The Order of the Fool (TOOTF) identify themselves as a ‘coven of pictorial alchemists’. Their latest interactive exhibition, Street Tarot, arrived in the Northern Quarter in October. Anyone with an open mind and heart was welcome to explore the outdoor exhibit, which featured 22 works of art, and have their fortune read. Tarot cards were…
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A Modest Show explores food, hospitality, consumption and dining across multiple venues in Manchester. It’s the local counterpart to the British Art Show, a national touring exhibition organised every five years by Hayward Gallery. The exhibition features 42 artists living and / or working in Greater Manchester who were chosen following an open call out…
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As the anniversary of his father’s death approached, Wajid Yaseen searched for a set of cassette tapes holding recordings of his father singing naats, a form of Islamic devotional hymn. Listening to the tapes transported Yaseen back to his childhood and days he spent singing with his father. While reminiscing, he came across another set…
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A vintage, four-legged stereo system stands on a small stage in Central Library’s performance space. The audience gathered around it are invited to tune into late-night talk radio show Dream FM, whose presenter asks a deceptively simple question: “Where do you drift behind closed eyes?” Since August, residents from across Greater Manchester have been leaving…
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“I’ve been dreaming so much recently,” Danielle Swindells says. “I’ve been dreaming about people who used to be in my life who have passed away.” She pauses. “I dream that one day, we all meet again. Something like that.” Brit Seaton smiles. The two artists are old friends who met whilst at different universities in…
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“Things are going pretty well at the moment,” Tarek Lakhrissi tells me over the phone as he leaves his Paris studio. He’s getting ready for an upcoming solo show titled I wear my wounds on my tongue which opens in two weeks at Kevin Space in Vienna. The installation draws from the work of queer…
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Commemorative plates, which almost exclusively recall royal weddings, coronations and jubilees, are often associated with dusty charity shops or antique dealers. Manchester School of Art graduate Martha Tayler subverts these expectations in her ceramic artworks, replacing royal babies with imagery that reflects modern pop culture such as Stomzy’s Heavy is the Head album cover and…
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On Juneteenth last year, a day commemorating the emancipation of African American people from slavery, members of St James Parish gathered at the Buena Vista burial site in Louisiana. A video posted to YouTube shows mourners clutching bouquets of flowers whilst others hold black umbrellas to protect them from the hot sun. The group had…
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A distinctive concrete frieze overhangs the entrance to Leigh Library. It was designed for the building’s opening in 1971 by the late William Mitchell, an experimental sculptor and artist from London. His work, which pioneered new ways of working with glass-reinforced concrete and poured resin, can also be found on the grounds of Salford University…
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On the day that Boris Johnson announced lockdown, Liam Fallon’s studio set on fire. He got out safely, but the building burnt down. One year later, Fallon received a message: Johann König, founder of the esteemed KÖNIG GALERIE in Berlin, had bought some of his work. “I was just lying in bed. At that point…
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