Culture Guides
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If you are to believe the talking heads on the telly, Britain has never been a more divided country. Has it not though? Surely we’ve always had our differences and never more so than between the sound of the year’s first premature squeak of Mariah Carey, right through the misery of all the Black Friday nonsense, via an unwelcome family get-together at your weird auntie’s house and then, finally, to the big day.
Christmas. To many, it’s the most magical time of the year. To others, it’s a drawn out saga on such an epic scale of cruelty that it could have come from the pen of George R. R. Martin himself.
Christmas is though, inescapable. From high street tat, to eggnog in The Dog & Duck, even the bus drivers are dressing up as Santa (though still somehow missing any resemblance of festive cheer). So, cry ‘bah humbug!’ and let slip the best things to do this month that have nothing to do with Christmas.
(and for everyone else, here’s a link to our unmissable coverage of Christmas in Manchester and the North…)
Here are our picks
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1. Wake Up Together and Where Love is Illegal at Open Eye Gallery
Untitled, Ren Hang, 2016. Stieglitz19 Wake Up Together at Open Eye Gallery, Waterfront, 16 November 2018–17 February 2019, free entry - Visit now
Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool presents ‘Ren Hang: Wake Up Together’ and ‘Robin Hammond: Where Love Is Illegal’ – two exhibitions championing the rights of every person to love who they want and respectfully live as they wish.
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2. ARTIST ROOMS: Robert Mapplethorpe at The Atkinson
Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation ARTIST ROOMS: Robert Mapplethorpe at The Atkinson, Southport, 15 December 2018–23 March 2019, free entry - Visit now
Robert Mapplethorpe is widely regarded as one of the world’s most important artists of the late twentieth century. A group of his photographs on display at The Atkinson will include iconic self-portraits, studies of flowers, portraits of many of the most influential artists and celebrities of the New York cultural scene in the 1970s &1980s.
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3. Electricity: The Spark of Life at the Science and Industry Museum
Museum of London Electricity: The spark of life at Science and Industry Museum, Castlefield, 18 October 2018–28 April 2019, free entry - Visit now
The headline event from this year’s Manchester Science Festival, this super-charged new exhibition tells the story of our quest to understand, unlock and master the power of electricity.
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4. The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture 2018 at The Hepworth Wakefield
Visitors view work by Michael Dean in The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture. 26 October 2018 - 20 January 2019. Photo, David Lindsay The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture at The Hepworth Wakefield, 26 October 2018–20 January 2019, free entry - Visit now
The celebrated Hepworth Prize for Sculpture returns for its second edition featuring an exciting range of high-profile artists and offering a compelling look at the state of the age-old discipline today.
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5. Pubs in Manchester
Image courtesy of Briton's Protection From a beautifully tiled old haunt with a mysteriously sloping floor, to the ultimate beer specialists – is there anywhere better to escape the mayhem of the festive season? Here are some of the best old fashioned boozers in Manchester.
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6. Top places to go rural (without leaving Manchester)
Disley, home to Lyme Park. Image by Dave Dunford via Wikimedia Commons Finally, just leave the city behind and go for a nice crisp winter walk.
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