Guides
What's on
Where to go
See all

Guides
What's on
Where to go
See all

Stuart Semple: Happy Cloud

Creative Tourist

Visit now

Stuart Semple: Happy Cloud

11 March 2017

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

Free
Book now

Nothing has more impact on your mood than the environment. In a dark, dingy room on a grey and rainy day? Chances are you’re not feeling too chipper. In a bright, sunny space at the height of spring? There’s probably a smile on your face.

Another thing that should make you smile is the fact that Stuart Semple’s art installation Happy Cloud is coming to Manchester this March as part of SICK! Festival. Happy Cloud sees Semple create thousands of floating smiley faces from soap helium and vegetable dye that will then beam down from outside the Manchester Art Gallery, The Whitworth, Manchester Museum and Manchester Royal Infirmary.

But should we be happy just because we see a smiling face? In a world where the terror of Trump, the worry of global warming and the clashes of different cultures hang over us at all times, perhaps not. And that’s what makes this installation so successful: by presenting these fake smiling faces it makes you ask yourself ‘Am I happy? And if not, why not?’

The exhibition was originally presented outside the Tate Modern just when the economy was going down the toilet and caused quite a stir, juxtaposing itself perfectly with those troubles. As we head in 2017 with all its problems and perplexities, Happy Cloud couldn’t be returning at a more pertinent time.

Where to go near Stuart Semple: Happy Cloud

Manchester
Bar or Pub
Pigeon Beer Wanderer

Pigeon Beer Wanderer brings wine-level ceremony to Manchester’s new “Beermuda Triangle”, courtesy of Joshua Lightfoot and his crack team of booze experts.

Image courtesy of Unitom.
Castlefield
Gallery
UNITOM Projects

The exhibition arm of Manchester indie bookshop UNITOM is a dedicated space for contemporary visual culture in the St John’s neighbourhood.

City Centre
Restaurant
Portfolio

Portfolio is a Champagne boutique on Manchester’s Bridge Street, offering a set menu of fine-dining small bites.

Manchester
Gallery
Bridge 5 Mill

Bridge 5 Mill is a sustainable event space and community hub on Beswick Street in Ancoats, hosting independent cultural projects and ethical supper clubs.

1853 gallery 1
Manchester
Gallery
1853 Studios

1853 Studios and Gallery is a Creative Studios and community of creative professionals occupying the 3rd floors of Osborne Mill, Oldham.

Deansgate
Restaurant
Podium

Podium delivers high-end, seasonal dishes, largely geared around produce and ideas from the British Isles, but with a few deft twists and turns.

Tai Wu
Manchester
Restaurant
Tai Wu

Long-standing, trend-swerving Chinese restaurant on Manchester’s Upper Brook Street, with a reputation for authentic dim sum and traditional Cantonese cuisine.

Manchester
Food hall
BAB Korean Food

A highlight of Manchester’s K-Food space, Bab Korean Food serves up authentic, well-made dishes at the Kargo MKT food hall in MediaCity.

Dimitri's
Castlefield
Restaurant
Dimitri’s

Longstanding Greek taverna Dimtri’s delivers traditional, fuss-free Greek food, aimed at everyone from courting couples to multi-generational families in Manchester.

Kong's NQ
Manchester
Restaurant
Kong’s NQ

Kong’s isn’t like other chicken shops. This much-loved Northern Quarter restaurant is all about high-grade ingredients and expert preparation.

Castlefield
Restaurant
Trading Route

Trading Route serves up time-honoured Sunday grub, in a modern Manchester setting. Worth a visit for the expertly-curated soundtrack alone.

See all places

What's on: Exhibitions

A poster by city of making showing images from the University of Salford Archive's
Until
ExhibitionsSalford
City Of Making at The New Adelphi

Creativity, making and innovation have long shaped Salford. City of Making traces that legacy from industrial roots to today’s artists, designers and creative technologists.

Free entry
Until
ExhibitionsManchester
Redactions at texture

For the four artists in texture’s reopening show, redaction is not absence but method – a way of exploring what’s been officially ignored, coded or suppressed.

Free entry

Culture Guides

Food and Drink in the North

It's heatwave time, so set your small talk phasers to 'weather' and get out there and grab some cold drinks and delicious food.

Theatre in Manchester
Theatre

Community, memory, technology and love collide in this month's selection of thought-provoking theatre.

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
Cinema in the North

There's no shortage of great films out at the moment, whether you're looking for the latest blockbuster, that hot arthouse flick fresh from Cannes or a cosy classic.

Blue triangles with white clouds on them against a beige backdrop. A gold sun is in the middle.
Exhibitions

Five exhibitions worth your time this month - and between them, a lot of ground covered.

Emily Lloyd-Saini as Grace in Space and Harrie Hayes as Lieutenant Strong in Horrible Science
Family things to do in the North

Whether you’re after storybook theatre, museum wanderings or illusion-bending play spaces, there’s plenty to keep curiosity ticking through winter and beyond.

One Leg One Eye
Music

From drone metal to art pop, free festivals to gigs in museums, here's one of our more eclectic music updates.

See all guides