Past Exhibitions
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William Kentridge: Thick Time
South African artist William Kentridge weaves together global histories of revolution, exile and utopian aspirations, exploring how they are shaped by the creative forces of memory and the imagination.
21 September 2018 – 3 March 2019
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Alice Kettle: Thread Bearing Witness
A major new series of large textiles, and other works, to be shown at the Whitworth, that considers cultural heritage, refugee displacement and movement.
1 September 2018 – 24 February 2019
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We are 11
An exhibition boldly curated by the children of Stanley Grove Primary Academy.
6 October 2018 – 10 February 2019
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In the Land
Rethinking the form, texture and space of the natural landscape
27 January – 4 December 2018
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The Art of Volunteering
Our volunteers take over the Collections Centre with The Art of Volunteering, a project which explores the breadth of the Whitworth's collections.
25 May 2018 – 23 September 2018
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Isaac Julien: Ten Thousand Waves
A spectacular immersive film installation by British artist Isaac Julien
30 March – 28 August 2018
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Alison Wilding
Turner Prize nominee and Royal Academician Alison Wilding presents works spanning the past 20 years of her career.
16 February – 12 August 2018
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John Stezaker
Using vintage photographs, old film stills, postcards and book illustrations, John Stezaker makes collages that subvert their original imagery, creating unique and compelling works of art.
1 December 2017 – 24 June 2018
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Cozens and Cozens
Father and son, Alexander and John Robert Cozens, were influential watercolour painters of the 18th century.
16 June 2017 - 24 June 2018
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Beyond Borders
Beyond Borders, explores South Asian textiles bringing together four artists working on issues around post-colonial identity, ruptured spaces, authenticity, displacement and belonging. #NewNorthSouth
20 May 2017 – 3 June 2018
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Raqs Media Collective: Twilight Language
The first major UK exhibition by Raqs Media Collective
#NewNorthSouth30 September 2017 – 25 February 2018
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Apna: Ours Yours Everybody’s
Apna is a word used in many languages across South Asia meaning ‘ours, yours or everybody’s’. In the Collections Centre the curators hand over the reigns, in this case to Apna, a South Asian women’s arts group based in Rossendale. This display is a collaboration between the Whitworth and Apna, telling stories of women between two worlds.
3 February – 13 May 2018
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Cecily Brown: Shipwreck drawings
This is an exhibition of a extraordinary series of drawings by Cecily Brown, of wrecked ships and their passengers.
17 November – 15 April 2018
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South Asian Modernists 1953-63
Exploring the works of Pakistani and Indian artists who worked with Victor Musgrave between 1953-63.
#NewNorthSouth30 September 2017 – 15 April 2018
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No End to Enderby
Ashes (2002-2015), a double video projection, tells the story of a young Caribbean man known by this name.
22 September 2017 – 18 March 2018
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Beyond Dementia
Supporting active citizenship in those living with dementia
28 July – 21 January 2018
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Maeve Brennan
The Whitworth presents a major new film commission, The Drift, by London and Beirut based artist Maeve Brennan.
30 September 2017 – 28 January 2018
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Sooni Taraporevala
Home in the City, Bombay 1976-Mumbai 2016
The first UK solo exhibition of photographer Sooni Taraporevala.
#NewNorthSouth4 March 2017 - 28 January 2018
Upper Promenade
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Raqib Shaw
A solo exhibition by contemporary artist Raqib Shaw examining real and imagined spaces between the East and West.
#NewNorthSouth24 June – 19 November 2017
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No End to Enderby
A work by Graham Eatough and Stephen Sutcliffe.
To mark the 100th birthday of Manchester-born Anthony Burgess this year, artist Stephen Sutcliffe and theatre director Graham Eatough collaborate to explore the writer’s series of Enderby novels in a new film, No End to Enderby. #mif1730 June – 17 September 2017
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ToGather
Susan Hefuna
A wide-ranging exhibition, Susan Hefuna’s timely, poetic work addresses some of the most potent issues of our time: migration, movement and sensations of separation. #mif17
30 June – 3 September 2017
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John Akomfrah
Vertigo Sea
The acclaimed video installation Vertigo Sea, a three-screen film, first seen at the 56th Venice Biennale.
24 March – 23 July 2017
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Idris Khan
British contemporary artist Idris Khan's new solo exhibition.
14 October 2016 – 12 March 2017Read more
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M + Sigg Collection
Chinese art from 1970s to now. Eighty works, four decades of fast-moving art, one of the world’s finest collections of Chinese art – and the only chance to see it in the UK.
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Cornelia Parker
A major solo show from one of Britain’s most acclaimed contemporary artists
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Thomas Schütte
A remarkable print installation by a leading German artist.
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Cai Guo-Qiang, Unmanned Nature
A spectacular installation in our new landscape gallery
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BBC Little Painting Challenge
The Whitworth and BBC Learning have developed a series of events to accompany the exhibition.
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Manchester International Festival
World Premières and Special Events
Eighteen Extraordinary DaysMIF15: Richter/Pärt, 9 – 19 July 2015Read more
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Johnnie Shand Kydd
Iconic, black and white photographs of international art world figures at play.
14 February 2015 to 1 February 2016
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Richard Forster
Richard Forster makes super realistic drawings from photographs rather than from life - either using his own snapshots, or images found in magazines, books or on the internet.
29 August 2015 – 28 February 2016
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Wallpaper
Celebrating post-war design this show features highlights from the Whitworth’s collection of 1950s and 60s wallpapers.
29 January – 9 October 2016
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The Gardener Digs in Another Time
This exhibition reflects upon the use of the garden in visual culture as a vehicle for utopian thought and emblem for an ideal society.
23 June – 9 October 2016
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Art from the Friends
The Friends of the Whitworth was founded by the gallery’s remarkable Director and artist Margaret Pilkington in 1933 for ‘enriching the collections through the purchase of works of art’. Since then, the Friends have raised considerable funds to buy many of the finest works in the Whitworth’s collection. Here the Friends share a selection of works by Paul Klee, David Hockney, Anne Wilson and many others.
21 October 2016 – 8 January 2017Read more
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Whitworth Young Contemporaries: And Now We Are Plastic
As technology helps us to constantly evolve, the boundaries between our physical and digital spaces are blending, yet our ability to adapt and change remains visible in our art, marking the world we leave behind.
‘And Now We Are Plastic’ is the first exhibition curated by young people at the Whitworth.
27 January – 2 April 2017Read more
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ARTIST ROOMS: Andy Warhol
This exhibition shows the sharp critical opinions of an artist known to many primarily as art salesman, purveyor of product and celebrant of capitalism.
19 November 2016 – Easter Monday 17 April 2017Image: Andy Warhol, Self-Portrait, 1986.
ARTIST ROOMS National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. Photo © TateRead more
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Revolutionary Textiles 1910-1939
In the early decades of the 20th century textile design took off in new directions throughout the Western world.
26 March 2016 - 23 April 2017
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Siobhan Davies Dance
material / rearranged / to / be
London-based investigative arts organisation Siobhan Davies Dance show an ambitious new installation comprised of multiple contributions by choreographers, visual artists and designers.
6 – 14 May 2017
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NEW SCULPTURE
This exhibition presents a dynamic selection of contemporary sculpture recently acquired by the Whitworth.
Saturday 22 October – Sunday 11 June 2017
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