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Guides
What's on
Where to go
See all

Salford Royal Academy Takeover

Sara Jaspan, Exhibitions Editor

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Salford Royal Academy Takeover

Salford Museum and Art Gallery, Manchester
19 May 2018-24 February 2019

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

Free
Poppy, Esme, Oleanna, Gracie and Kate, 2014. Personal Feeling is the main thing - Chantal Joffe at The Lowry, Salford
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The Royal Academy of Arts may be based in London, but its current roster of 80 elected Academicians (including Sonia Boyce, Isaac Julien, Tracey Emin, David Hockney, Cornelia Parker, Sir Antony Gormley and Tacita Dean) are certainly not all capital-dwellers, and neither were their predecessors. To mark its 250th birthday, the globally-renowned institution has launched a nationwide programme of exhibitions, displays, tours, talks and one-off events presented with Art Fund support, which look back on a quarter-of-a-millennium of making, debating and exhibiting art, and celebrate the more than 650 leading artists and architects that have helped shape its story so far. Here we take a look at what’s happening in Salford – home of RA LS Lowry and now a growing independent art scene.

Where to go near Salford Royal Academy Takeover

Laura Daly: The Storm Cone at Peel Park, Salford
Salford
The Storm Cone, Peel Park

The Storm Cone is a digital artwork and soundscape by artist Laura Daly and composer Lucy Pankhurst, which simulates lost park bandstands and explores their forgotten histories.

Manchester
Music venue
Peel Hall

One of a few remaining Gothic concert halls in the United Kingdom. It has tiered seating for 370 and is housed in the Peel Building which stands at the front of the Peel Park Campus.

Manchester
Park
Peel Park

Peel Park in Salford is the oldest public park in Britain and the first of three to be opened in 1846.

Manchester
Gallery
Centenary Building

One of The University of Salford’s School of Arts and Media facilities. The Centenary Building won the RIBA Award and Stirling Prize in 1996 and the Civic Trust Award in 1997.

Salford
Restaurant
Old Pint Pot

This lively spot could be considered a jack of all trades – pub, restaurant, events space and live music venue.

Salford
Gallery
GK Gallery

This Chapel Street gallery and tea room hosts 8-12 week long exhibitions giving emerging artists a chance to showcase their work.

Chapel Street
Gallery
Islington Mill

A former cotton spinning mill, Islington Mill in Manchester now houses artists’ studios, galleries, a recording studio, a nightclub, cafe and B&B.

Manchester
Event venue
7 Spot Pottery

Part of Salford Makers, 7 Spot is a 360 square foot ceramics studio offering classes and workshops as well as studio space for members.

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What's on: Exhibitions

Culture Guides

A busy image created using generative AI. The image depicts a man at the centre with grey hair and rosy cheeks, surrounding him are fairies that appear to be created in his own image with multiple limbs and unique bodily proportions. Around them are hundreds of vials, microscopes and dated scientific equipment.
Exhibitions

Across Manchester and Salford, exhibitions are thinking hard about how things are made – and how materials carry stories.

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Fatoumata Diawara by Alun Be.
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Emily Lloyd-Saini as Grace in Space and Harrie Hayes as Lieutenant Strong in Horrible Science
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Whether you’re after storybook theatre, museum wanderings or illusion-bending play spaces, there’s plenty to keep curiosity ticking through winter and beyond.

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