National Football Museum opens – with a helping of West African art and music

With the National Football Museum opening on July 6, Manchester will be home to a new museum collection and contemporary football archive. Alongside permanent displays and educational projects the Museum is set to host temporary exhibitions, the first of which is Moving Into Space: Football and Art in West Africa. This explores the role football plays as a subject and material plays in West African artists work, and considers the possibilities of using the sport as a means for social commentary and political critique. The exhibition sees the NFM join forces with the rest of the Manchester’s galleries for a summer programme of events. Under the title We Face Forward Manchester’s City Art Gallery, City Museum and Whitworth Art Gallery are all showing work from West African artists and musicians celebrating the rich cultural and artistic heritage of the region. As part of the exhibition, the River Niger Orchestra perform live in the Football Museum on Saturday 21 July complementing the work with rhythms of both traditional and contemporary West African music.

Fri 6 Jul –31 Dec, National Football Museum, Urbis Building, Cathedral Gardens, M4 3BG, 0161 605 8200. Mon – Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 11am-5pm,  FREE. River Niger Orchestra Sat 21 Jul, 1.30pm – 5pm, www.nationalfootballmuseum.com, www.wefaceforward.org