Exhibitions in Manchester and the North

Maja Lorkowska, Exhibitions Editor

We’ve got intricate textiles, a festival inspired by a medieval poem and a touring show with musings from early career artists – how good does that sound? 

This month is bringing art treats all over the North, starting with Igshaan Adams: Weehoud at the Hepworth Wakefield. Wirral’s Williamson Gallery Welcomes Into The Wyld, a contemporary arts festival from artist collective Material Matters. It consists of a series of exhibitions and satellite events, all of which are related to the 14th century poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

We have group shows too: in Manchester, you’ll find Air Open 2024 at Rogue Studios, while Sheffield’s Site Gallery welcomes the touring show Jerwood Survey III. In Leeds’ Hyde Park Book Club, we have Is This What We Have Left? with works considering the loss of arts spaces in cities, from Kate O’Neill, Marta Dyczkowska and James Thompson.

Our top picks

Igshaan Adams: Weerhoud at the Hepworth Wakefield

Igshaan Adams: Weerhoud at The Hepworth Wakefield, West Yorkshire, Until 3 November 2024, from £0.00 - Book now

Step into the softly opulent world of Igshaan Adams’s textiles and floating sculptures.

Large beige tapestry with intricate colourful beading hanging on a white wool
Igshaan Adams, Jaime-Lee, Dustin, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Mario Todeschini

Into The Wyld at Williamson Art Gallery & Museum

Into The Wyld at Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead, Until 21 December 2024, free entry - Visit now

One artist collective, three exhibitions, 20 artists and one medieval poem all come together to form Into The Wyld festival, a one-of-a-kind set of events exploring the legacy of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, uniquely connected to the Wirral.

Graphic text reads Material Matters presents Into The Wyld a Journey into Arthuriana. All text is white, background is a green moss in which the outline of an ancient-looking caved man's face can be made out
Material Matters Collective

Jerwood Survey III at Site Gallery

Jerwood Survey III at Site Gallery Sheffield, Sheffield, 27 September 2024, free entry - Find Out More

Jerwood Survey III offers a cross-section of the current trends, approaches and concerns in the young contemporary art of today, touring the country and landing at Site Gallery this September.

Pink graphic with the words 'Jerwood Survey III' in a blue font.
Jerwood Arts

AIR Open 2024 at Rogue Studios

AIR Open 2024 at Rogue Artists’ Studios, Manchester, Until 21 September 2024, free entry - Visit now

From ceramic fountains to mystic performances and haunting rabbits, Air Open 2024 has a little bit of everything, with a display of work from over 40 artists.

'I bet you haven't even had the surgery'
ANDI

Is This What We Have Left? at Hyde Park Book Club

Is This What We Have Left? - Kate O’Neill, Marta Dyczkowska and James Thompson at Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds, 20 September–19 December 2024, free entry - Find Out More

Kate O’Neill, Marta Dyczkowska and James Thompson focus on place and consider the implications of losing art spaces in cities as part of rapid change and development.

Exhibition  Is This What We Have Left?  featuring never shown and new works by artists Kate O’Neill, Marta Dyczkowska and James Thompson. Show opens 19/09/2024 at our  home Hyde Park Book Club, and focused on the current dialogues we are having as creatives around space.
Image supplied by Leeds Inspired

Ian Macdonald: Fixing Time at Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens and Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art

Ian Macdonald: Fixing Time at Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, North East, Until 3 November 2024, free entry - Visit now

Ian Macdonald has been a photographer for over five decades now and the fruits of his career are now on display in a two-venue retrospective.

Redcar Blast furnace, 2.00am Midsummer night, 1986.
Photograph. Courtesy of the artist, Ian Macdonald

Lubna Chowdhary: PLURIVERSE at Graves Gallery

Lubna Chowdhary: PLURIVERSE at Graves Gallery, Sheffield, Until 21 December 2024, free entry - Visit now

Creating a bridge between different visual languages, Lubna Chowdhary’s satisfyingly simple forms encompass the concept of the ‘multiplicity of worlds’.

An abstract painting of red and black circles and curved lines.
Lubna Chowdhary, Re Verse, 2024. Courtesy the artist and Jhaveri Contemporary. Photo credit: Andrew Judd

Mark Tanner Sculpture Award: Thinking is Making at Cross Lane Projects

Mark Tanner Sculpture Award: Thinking is Making at Cross Lane Projects, Cumbria, Until 21 September 2024, free entry - Visit now

Discover the more unexpected aspects of contemporary sculpture in the new show in Kendal.

A free standing sculpture of greens, blues, purples and greys with wire.
Anna Reading, Gritty Stacker, 2023, metal mesh, stainless steel, plaster, Jesmonite, pigment, sharp sand, ballast, volcanic sand, pearl farmed oyster shells, cement, nassa shells, oyster shell grit, glass, oil stick, turpentine, linseed oil, Sea Breeze scented oil, Augeo Oil. Courtesy of the artist.

R.I.P. Germain and Sara Sadik at FACT

R.I.P. Germain and Sara Sadik at FACT at FACT, Liverpool, Until 13 October 2024, free entry - Visit now

Two solo shows have landed at FACT this summer, with immersive installations incorporating digital elements from artists R.I.P. Germain and Sara Sadik.

Image of a pink room with fluffy carpet and padded walls. A projection displays a scene from a videogame. In the foreground there are two large ringed inflatables that are lit with a green light from above.
Sara Sadik, XENON PALACE CHAMPIONSHIP (2023). Installation view at FACT Liverpool. Photo by Rob Battersby

Injecting Hope: The race for a COVID-19 vaccine at the Science and Industry Museum

Injecting Hope: The race for a COVID-19 vaccine at Science and Industry Museum, Manchester, Until 17 November 2024, free entry - Visit now

Learn more about the process of vaccine-creation in SIM’s new exhibition all about the innovation and implementation behind the COVID-19 vaccine.

Visitors in Injecting Hope at Science and Industry Museum
Science Museum Group

40 Years of the Future: Where Should We Be Now? at Castlefield Gallery

40 Years of the Future: Where Should We Be Now? at Castlefield Gallery, Manchester, Until 6 October 2024, free entry - Visit now

The 40 Years of the Future programme continues with a new exhibition by three artists, exploring alternative histories and the subjectivity of experience in the context of remembering the past.

A collage of black and white photos depicting protests
Theo Simpson, Remainder III (2023). Image courtesy of the artist

Wild at Manchester Museum

Wild at Manchester Museum, Manchester, Until 1 June 2025, free entry - Visit now

Manchester Museum’s new exhibition focuses on all things wild or related to the concept of wildness. From environmental campaigns that lead to restoring ecosystems to romanticised landscape paintings, the show gathers different approaches and practices.

Wolf in Yellowstone
Jacob W. Frank

Hannah Perry: Manual Labour at Baltic

Hannah Perry: Manual Labour at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, North East, Until 15 March 2025, free entry - Visit now

Hannah Perry’s explorations of matrescence in combination with class, labour and industrial materials is a unique perspective on this still underexplored topic.

A pregnant woman standing in a mirror
Hannah Perry © Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art

Harewood Biennial 2024: Create/Elevate at Harewood House

Harewood Biennial 2024: Create/Elevate at Harewood House, Leeds, Until 20 October 2024, from £14.00 - Book now

Visit the third edition of the Create/ Elevate, the craft biennial that connects generations and continents.

a large room filled with colourful artworks of all shapes and sizes
Image supplied by Leeds Inspired

Bharti Kher: Alchemies at Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Bharti Kher: Alchemies at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Yorkshire, Until 27 April 2025, from £0.00 - Book now

One of the world’s leading contemporary artists, Bharti Kher comes to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park with a body of work that focuses on the female experience and its shifting context in today’s world.

Sculpture of a nude woman with the head of a cow placed on top of the woman's head
Bharti Kher, Animus Mundi (detail), 2018. © Bharti Kher. Courtesy of the artist and Nature Morte. Photo © Jeetin Sharma.

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Until
ExhibitionsManchester
AIR Open 2024 at Rogue Studios

Air Open is back for its seventh year, with a fantastic array of innovative artworks in any medium you can imagine, on display at Rogue Artist Studios.

free entry
Wolf in Yellowstone
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Wild at Manchester Museum

Manchester Museum explores the concept of ‘wild’ nature as a means of tackling the climate and biodiversity crisis in a new exhibition.

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Exhibitions in Manchester and the North

HOME Manchester
Manchester
Theatre
HOME Manchester

Offering a packed schedule of events and things to do, HOME Manchester is one of the city’s leading hubs for arts and culture.

The Hepworth Wakefield
Wakefield
Gallery
The Hepworth Wakefield

Winner of the 2017 Art Fund Museum of the Year Award, The Hepworth in Wakefield is easily one of the leading cultural highlights of the North.

The Whitworth
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The Whitworth

This much-loved gallery-in-a-park is open for business, showcasing some of the city’s finest contemporary and historic exhibitions.

Waterfront
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The British Music Experience

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The Merzbarn today, courtesy Littoral Arts Trust
Cumbria
Gallery
Kurt Schwitters’ Merzbarn

Tucked away in a remote corner of the Lake District is Kurt Schwitter’s Merzbarn, an artistic epitaph to the avant garde ‘godfather of modern art’.

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