Exhibitions
This month sees the opening of Repeat Patterns, a new exhibition of work commissioned from Glasgow-based artists Helen de Main and Mandy McIntosh by Glasgow Life Museums (pictured). It opens at the Gallery of Modern Art next month. The exhibition follows research and conversations about feminism and social reproduction, addressed through works on paper, fabric, and sculpture, and informed by the artists’ research into the social history collections of Glasgow Museums. Runs 4 March – 15 October 2023 .
A First Folio of Shakespeare’s plays, in two volumes, will go on display at the National Maritime Museum, as part of a national celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Folio’s publication. ‘The Tempest and the Thames’ will also include a copy of The Telltale, a manuscript play written sometime after 1605, and a petition from Thames watermen to reopen the Rose Theatre in 1590 following an outbreak of plague. Runs 31 March – 24 September 2023.
One hundred years of Cicely Mary Barker’s flower fairy illustrations are to be explored in a new exhibition at The Lever Art Gallery. ‘Flower Fairies’ will feature around 45 original illustrations, including Barker’s flower fairy creations and early sketches, alongside digital projections, items from National Museums Liverpool’s botany collection and costumes inspired by the fairies, designed by costume designer Vin Burnham. The exhibition is run in association with Penguin Ventures, part of publisher Penguin Random House UK. Runs 15 April – 5 November 2023.
The Hayward Gallery will present Mike Nelson: Extinction Beckons, the first major survey exhibition of large-scale immersive installations and sculptural works by the British artist, who represented Great Britain at the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011. The large installations are created from materials scavenged from salvage yards, junk shops, auctions and flea markets. Runs 22 February – 7 May 2023.
A photography competition which will result in an exhibition is being launched to find different images of the Slate Landscape of North West Wales. Wales Slate and the National Slate Museum Llanberis are appealing for photographers of all ages to submit photographs of the World Heritage Status location. Winning entries will form an exhibition at the National Slate Museum Llanberis from May 2023. The competition is arranged by Llechi Cymru/ Wales Slate and the National Slate Museum / Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales.
An exhibition staged at Coventry Cathedral will highlight some of the Scottish artists who were ahead of their time in anticipating the climate crisis. The exhibition by the Fleming Collection of Scottish art will be staged at the Cathedral, and will feature work by painters, James Morrison and Glen Onwin; the constructivist, Will Maclean, filmmaker and installationist Elizabeth Ogilvie and artist photographer Thomas Joshua Cooper. A highlight of the exhibition will be a recent bequest to the Fleming Collection, the monumental Arctic Mural by James Morrison, which measures 6m across and is more than 2.5m high. Runs 4 April – 29 May 2023.
Petersfield Museum and Art Gallery has announced the premier exhibition of writer, broadcaster and former MP Gyles Brandreth. In the 1970s and 1980s he became well-known for the distinctive jumpers he wore on breakfast television. Gyles designed these jumpers with his knitwear partner, George Hostler, creating the ‘Gyles & George’ brand. A selection of these jumpers will be on display in this two-part exhibition. ‘Gyles Brandreth: Fun and Fabulous Jumpers’ runs 21 March – 2 September and 5 September – 23 December 2023
Openings
The Migration Museum has today been given the green light for a permanent home in the City of London. The museum is currently based in a temporary venue in a shopping centre in Lewisham, which is visited by 7,000 people a month. It plans to remain in Lewisham until at least 2025, while it launches a capital fundraising campaign to raise up to £15m to support the move.
Following its £15 million transformation, Manchester Museum reopened this weekend. Visitors can now see the UK debut of Golden Mummies of Egypt in its new Exhibition Hall alongside updated galleries.
Manchester Museum reveals its £15m transformation to visitors
Funding
The Welsh Government is making a further grant of £5.46m available to Wrexham County Borough Council to continue the development of the new Football Museum for Wales. The funding, still subject to conditions and approval of a full business case, is earmarked for the community and pan-Wales engagement on the project, developing the content, collections and exhibitions through to construction and opening.
Image: Mandy McIntosh – The Family of Ten (detail), 2023 courtesy and © Mandy McIntosh
