Free things to do in Manchester this weekend ft. Biggie Day + more

Sarah Woodburn Private Viewing at Bankley Gallery (pictured)
For our first pick of free things to do in Manchester this week, we’ve got a private viewing of a new exhibition at Levenshulme’s Bankley Gallery. ‘Sum’ is a collection of new paintings – all produced over the past two years – from Bankley Open Call 2017 winner Sarah Woodburn. She works with unprimed canvases, using the roughness of the stretched fabric to her advantage and working round its imperfections to create colourful, abstract, fauvist pieces. The exhibition runs on Saturdays until 2 June, but by appointment only, so if you wanted to just ‘drop in’ this viewing is your only chance.
Fri 18 May, Bankley Gallery, Bankley Street, Manchester, M19 3PP. 7pm – 9pm, www.facebook.com

Biggie Day at PLY
Biggie Biggie Biggie can’t you see, sometimes your words just hypnotize me, and I just love your flashy ways, guess that’s why they broke, and you’re so paid. Even if you’re not ‘so paid’ this weekend, you can still enjoy PLY’s day-long celebration of iconic East Coast rapper The Notorious B.I.G. – who would’ve turned 46 this weekend, had his life not been cut so short. The Northern Quarter pizza parlour will have DJs spinning classic 90s Hip-hop, and – as the coincides with world whisky day – a special menu of themed pizza and cocktails. The event coincides with World Whisky Day, so be on the lookout for promotions from event sponsor Wolfburn Whisky.
Sat 19 May, PLY, 26 Lever St, Manchester, M1 1DW. 12pm – 11pm, www.facebook.com

Exhibition Tour at Castlefield Gallery
Also this Saturday, you can catch a free tour of the latest exhibition at Castlefield Gallery, presented by visiting Erasmus placement intern Leslie Remonato. Let Leslie take you through ‘Oh, it is easy to be clever if one does not know all these questions’, an exhibition that opened only last week and is a collaboration between Manchester School of Art Professor Pavel Büchler and Prague-based curator Mariana Serranova, who’ve gathered works from new artists from their respective cities, including video artist Miroslava Večeřová whose produced a site-specific installation specially for Castlefield Gallery. If that’s not enough to convince you – refreshments are also provided on the tour day. The exhibition itself runs until Sunday 1 July.
Sat 19 May, Castlefield Gallery, 2 Hewitt Street, Manchester, M15 4GB. Tel: 0161 832 8034, 1pm – 2pm, www.eventbrite.co.uk

Chantal Joffe at The Lowry
Distinctive British artist Chantal Joffe’s newest exhibition opens this weekend at The Lowry, showcasing her rough, pop culture inspired portraits of ordinary life. You can find out more by looking at our full preview.
Sat 19 May – Sun 2 Sep, The Lowry Galleries, Pier 8, The Quays, Salford, M50 3AZ. Tel: 0843 208 6000, 10am – 5pm, www.thelowry.com