Venue Guide: Unexpected Art

Imperial War Museum North

The Quays, Trafford Wharf Road, M17 1TZ

While not solely an art museum, The Imperial War Museum North has its own collections of photography, looking at art through the lens of history and time. It also hosts a number of interesting visual art exhibitions such as its Big Picture Show, currently screening, an award-winning 360-degree experience where the combination of sound and projected digital moving images and photographs bring to life peoples’ experiences of war.

Museum of Science and Industry

Liverpool Road, M3 4FP

The Museum of Science and Industry might sound like an unlikely stop-off in this quest to discover Manchester’s art scene, but nowhere else can you find such an enthusiastic recognition of the harmony between art and science in our ever-advancing modern world. More than anywhere else, MOSI is eager to embrace the new forms of art that develops alongside new scientific advancements and proudly exhibits the aesthetic appeal of technologies old and new. As Manchester celebrates its annual science festival this autumn, we can gear ourselves up for this fusion of art and science to be greater than ever as MOSI hosts an exhibition of contemporary architecture now found in the Antarctic. At the site of the world’s oldest surviving railway station, MOSI is a striking piece of Manchester’s historical and cultural identity.

People’s History Museum

Left Bank, M3 3ER

A vast collection of printed material, physical objects and photographs shows the lives of ordinary people at work, rest and play. This museum documents the history of working people in Britain through works of art including 18th and 19th century political cartoons, political posters relating to the Labour, Conservative and Liberal parties, the Spanish Civil War  and the Communist Party of Great Britain. Paintings include depictions of many workers and leading figures of the Labour and communist parties of Great Britain. There is also a large collection of the work of Cliff Rowe, a founding member of the Artists International Association.