February with Manchester Is Ace
Hello people of Leeds, it’s been a while. It’s all go go go in Manchester, but I’m back for your 2010 dose of Manchester cultural goodies.
There’s a lot of good stuff going down in the MCR at the moment, and this blog post is going to serve as my to-do list for the rest of February. Are you with me?
1. Urbis has left the building
Love it or loathe it, Urbis has always stirred up opinion and emotion in Manchester. But now it’s going to the way of all legends – gone too soon.
The final exhibition is called Urbis has left the building and is on until February 27. The retrospective will look back over all its exhibitions over six years. My favourite exhibitions were The Hacienda; Matthew Williamson and the Mick Rock. The current hip hop exhibition is also definitely worth a look.
Urbis is opposite The Printworks, and near Victoria train station.
www.urbis.org.uk
2. Walls are talking
I’ve heard so many good things about this exhibition, Walls are talking: wallpaper, art and culture, at the Whitworth Art Gallery. Luckily, it’s on until May 3 so there should be plenty of time to hop on a bus into studentville to see it.
The website says, “Kitsch ideas of home decoration are turned upside down as artists subvert the stereotypes of wallpaper to hit home messages about warfare, racism, cultural conflicts and gender.”
With designs from Damien Hirst, Andy Worhol and Sarah Lucas, this looks like an exhibition that goes deeper than looking at the pretty stuff we use to cover our dodgy plaster.
The Whitworth Art Gallery is on Oxford Road and is part of the University of Manchester.
www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk
3. A Raisin in the Sun
This month has also seen the launch of the production A Raisin in the Sun, which is a moving play set in 1950s Chicago. The family at the heart of the play squabble over a $10,000 insurance cheque, with the themes of racism and poverty in the background.
Read this review in the Telegraph for more details.
The Royal Exchange Theatre is on Cross Street.
www.royalexchangetheatre.org.uk
Find out more about Manchester on www.manchesterisace.co.uk.
Carolyn Hughes is a PR and communications consultant in Manchester.
