After months of waiting, the relief of being able to wander around a gallery or visit a museum again is palpable. It’s also great to see so many amazing free events popping up spontaneously around Greater Manchester – look out for more pop-up things to do from places like Band on the Wall and HOME over the coming weeks. In the meantime, we’ve put together a selection of some of the best free things to do in Manchester this week…

Homes of Football photography exhibition with Stuart Roy Clarke | National Football Museum | 27 May - 12 Jun

It’s been a football season like no other – and the impact has been felt as deeply off the pitch as well as on it. Football photographer Stuart Roy Clarke has teamed up with Amazon Prime for this outdoor exhibition at the National Football Museum, featuring football fans from across the country who this year swapped stands for sofas.

Urbis Building Cathedral Gardens, Todd Street, Manchester, M4 3BG
MAG Unlocked: Art and the Human Condition Zoom talk | Sat 29 May | 4pm – 5pm

Manchester Art Gallery’s team of curators have done a fantastic job keeping us entertained through lockdown with their series of online talks. They continue here with a fascinating philosophical Zoom chat about art from the Gallery’s vast collection and how some of their favourite pieces explore and capture elements of the human condition.

Explore new two-part exhibition We Are Nature | Manchester Museum | Until 31 Aug

With the opening of museums and galleries, places like Manchester Museum have flung open their doors to the public for the first time in ages. This new exhibition is in two parts: Wild Chorus is an audio soundscape recorded at a time of global quiet by composer Harry Ovington, whilst artist Laurence Payot asked around 150 creative people to express their thoughts on extinction through Voicing Silence.

University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL
Sew the seeds of hope with interactive art installation Spring | HOME | Ongoing

This is a lovely idea. Throughout an interactive art piece, audiences are invited to collect flower seeds from this audio visual installation that celebrates rebirth and nature as well as the re-opening of HOME. It’s a small gesture of hope and rebirth – something we could all do with following a difficult few months.

2 Tony Wilson Place, Manchester, M15 4FN
Tune into spoken-word poetry podcast We'll Be in Touch | Royal Exchange | Ongoing

This project began in early 2021, shared between Royal Exchange’s Elders’ Company and Together Dementia Support. Participants were telephoned by Elders Leaders once a week, and this is one of the results – a spoken-word podcast of poetry. Have a listen for free by following the link below.

Mon 24 May - Sun 30 May
Words:
Hugh Morris
Published on:
Mon 24 May 2021