Exhibitions in Manchester You Must Visit this Spring

This Spring exhibitions in Manchester will explore everything from life to death through art. Everything from The Life of Objects to The Art of Dying will be found in galleries across the city throughout May and June. There’s something for everyone in these two months of exhibitions in Manchester.

1. GALD, GAMES & GARLAND | MANCHESTER CENTRAL LIBRARY | 4 APRIL – 31 MAY

As a Manchester based toy-maker, Galt revolutionised the nature of toy making in Britain, employing Ken Garland Associates to re-brand, package and produce innovative products. The range is based on new modernist and educational principles, making their toys, puzzles and games not gender specific, lively coloured and graphically bold. These can be seen through over 60 examples meant to illustrate how they have revolutionised their marketing through modernist principles.

If you’re interested in this exhibition head over to Central Library, St Peter’s Square, M2 5PD (10am-5pm; free)

2. THE LIFE OF OBJECTS | JOHN RYLANDS LIBRARY | UNTIL AUGUST 27

John Rylands Library unveils a selection of curious objects behind which are hidden distinctive stories, spanning work to friendship to birth and death. You will find horse bone portraits of an eighteen-century preacher to the pattern of a Shanghai sleeper. The repertoire is as intriguing as it is diverse and demonstrates that library collections aren’t always restricted to the written word. You can view this remarkable collection in Rylands’ exhibition space.

John Rylands Library, 150 Deansgate, M3 3EH (Tues-Sat 12-5pm, Sun-Mon 10am-5pm; free)

3. THE ART OF DYING | THE WITHWORTH GALLERY | THURSDAY MAY 11

This event’s purpose is to mark Dying Awareness Week by hosting a day of death. Do not expect this to be a morbid event, it is simply a celebration of life, including everything from Day of the Dead Mexican cookies to memory box making, to mindfulness, film screenings and printmaking. This event also holds an art gallery with pieces of work from across the community. The premise of this exhibition is that death affects us all and facing it in a way as positive as possible can only be a good thing.

The Whitworth, Oxford Road, M15 6ER (various times; free, registration required at eventbrite.co.uk)

4. LA MOVIDA | HOME | 14 APRIL – 17 JULY

As a hub for exhibitions in Manchester from all cultures, HOME presents La Movida (‘The Movement.’) The exhibition encapsulates a period of artistic freedom which followed Franco’s dictatorship. This exhibition in Manchester explodes with the feeling of freedom after suppression and making up for lost time. Madrid brings together drugs, uncensored creativity, gay rights, pornography and more in excess. This exhibition is accompanied by a Cornerhouse publication called Dark Habits – named for Pedro Almodobar’s cult film, exploring the hedonistic era through the contributions of nineteen field experts.

HOME, 2 Tony Wilson Place, M15 4FN (Tues-Sat 12-8pm, Sun 12-6pm; free)

5. MADE IN TRANSLATION | THE PORTICO LIBRARY | 27 APRIL – 3 JUNE

This exhibition sees craft practitioners and researchers respond to iconic texts through new writing, objects, performance and photography. You’ll find everything from Captain Cook’s travels to the Shaker movement, hot air ballooning and fern collecting. The Portico Library was a rich source of inspiration for the showcase; produced in collaboration with MMU.