plot very precise points and joining them up with thread, Debbie’s textile art is complex and unique.

    • The Land Between Us: power, place and dislocation

      The Land Between Us: power, place and dislocation

      25 September 2010 - 23 January 2011

      ExhibitionTaking a radical approach to landscape art, The Land Between us presents historic and modern aswroks together and on equal terms.

    • Roxana Allison: Becoming a Memory

      Roxana Allison: Becoming a Memory

      14 August 2010 - 26 September 2010

      ExhibitionOpen since May 2010, Untitled Gallery is an exhibition space in the basement of the Friends' Meeting House, a Grade II listed building dating from 1828. Untitled Gallery opened with Untendable, a solo show of new works by New-Zealand born artist Pau

    • 'The Beautiful and The Damned'

      'The Beautiful and The Damned'

      20 August 2010 - 02 October 2010

      ExhibitionThe Beautiful and The Damned will present some of the bestin contemporary British painting in their debut Manchester exhibition.

    • Camouflage

      Camouflage

      27 March 2010 - 12 September 2010

      ExhibitionLose yourself at Imperial War Museum North in Manchester! The Museum's first ever Camouflage exhibition includes free fun activities for all the family. Discover how to hide a fleet of battleships and find out why you would paint a jeep pink.

    • Carried Away

      Carried Away

      13 February 2010 - 10 October 2010

      ExhibitionThe museum's first changing exhibition Carried Away is a photographic exhibition taking a sideways look at protest through the last 100 years.

    • Doctor Who Live

      Doctor Who Live

      22 October 2010 - 24 October 2010

      EntertainmentThe new stage show, based upon the BBC's smash-hit, award-winning series Doctor Who, promises to deliver a spectacular experience featuring live music, special effects and appearances from the show's most popular monsters.

    • At the Edge: British Art 1950 to 2000

      At the Edge: British Art 1950 to 2000

      31 July 2010 - 30 October 2010

      ExhibitionExhibition of mid-to-late twentieth century paintings, sculpture, ceramics, photography and print from the collections of four North West galleries

    • Magical Moominvalley: The Illustrations of Tove Jansson from Tampere Art Museum Moominvalley Collection Finland

      Magical Moominvalley: The Illustrations of Tove Jansson from Tampere Art Museum Moominvalley Collection Finland

      23 October 2010 - 15 January 2011

      ExhibitionThe world of the Moomins from Finland has delighted and captivated children and adults alike for 65 years. This autumn, Bury Art Gallery will bring this magical world to the town as the first exhibition of a unique cultural partnership.

    • Heroes and Monsters

      Heroes and Monsters

      20 July 2010 - 19 September 2010

      ExhibitionExplore they myths and legends of Manchester Art Gallery with the help of family friendly trails and activities.

    • DECADE PARADE - SMALL HATS BIG LOOK

      DECADE PARADE - SMALL HATS BIG LOOK

      12 June 2010 - 28 November 2010

      ExhibitionDECADE PARADE - SMALL HATS BIG LOOK

    • Angle of Refraction

      Angle of Refraction

      05 August 2010 - 04 September 2010

      ExhibitionNew photography exhibition showcasing the work of two Manchester based artists.

    • Everyday People by Spencer Tunick

      Everyday People by Spencer Tunick

      12 June 2010 - 26 September 2010

      ExhibitionSpencer Tunick is an American artist whose dramatic installations have gained him a reputation as one of the most renowned contemporary artists working today.

    • Elizabeth Gaskell: A Connected Life

      Elizabeth Gaskell: A Connected Life

      ArticleHow social connections influenced this prolific writer

    • Ninette de Valois and the story of The Royal Ballet

      Ninette de Valois and the story of The Royal Ballet

      22 October 2010 - 06 March 2011

      ExhibitionA major new exhibition collaboration between the Royal Opera House and The Lowry, Salford

    • Imperial War Museum North

      Imperial War Museum North

      01 January 2010 - 31 December 2010

      ExhibitionThe IWM is unique in its coverage of conflicts, from the First World War to the present day. It seeks to provide for, and to encourage, the study and understanding of the history of war. Daily tours and object handling sessions.

    • Through the Pages: A hidden history?

      Through the Pages: A hidden history?

      04 August 2010 - 31 October 2010

      ExhibitionDrawing on the collections of The John Rylands Library, this intimate display looks at a selection of gay narratives.

    • Unlocking Salford Quays: The Inside Story

      Unlocking Salford Quays: The Inside Story

      28 August 2010 - 31 December 2010

      ExhibitionIn this special exhibition you can ‘unlock’ the past, see the artists’ models and drawings for the sculptures themselves and tell us your memories and impressions of the Quays.

    • Suffragettes to Supermodels: 100 years of Fashion

      Suffragettes to Supermodels: 100 years of Fashion

      13 March 2010 - 01 January 2011

      ExhibitionA display of the most iconic looks from 1910 to present day

    • Walls Are Talking: Wallpaper, Art and Culture

      Walls Are Talking: Wallpaper, Art and Culture

      06 February 2010 - 30 August 2010

      ExhibitionThe first major UK exhibition of artists' wallpapers with work by over 30 artists including Andy Warhol, Sarah Lucas and Damien Hirst.

    • Tracey Eastham

      Tracey Eastham

      17 August 2010 - 26 September 2010

      ExhibitionTracey Eastham uses found imagery on paper to make intricate, beguiling collages that explore stereotypical representations of nature and landscape.

    • English Book Club Breaks

      English Book Club Breaks

      01 January 2010 - 31 December 2010

      Show / DisplayExplore English novels, poetry and plays in the dramatic northern settings in which they were written.

    • North South Divide

      North South Divide

      01 May 2010 - 08 September 2010

      ExhibitionAn exhibition showcasing a wide range of wonderful images, which reveal different ways of looking at the North of England. Photographer and guest curator Ian Beesley explores the tradition of social documentary photography in England. In his show, he

    • MANCHESTER PRIDE - ED SWINTON PHOTOGRAPHY

      MANCHESTER PRIDE - ED SWINTON PHOTOGRAPHY

      22 June 2010 - 04 September 2010

      ExhibitionThe exhibition celebrates Manchester Pride 2010 with a series of photographs from previous festivals, focussing on the very English obsession with men dressing up as women.

    • From Our Correspondent

      From Our Correspondent

      01 May 2011 - 01 January 2012

      ExhibitionThis major new exhibition will investigate how information about conflicts reaches civilian populations and look at the role of the war correspondent. Timed to coincide with the opening of Media City:UK and the relocation of 5 BBC departments to The

    • Transition: Jane Fairhurst

      Transition: Jane Fairhurst

      24 July 2010 - 05 September 2010

      ExhibitionTransition: Jane Fairhurst (24 July – 5 September 2010) In this exhibition Jane Fairhurst exploits the availability of mass-produced children’s toys to explore themes of current affairs, global politics and the environment. Placing a new twist on

    • Strada presents the illy Art Collection

      Strada presents the illy Art Collection

      06 September 2010 - 17 September 2010

      ExhibitionA unique exhibition, twenty years in the making and conceived to combine the aesthetic pleasure of art with the sensory pleasure of coffee, will arrive in Manchester this September.

    • Tyneside Shipyards, 1943: Photographs by Cecil Beaton

      Tyneside Shipyards, 1943: Photographs by Cecil Beaton

      17 July 2010 - 30 July 2011

      ExhibitionAn outdoor exhibition displaying the work of iconic photographer Cecil Beaton.

    • All Aboard: Stories of War at Sea

      All Aboard: Stories of War at Sea

      17 July 2010 - 01 May 2011

      ExhibitionJump aboard and test your sea legs at this major new exhibition for all the family.

    • Dreamfest

      Dreamfest

      19 June 2010 - 26 September 2010

      ExhibitionPaintings of Salford and Manchester with a twist by local student artist.

    • Digitalis

      Digitalis

      31 July 2010 - 19 September 2010

      ExhibitionDigitalis (31 July – 19 September 2010) How can the digital world provide new possibilities in the field of painting? In this exhibition, five painters set out to answer this question and explore how new technologies can provide fresh opportunitie

    • Tatton Park Biennial 2010: Framing Identity

      Tatton Park Biennial 2010: Framing Identity

      08 May 2010 - 26 September 2010

      ExhibitionFrom May to September 2010, Tatton Park stages its second Biennial of contemporary art, a laboratory for creative experiment and exchange, with new works commissioned for the Deer Park, Mansion and Formal Gardens.

    • Unrealised Potential

      Unrealised Potential

      17 July 2010 - 12 September 2010

      ExhibitionExhibition giving you the chance to buy artists' unrealised ideas.

    • Transformations 3: Panoramia by Leo Fitzmaurice

      Transformations 3: Panoramia by Leo Fitzmaurice

      01 May 2010 - 05 September 2010

      ExhibitionThe Lowry's Promenade Gallery will become a work of art as Leo Fitzmaurice moves in to combine the building’s architecture with his unique interpretation of commercial packaging.

    • FINDING MANCHESTER, LOST IN BOLIVIA

      FINDING MANCHESTER, LOST IN BOLIVIA

      04 September 2010 - 30 January 2011

      ExhibitionThe discovery of a village called Manchester on a post-war Russian air map, led photographers Liz Peel and Chris Smith on a three month journey of discovery through South America.

    • The Reflective Room

      The Reflective Room

      06 July 2010 - 01 October 2010

      ExhibitionRelax at the Manchester Museum

    • China: Journey To The East

      China: Journey To The East

      25 September 2010 - 26 June 2011

      ExhibitionExhibition of ancient and modern Chinese artefacts.

    • War At Sea

      War At Sea

      17 July 2010 - 01 April 2011

      ExhibitionThis major new interactive exhibition for all the family is Imperial War Museum's first large-scale exhibition to reveal the unique experiences of life at sea in wartime.

    • DON'T WAIT UP FOR ME

      DON'T WAIT UP FOR ME

      29 August 2010 - 29 November 2010

      Exhibition'DON'T WAIT UP FOR ME' EXHIBITION AT THE ART OF TEA.

    • Intuition

      Intuition

      26 June 2010 - 09 January 2011

      ExhibitionExhibition of paintings, drawings and sculptures recently acquired by the Whitworth Art Gallery.

    • M'Sieve Art Exhibition

      M'Sieve Art Exhibition

      15 October 2010 - 22 October 2010

      ExhibitionWith artist from all across the UK and varying in styles with a great mixture of Fine Art, Photography, Illustration, Model Making, 3D, Graphic Design, Doodlers, and anything else that may crop up.

    • Fired Up: ceramics and meaning

      Fired Up: ceramics and meaning

      17 July 2010 - 14 November 2010

      ExhibitionFired Up: Ceramics and Meaning (17 July – 14 November 2010) Offering an alternative perspective on contemporary ceramics, this exhibition brings together the work of some of today’s most exciting potters whose work lies within the realms of politi

    • Wedding Show

      Wedding Show

      29 January 2011 - 30 January 2011

      ExhibitionThe North of England's Premier Bridal Exhibition will be held in a luxurious grand marquee within the magnificent grounds ofTatton Park.

    • Community Exhibition: Wythenshawe

      Community Exhibition: Wythenshawe

      03 October 2009 - 31 August 2010

      ExhibitionIn this specially created exhibition, the community sits alongside MOSI's world class collections to show the world why Wythenshawe matters.

    • Ambient Art

      Ambient Art

      23 May 2010 - 22 August 2010

      ExhibitionAmbient Art will be exclusively exhibited at The Art of Tea café, Manchester from the 23rd May - 22nd August.

    • In the Spotlight: Odette Hallowes's pistol

      In the Spotlight: Odette Hallowes's pistol

      24 October 2009 - 30 September 2010

      ExhibitionA World War 2 gun is used to shed light on the role of women in World War 2

    • Mansion Exhibition: Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cheshire

      Mansion Exhibition: Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cheshire

      30 August 2010 - 31 October 2010

      ExhibitionKnutsford, where Elizabeth Gaskell grew up is well known as her inspiration for ‘Cranford’.

    • 180th Anniversary of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway

      180th Anniversary of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway

      11 September 2010 - 23 October 2010

      Exhibition15 September 2010 is the 180th anniversary of the world’s first inter-city passenger railway, the Liverpool & Manchester Railway (L&MR).

    • History, Mystery and Myth

      History, Mystery and Myth

      16 November 2009 - 26 September 2010

      ExhibitionExhibition about Rochdale’s storytelling tradition, using Touchstone's collection to highlight the work of local writers.

    • THE GULF WAR 1990 - 1991: PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN KEANE

      THE GULF WAR 1990 - 1991: PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN KEANE

      18 September 2010 - 27 February 2011

      ExhibitionMarking twenty years since the Gulf War 1990 - 1991, Imperial War Museum North in Manchester presents a small but powerful display of photographs taken by renowned artist John Keane.

    • Pairings: A Conversation

      Pairings: A Conversation

      01 September 2010 - 13 November 2010

      Exhibition“Pairings: A Conversation” cross-disciplinary collaborations in craft and design.