Top Picks
Guides
What’s on
Where to go
See all

Holly Graham: The Warp / The Weft / The Wake at Manchester Art Gallery

Maja Lorkowska, Exhibitions Editor

Visit now

Holly Graham: The Warp / The Weft / The Wake

Manchester Art Gallery, City Centre
Until 15 February 2026

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Free
This image features a close-up of fabric with intricate, marbled patterns in various colors. The patterns resemble the swirling designs found in traditional marbling art. The fabrics display a range of tones, including dark greys, blues, teals, yellows, and red accents, creating a vibrant and textured appearance. The folds in the fabric highlight the material's flow and emphasize the rich detail of the designs.
Holly Graham
Book now

Manchester Art Gallery presents: Holly Graham: The Warp / The Weft / The Wake, an exhibition resulting from the artist’s long-term residency and related research focused on exploring the ways in which memory and narrative shape collective histories. Graham accessed the city archives and looked into the gallery’s history to highlight legacies of expansionism, colonialism and exploitative labour inherent to the history of cotton.

The new work on display is realised in the form of a Victorian style cotton printed costume, modelled on the silhouette of a dress worn by African American abolitionist Sarah Parker Remond, and co-created with her mother Jennifer Graham, who used to work as a costumier. The display will remain in dialogue with the gallery site and its archives, taking a closer look at the textile collections the legacy of the cotton industry.

 

Accessibility

  • Captioned
  • Dementia-friendly
  • Parent and Baby
  • Relaxed

What's on at Manchester Art Gallery

Peterloo Tour
TourManchester
The Peterloo Massacre Tour

Visit key locations associated with a moment that helped shape the future of the nation, tracing the footsteps of those who stood for change.

From £20.00

Where to go near Holly Graham: The Warp / The Weft / The Wake at Manchester Art Gallery

Salut Wines
Chinatown
Bar or Pub
Salut Wines

Salut wines pride themselves in offering “wider horizons beyond the safe choices.” With 42 wines by the glass and a regularly changing selection of bottles in their Enomatic wine preservation machines (or  “wine jukebox,” as they’re colloquially known), this is one of be best bars in Manchester for exploring new vintages.

Manchester Central Library
Manchester
Library
Manchester Central Library

The stunning Manchester Central Library is now back open for all visitors who wish to browse the enormous collection or simply relax in this magnificent building.

St Peters Square Manchester
City Centre
St Peter’s Square

St Peter’s Square is a public space in Manchester – home to the city’s iconic library, town hall, Pankhurst statue, art gallery and famous Midland Hotel.

Chinatown
Restaurant
Manchester Art Gallery Cafe

Summery bakes, seasonal salads and fresh light meals at Manchester Art Gallery’s in-house café, courtesy of highly-regarded Head Chef Matthew Taylor.

Chinatown
Hotel
The Alan

This high-end city-centre restaurant has an excellent afternoon tea option that more than matches up to the superb main menu.

Contemporary Six, art gallery in Manchester
City Centre
Gallery
Contemporary Six

Contemporary Six is an independent commercial art gallery in Manchester city centre, set up by Alex Reuben in 2010.

Manchester
Shop
Siam Smiles

Now based at the Great Northern, Siam Smiles is a food stop that’s hot on everyone’s lips.

Chinatown
Restaurant
Yang Sing

One of the most well-known Chinese restaurants in Manchester, Yang Sing has been feeding Mancunians for forty years.

City Centre
Restaurant
Blinker

Elegant cocktail bar in the centre of Manchester, with a relaxed atmosphere and wonderfully friendly staff.

See all places

What's on: Exhibitions

The Same Deep Water as You at PINK
ExhibitionsStockport
The Same Deep Water as You at PINK

Get involved in this artistic and ambitious takeover of PINK’s three-storey venue, weaving together live performance, video, sculpture and sound.

Free entry
Wolf in Yellowstone
Until
ExhibitionsManchester
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.

Free entry

Culture Guides

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

Eclectic as ever. You'll find inventive reworkings, world-class contemporary dance and Greater Manchester's inaugural Improv Festival in our guide.

Laura Ellen Bacon, Into Being, 2025. Photo © India Hobson, courtesy Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Exhibitions in the North

Willow weaving, textile collages, digital arts and ecology - all this and more in our exhibition top picks this month

portrait of Lorsung in a dark shirt with dark hair and dark round glasses
Literature Events in the North

We've got laughs and we've got leftfield on the live literature radar this month. Something for everyone, from poets playing with form to short story writers looking long.

Sextile
Music in the North

Open air clubs, new festivals and long-awaited gigs. The North West's live music scene is heating up this spring. 

Classical Music in the North

Read our latest highlights from the live classical music offer in Manchester and the North, taking in a number of the region's most cherished orchestral forces and venues.

See all guides