Raw Socials at Whitworth Art Gallery

As part of the city-wide programme of West African art and music happening in Manchester’s museums this summer, the Whitworth Art Gallery hosts a free, social art event every Saturday until 15 September. Called Raw Social, the events (which are free to attend) are inspired by the Raw Material Company, a centre for art, knowledge and society in Dakar, Senegal established by the independent curator and producer Koyo Kouoh. Kouoh developed RMC in the belief that engagement with the visual arts is a force for social and political transformation. For the duration of We Face Forward, an outpost of RMC has been established at the Whitworth containing elements of all the institutional formats supported in Dakar. The Raw Social programme therefore includes informal artist talks, curator tours, debates, film screenings and music. Following last Saturday’s talk by writer Noo Sara-Wiwa, the gallery is hosting a screening of a documentary about the Beninese sculpture Georges Adeagbo, by the artist Matteo Frittelli.

Sat 7 July (continuing weekly until Sat 15 September), Whitworth Art Gallery, Oxford Road, M15 6ER. Tel: 0161 275 7450, 1pm, FREE, www.whitworthadultprogramme.wordpress.com/raw-social