Free things to do this week ft. Booth Art Group, Queen of Ireland + more

Booth Centre Art Exhibition at Renaissance Hotel
The Booth Art Group is a local charity that connects the currently or recently homeless with the arts, giving them avenues to express themselves and document their experiences. All through this week, the Renaissance Hotel off Deansgate will be displaying a selection of works produced by the art group, all built around the theme of Travel. It’s a broad theme, so you can expect a wide range of interpretations from the group’s artists, all of which will be hung in the hotel’s ‘Discoverey Shelves’ area.
Mon 6 Feb – Mon 13 Feb, Renaissance Hotel, Blackfriars Street, Manchester, M3 2EQ. 10am – 5pm, www.facebook.com

Queen of Ireland Screening at Irish World Heritage Centre
Collyhurst’s Irish World Heritage is screening this 2015 documentary on Wednesday. The documentary follows drag queen and prominent gay rights firebrand Panti Bliss as she heads out on the campaign trail for marriage equality. See our full preview for more details.
Wed 8 Feb, Irish World Heritage Centre, 1 Irish Town Way, Manchester, M8 0AE. Tel: 0161 205 4007, 7.15pm, www.eventbrite.com

Fern Brady at Gullivers (pictured)
London-based Scottish comic Fern Brady heads up to Manchester for this month’s Tales of Whatever at Gullivers. Tales of Whatever is a spoken word night with a broad manifesto: Any story can be told, so long as it’s true and told without notes, and Fern’s dark, confessional style of comedy is an ideal fit for the night. There’s also a number of open mic slots performing on the night, so plenty to get stuck into.
Wed 8 Feb, Gullivers, 109 Oldham Street, Manchester, M4 1LW. 7.45pm – 10pm, www.facebook.com

In Loving Memory of Work at The Whitworth
You can catch this one-night-only event as part of the gallery’s Thursday Late series, where the gallery space is open later to allow for more interesting and unique happenings. In Loving Memory of Work is a one-off evening of installations, discussion and music themed around a book of the same name. The book looks at the art and culture of the 1984-5 miner’s strike and many pieces featured in its pages will be on display. In addition to this, musician Michael Holland will be soundtracking the whole night with a setlist of songs from the strike, and there will be a guided talk from the author Craig Oldham.
Thu 9 Feb, The Whitworth, Oxford Road, Manchester, M15 6ER. 6pm, www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk