Press and Media
We're always happy to hear from journalists and writers who are interested in the gallery and our work.
For further information, press images, and all press enquiries please contact both:
Melissa McFarlane, Communications Manager at the Whitworth, and, Catharine Braithwaite, Lethal Communications: cat@we-r-lethal.com or 07947 644110
Press Releases – please see the web links below.
Non-commercial filming/photography: The Whitworth team receives a large number of filming and photography requests each year. As non-commercial filming and photography shoots must be coordinated and supervised by a member of the team – requests are subject to available resources and locations. For non-commercial filming/photography session requests please allow four weeks prior notice.
For photography and filming requests and all other enquiries, in the first instance please call the gallery on 0161 275 7450
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Press release | (Un)Defining Queer
20 January 2023
This first-of-its-kind exhibition at the Whitworth delves into the gallery’s collection to explore how we can use a queer lens to define what the term ‘queer’ means. Examining same-sex love and desire and gender fluidity across different cultures, the exhibition will offer a survey of artworks that seeks to redress historic omissions that have existed as a result of heteronormative museum practice.
27 January – 3 December 2023
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Press release | Larissa Sansour and Søren Lind Familiar Phantoms 2 March - 21 May 2023
9 January 2023
In early 2023, the Whitworth will present Familiar Phantoms (2023), a major new film by artists and long-time collaborators Larissa Sansour and Søren Lind. It is a joint commission with Film and Video Umbrella with support from IMMA.
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Press release | DCMS/Wolfson arts funding to make museums and galleries more accessible for people across the country
6 December 2022
Museums and galleries across England will receive a share of £4 million to improve displays, protect collections and make exhibitions more accessible to visitors.
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Press release | Our Spring Forward – 2023 Exhibitions and Shows
10 November 2022
Spring 2023 Exhibition Programme: The Whitworth is pleased to announce its spring exhibition programme. Emerging through close collaborations with a wide range of contributors, this programme continues to support artists and researchers to speak to some of the pertinent issues of our time and ensures that a plurality of voices is represented in our public collections.
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Press release | Althea McNish: Colour is Mine
1 September 2022
The Whitworth is pleased to present Althea McNish: Colour is Mine, a major retrospective of Althea McNish (1924 – 2020) on tour from William Morris Gallery, Walthamstow.
McNish was the first Caribbean designer to achieve international recognition and one of the most influential and innovative textile designers in the UK. Drawing on extensive and continuing research, this exhibition explores McNish’s extraordinary career and her transformative impact on mid-century design, along with her enduring influence today.21 October 2022 – 23 April 2023
#AltheaMcNish
#ColourIsMineRead more
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Alistair Hudson is appointed Artistic-Scientific Director, ZKM, from 1 April 2023
18.7.2022
Alistair Hudson is appointed Artistic-Scientific Director at the Zentrum für Kunst und Medien (ZKM) from 1 April 2023
Alistair Hudson said:
‘On December 31 this year I will be stepping down as Director of the Whitworth, University of Manchester and Manchester Art Gallery, in order to focus on the expansion and development of my work in new contexts and geographies.’Read more
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Alistair Hudson appointed Artistic-Scientific Chairman of ZKM
18.7.2022
Alistair Hudson is appointed as the next Artistic-Scientific Chairman of the Zentrum für Kunst und Medien (ZKM) in 2023. Hudson will leave his role at the Whitworth and Manchester Art Gallery at the end of 2022
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Press release | British Art Show 9 comes to Manchester this May
3 May 2022
British Art Show is recognised as the most pertinent and ambitious recurrent exhibition of contemporary art produced in the UK, taking place every five years and bringing the work of some of the most exciting contemporary artists to Castlefield Gallery, HOME, Manchester Art Gallery and the Whitworth. This presentation will also mark the return of the British Art Show to Manchester which originally hosted British Art Show 4 in 1995 and British Art Show 6 in 2006.
27 May – 4 September 2022
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Press release | Art Assembly Manchester 2022
5 April 2022
Art Assembly is a one-day festival of art, brought to you by Art Fund with some of Manchester’s leading arts organisations. Join artists across the city in one amazing day celebrating art and creativity.
Everyone's invited to the Art Assembly on 18 June 2022 in Manchester.Read more
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Public Statement | Response to Media Speculations
7 March 2022
Following the recent speculations about the Whitworth and The University of Manchester, we hope the following confirmations are helpful.
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Public Statement | Cloud Studies Exhibition
18 August 2021
Cloud Studies Exhibition
We recognise the Cloud Studies exhibition, by Forensic Architecture raises complex issues with widely differing views across different communities and, as a university and gallery, we are also mindful of our role in creating spaces for debate and in academic and artistic freedom.Read more
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Press release | First Museum-accredited NFT for an exhibition for sale for social benefit
Wednesday 21 July 2021, amended 8 October 2021
The Whitworth launches the first Museum-accredited NFT for an exhibition, for sale for social benefit.
The Whitworth, in partnership with Vastari Labs, is entering into the emerging world of non- fungible tokens (NFTs) to test alternative models of financing social art practice. The first UK museum-accredited NFT has been created as part of the gallery’s major exhibition and research project, Economics the Blockbuster.
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Press release | MIF21
Launching 2 July 2021
Forensic Architecture will present a major exhibition at the Whitworth, the University of Manchester, as part of this year’s Manchester International Festival. Cloud Studies (2 July – 17 October) drawing together some of the agency’s previous investigations around the world to expose how states and corporations weaponise the air we breathe to suppress civilian protest, to maintain and defend violent border regimes, and empower extractive industry.
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Press release | MIF21 Visual Arts Release
Manchester International Festival | 2-18 July 2021
New commissions by Forensic Architecture, Laure Prouvost, Deborah Warner, Hans Ulrich Obrist with Lemn Sissay, Ibrahim Mahama, Kemang Wa Lehulere, Rashid Rana, Cephas Williams, Marta Minujín and Christine Sun Kim were announced as part of the programme for Manchester International Festival 2021.
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Press release | theVOV
Launching 13 April 2021
From the National Galleries of Scotland to Tate, 15 Leading UK Arts Institutions are digitally reviving landmark exhibitions for the launch of theVOV - A new virtual arts ecosystem combining cutting-edge XR Technology with a pioneering micro-philanthropy model.
The Whitworth is proud to join theVOV - a new virtual ecosystem that presents landmark contemporary art exhibitions for you to enjoy live and on-demand.
Join theVOV on Monday 3 May 2021 for a virtual revival of Ibrahim Mahama: Parliament of Ghosts.
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Press release | British Art Show 9
Updated press release: 18 February 2021
British Art Show 9 – New Opening and Tour Dates Announced
Hayward Gallery Touring announces the new touring dates for British Art Show 9, which will now be opening in Aberdeen, Scotland on 10 July 2021 and touring to Wolverhampton (22 January-10 April 2022), Manchester (13 May-4 September 2022), and Plymouth (8 October-23 December 2022).
13 May-4 September 2022: Manchester
Venues: HOME, Manchester Art Gallery, Castlefield Gallery, and The WhitworthRead more
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Press release | Response to statement
Press statement: 6 June 2021
Recently, in response to world events and an increasing number of artists dealing with social and human rights concerns, a statement was published on the Whitworth’s digital platforms speaking on human rights issues in the middle east.
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Press release | Volunteers Week 2020
Volunteers Week 2020
01 to 07 June 2020
This week Hundreds of organisations join forces to say ‘thank you’ to their fantastic volunteers
The Whitworth is delighted to be part of a collaborative action of organisations championing a united response for Volunteers’ Week 1-7 June. This week Volunteer Managers across the UK are coming together to say a massive thank you to all volunteers.
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Press release | Suzanne Lacy
Suzanne Lacy: We Are Here
27 March 2020 – 23 August 2020
The Whitworth and Manchester Art Gallery will host the first European retrospective of the work of Suzanne Lacy, a pioneer of socially engaged art and public practice.
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Press release | Utopias
Utopias
31 January – 27 September 2020
On the day that Britain leaves Europe the Whitworth opens Utopias – an exhibition that playfully and provocatively ask how myth, memory and nostalgia have informed what a British utopia looks like in the nation’s popular imagination.
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Press release | Year Ahead 2020
Year Ahead 2019-2020
Highlights from the Whitworth's exhibition programme for 2019-2020.
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Press release | Cézanne at the Whitworth
Cézanne at the Whitworth
24 August 2019 – 10 May 2020
This exhibition celebrates an extraordinary collection of drawings and
prints by Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) that has been gifted and placed on
long-term loan to the Whitworth by gallerist, collector, author and
publisher Karsten Schubert.Read more
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Press release | Elizabeth Price
Elizabeth Price
24 October 2019 – 1 March 2020
This autumn, the Whitworth presents the most extensive exhibition of the work of Elizabeth Price to date. Bringing together many new and acclaimed works - including video, sculpture and prints - this exhibition engages with Price’s pre-occupations of technology, history, politics and pop music.
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Press release | Beyond Faith
Beyond Faith: Muslim Women Artists Today
14 June – 10 November 2019This exhibition of five contemporary artists presents their work in conversation with pieces selected from the Whitworth’s art collection.
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Press release | Li Yuan-chia
Li Yuan-chia: Unique Photographs
18 May - 15 December 2019
In his lifetime, Li Yuan-chia (1929-1994) had been part of progressive art movements in Taiwan, Bologna and London. Now regarded as China’s first conceptual artist, Li Yuan-chia made this house into the LYC Museum and Art Gallery - a place for showing innovative international art alongside children’s workshops and his own experimental work.
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Press release | Outset Award
Outset Award | Major Funding Programme for Transformational Arts Projects Launched by Outset Partners.
Press Release: 14 March 2019
The Whitworth, Van Abbemuseum, Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), Hayward Gallery, Chisenhale Gallery, Spike Island, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Kunsthalle Basel and International Curators Forum awarded first grants.
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Press release | Joy for Ever
Joy for Ever: how to use art to change the world and its price in the market
29 March – 9 June 2019
In the 200th anniversary of his birth, the Whitworth responds to the artist, art critic, teacher and social reformer John Ruskin - in a year when his words seem as relevant now as they did then, in a climate of perceived ecological, political and social catastrophe.
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Press release | The Reno at the Whitworth
The Reno at the Whitworth
Residency: 15 March 2019 – March 2020
Remaking the Reno: opens September 2019For a period of one year Linda Brogan and a group of local residents, who went to the Reno nightclub in the 1970s and 80s, will occupy the Whitworth. #ExcavatingtheReno
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Press release | Ancient Textiles from the Andes
Ancient Textiles from the Andes
9 March – 15 September 2019
This is a rare opportunity to see ancient Andean textiles of this quality and size exhibited in the UK. Through a major loan from the collector Paul Hughes, alongside pieces from the Whitworth, textiles from c300BC to c1400AD will be on display.
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Press release | Facing Out
Facing Out: Life after treatment for facial cancer
Exhibition dates 22 February – 2 June 2019.Facing Out is an exhibition of portraits by Lucy Burscough of people who have experienced facial cancers together with their choice of artworks from the Whitworth’s collections.
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Press Release: Blue Patch
Blue Patch Pop-up shop: Tuesday 12 to Sunday 31 March 2019
Blue Patch’s ‘travelling’ Sustainable Department Store pops up at the Whitworth, The University of Manchester’s acclaimed art gallery. The first regional museum to host the store marking the launch of Blue Patch’s grand tour of the British Isles.
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Winners of 2018-19 MaxLiteracy Awards announced
The Max Reinhardt Charitable Trust, the National Association for Writers in Education (NAWE), and Engage, the National Association for Gallery Education, are delighted to announce the host venues for the 2018-19 MaxLiteracy Awards. Attenborough Arts Centre, Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, Kirkleatham Museum and the Whitworth to host the Awards.
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Full event details| Press release | THE FROST FAIR
Saturday 1 & Sunday 2 December 2018
Full programme details and timings for The Frost Fair weekend of events: A two-day celebration of winter, art and togetherness. Come one, come all and witness the weekend wonders of The Frost Fair to celebrate 250 years of the circus in Britain. Be astounded and amazed by our ringmaster Baron Bazaar and his troupe of performers.
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Press release | THE FROST FAIR
Saturday 1 & Sunday 2 December 2018
The Whitworth welcomes winter with a weekend of free events. This December, The Frost Fair returns to the Whitworth, part of The University of Manchester, in celebration of the circus, marking 250 years of this popular art form that began in Britain. The Frost Fair promotes art and togetherness, encouraging gallery visitors, the local community and members of the whole family to come together and enjoy winter at the Whitworth.
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Press release | William Kentridge: Thick Time
From 21 September 2018 to 3 March 2019
Thick Time is a major touring exhibition of the work of South African artist William Kentridge. It brings together five moving image works including two of the artist’s immersive audio-visual installations, The Refusal of Time (2012), which explores the technology of time-keeping and string theory, created in dialogue with physicist Peter Galison, and O Sentimental Machine (2015).
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Press release | Alice Kettle: Thread Bearing Witness
From 1 September 2018 to 24 February 2019
Thread Bearing Witness is a major new series of large textiles, to be shown at the Whitworth, that considers cultural heritage, refugee displacement and movement, while engaging with individual migrants and their creativity within the wider context of the global refugee crisis.
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Press release | Four Corners of One Cloth: Textiles from the Islamic World
From 23 June 2018 to June 2019
Cloth was, and continues to be, a unifier across the Islamic world. This exhibition showcases textiles from the Whitworth’s collection, selected from across cultures and countries. The title of this exhibition refers to the Prophet Muhammad bringing together four leaders who all wanted to raise the sacred Black Stone from the ground up to the Ka’ba in Mecca.
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Press release | Prints of Darkness: Goya and Hogarth in a Time of European Turmoil
Exhibition from 7 July 2018 to August 2019
This exhibition features 100 prints by Goya and Hogarth, selected from the stellar collections at the Whitworth and Manchester Art Gallery. Although both artists are celebrated and represented in museum collections throughout the world, this is the first exhibition to consider Hogarth and Goya in tandem, providing an opportunity to compare their extraordinary graphic work.
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Press Release | Bodies of Colour
Exhibition from 4 May 2018 to May 2019
Bodies of Colour: Breaking with stereotypes in the wallpaper collection.
This latest exhibition uses the Whitworth’s extensive and significant wallpaper collection to focus on how imperial attitudes to people are reflected in wallpaper.Read more
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Press Release | Isaac Julien: Ten Thousand Waves
Exhibition from 30 March to 28 August 2018
Ten Thousand Waves is a spectacular immersive film installation by British artist Isaac Julien and is the most recent in a series of major moving image acquisitions by the Whitworth. The acquisition of Ten Thousand Waves was supported through Art Fund’s Moving Image Fund.Read more
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Press release | Alison Wilding
Exhibition from 16 February to 12 August 2018
The Whitworth presents an exhibition of works spanning the past 20 years of the career of Turner Prize nominee and Royal Academician Alison Wilding.
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A Tailor is sewing the dress of Tipu Sultan
A two-day performance by Yasmin Jahan Nupur, a leading contemporary artist from Bangladesh. Performance times: Saturday 19 May 10.30am-4.30pm; Sunday 20 May 10.30am-4.30pm. The performance will take place in Gallery 1 at the Whitworth, The University of Manchester.
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Press Release New North and South
Eleven arts organisations in the North of England and South Asia announce major contemporary art network - New North and South A three year programme of artistic commissions, exhibitions and intellectual exchange will celebrate the shared heritage of South Asia and the North of England
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Press Release 17 January 2017: Maria Balshaw to move to Tate
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Press Release 24 June 2016: Anya Gallaccio
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Press Release 31 May 2016: WARP Festival
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Press Release 16 July 2015: The Whitworth shortlisted for RIBA Stirling Prize
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Press Release 26 June 2015 : The M+ Sigg Collection
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Press Release 1 May 2015
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Press Release 16 Feb 2015
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Press Release Jan 2015
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Further details of the Whitworth Opening Programme
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Architectural press information about the re development of the Whitworth
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Selected Biographies
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The Whitworth redevelopment image sheet
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The Whitworth Cafe
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The Whitworth Opening Weekend Press Release
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