90 Degree Citizen refugee art exhibition at Manchester Museum

Manchester Museum will host 90 Degree Citizen, a small art show by artists who share ‘refugee’ status in their back stories, later this month. This show of work by new wave visual artists, organised run by Manchester-based arts organisation Virtual Migrants, will present pieces that resonate with experiences of migration and refuge often with a greater interest in symbolism, narrative and cultural hybridity compared to the limitations of Western art schools and markets. The exhibition features work from the likes of Kurdish Iraqi Amang Mardokhy whose paintings (including Chemical Warfare, pictured) touch on repression, history and resistance, photographer Iseult Timmermans who explores how military violence affects women’s lives and bold paintings and prints by Tracey Zengeni from Zimbabwe that reflect on influences between her homeland and the UK. The launch event (Thu 10 Oct, 6pm) includes conversations with artists and curators, plus live music from Emmanuela Yogolelo. For more contextual depth, there will be special events including a pop-up exhibition and conference (Wed 30 Oct – Fri 1 Nov), which celebrates the work of legal caseworkers in the difficult lives of refugees. The museum curator, Stephen Walsh, has also chosen a special selection of ‘Colonial’ objects, which correspond with the exhibition. It is a free event but you must register beforehand online.

Thu 10 Oct – Sun 17 Nov, Manchester Museum, Oxford Road, M13 9PL, 10am – 5pm daily, FREE – online registration advised for launch and pop-up events, www.virtualmigrants.net