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As the restrictions upon life brought about by Covid continue, many organisations are finding further innovative, non-screen-based ways to engage with audiences outside of the traditional gallery space. Among these, Proforma has actively embraced the challenge, hosting a day-long outdoor programme of new artist commissions along Chapel Street in Manchester and Salford. Titled LOITER, the mini festival is about reclaiming the harmless act from its often-negative connotations, asking what’s to be gained from a good linger, laze or loaf on a street corner?
Equally attentive to the world around us, Dark Days, Luminous Nights at The White Hotel offers audiences a highly immersive audio-visual meditation on the changing soul of Manchester and Salford through a journey along their ruined waterway, the River Irk. Navigating urban hinterlands and featuring a haunting music score from Manchester Collective, this is a unique experience not to be missed.
Over in Liverpool, where galleries are currently open (at the time of writing), Open Eye Gallery has curated an uplifting trio of exhibitions dedicated to the people of its city, including a set of photographs that have not been seen for over 40 years. Meanwhile, Bluecoat presents a series of paintings by locally-based artist Josie Jenkins which seek to highlight the constructed nature of how we view the world. And OUTPUT has gone postal, launching a new programme of exhibitions sent straight to people’s doors. Here’s to the end of a very strange year.
Here are our picks
Dark Days, Luminous Nights - POSTPONED at The White Hotel, Salford, 26–30 January 2021, from £5 - Book now
A highly immersive audio-visual experience that meditates on Manchester & Salford’s changing soul via a journey along their ruined waterway.
PROFORMA presents LOITER at Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art, Manchester and online, 30 January 2021, free entry - Find Out More
Proforma presents LOITER, a one-day-long live art festival that offers new perspectives on the urban environment.
L– A City Through Its People at Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool, Waterfront, Until 7 March 2021, free entry - Visit now
Open Eye Gallery pays tribute to the proud city it calls home with three exhibitions about the people who live there.
Postal Exhibition Print Programme at OUTPUT in Liverpool, City Centre, Until 1 June 2021, free entry - Visit now
OUTPUT in Liverpool launches a new programme of mail-based exhibitions, sending original artwork directly to your home.
Fun & Games Playtime past & present at The Portico Library, Chinatown and online, Until 24 May 2021, free entry - Visit now
Fun & Games at The Portico Library explores the evolution and traditions of games and play throughout the ages up to today.
Grayson's Art Club at Manchester Art Gallery, Chinatown, Until 18 April 2021, free entry - Visit now
Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry presents a major exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery featuring work made by the nation during the initial weeks of lockdown.
Sean Edwards 'Undo Things done' at Bluecoat, City Centre, Until 21 February 2021, free entry - Visit now
Undo Things Done, a poetic inquiry into place, politics and class intertwined with personal histories, takes as its starting point Sean Edwards’ experience of growing up on a council estate in Cardiff in the 1980s.
Vision & Reality: 100 Years of Contemporary Art in Wakefield at The Hepworth Wakefield, 31 January–25 April 2021, free entry - Find Out More
100 years of contemporary art in one sitting? Feast your eyes at The Hepworth Wakefield and discover the story behind its remarkable collection.
German Revolution Expressionist Prints at Lady Lever Art Gallery, Until 28 February 2021, free entry - Visit now
Schiele, Munch, Picasso, Kollwitz – Lady Lever Art Gallery’s latest exhibition brings together some of the most influential European artists and printmakers of the early 20th century.
Obstructions at Castlefield Gallery, Castlefield, Until 7 March 2021, free entry - Visit now
Castlefield Gallery presents ‘Obstructions’ – a rather unconventional group show about the freedoms within restriction, and rules that are sometimes there to be broken.
Multiplicities in Flux at Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art, Manchester, Until 31 January 2021, free entry - Visit now
CFCCA presents a two-person exhibition that challenges ideas of Britishness, belonging, identity and citizenship.
The Sheffield Project at Weston Park Museum, Sheffield, Until 3 May 2021, free entry - Visit now
Commissioned in the mid-1980s, The Sheffield Project focused a lens on a unique chapter in the city’s history, when it embarked on a journey of radical change.
Aliza Nisenbaum at Tate Liverpool, Waterfront, Until 27 June 2021, free entry - Visit now
International portrait artist Aliza Nisenbaum will present a new painting at Tate Liverpool this winter, depicting members of the city’s key workers.
White Psyche at The Whitworth, Manchester, Until 31 January 2021, free entry - Visit now
White Psyche at the Whitworth examines the aesthetics of white supremacy through the story of Cupid and Psyche – a classical tale of love and good looks.
AID WORKERS: ETHICS UNDER FIRE - Exhibition at Imperial War Museum North (IWM North), Manchester, Until 31 May 2021, free entry - Visit now
Aid Workers: Ethics Under Fire at Imperial War Museum North takes a close look at the moral dilemmas surrounding overseas aid.
What is Manchester Art Gallery? at Manchester Art Gallery, Chinatown, Until 31 January 2023, free entry - Visit now
Manchester Art Gallery reopens with a thought-provoking new exhibition that delves into the history of the public institution and its role within the city.
Don McCullin at Tate Liverpool, Waterfront, Until 9 May 2021, from £11 - Book now
Tate Liverpool presents a major retrospective of work by Don McCullin, widely considered to be one of the greatest photojournalists of our time.
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