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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
ExhibitionsManchester
Nothing Gold Can Stay at texture

After recently finding a new home in Cheetham Hill, texture 2.0 hosts its second show, fittingly themed around transience and impermanence.

Free entry
Poster for Bodies in Water. A figure wearing a multicoloured, fringed costume and silver star-shaped headpiece stands knee-deep in a lake beneath dark clouds, with green hills in the distance. Bright green text reads: “Bodies in Water”, “8–25.8.26” and “PV: 7.8.26, 18–21”. Bottom left shows the PINK logo and address: Hilton House, Lord Street, Stockport, SK1 3NA.
Until
Exhibitions
Bodies in Water at PINK

Folklore wraps around human anxiety in this new PINK exhibition, where the dragons and giants of Lake Bala become placeholders for fear itself.

Free entry
Until
ExhibitionsManchester
Manchester Open 2026 at HOME

Four editions in, the Manchester Open has become both a biennial survey of the region’s creative output and a genuine leveller for artistic talent.

Free entry

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