A free exhibition showcasing almost 500 works of art from people around Manchester is opening tomorrow (Saturday February 3).
The Manchester Open Exhibition is running from February 3 to April 28 at HOME in the city centre and is displaying hundreds of artworks from artists ranging from age five to 83 years old.
Manchester Open is in its third iteration and runs every two years, and this year, it will include painting, print, photography, sculpture, mixed media, and much more.
Visitors can see the wealth of creative talent across Greater Manchester and even purchase some of the pieces for sale.
We went down to get a sneak peek at the press viewing of Manchester Open.
The Manchester Open Exhibition is running from February 3 to April 28 at HOME in the city centre and is displaying hundreds of artworks from artists ranging from age five to 83 years old.
Manchester Open is in its third iteration and runs every two years, and this year, it will include painting, print, photography, sculpture, mixed media, and much more.
Visitors can see the wealth of creative talent across Greater Manchester and even purchase some of the pieces for sale.
We went down to get a sneak peek at the press viewing of Manchester Open.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 "Well it's a real open celebration of people and communities in Manchester.
00:05 That's the real beauty of it."
00:06 A free exhibition showcasing almost 500 works of art from people around Manchester is opening
00:13 tomorrow. The Manchester Open exhibition is running from the 3rd of February to the 28th
00:18 of April at home in the city centre and is displaying hundreds of artworks from artists
00:23 ranging from 5 to 83 years old.
00:26 Manchester Open is in its third iteration and runs every two years and this year it
00:31 will include painting, print, photography, sculpture, mixed media and much more.
00:36 Visitors can see the wealth of creative talent across Greater Manchester and even purchase some
00:41 of the pieces for sale. We went down to get a sneak peek at the press viewing of Manchester Open.
00:47 "It's Manchester's biggest open exhibition. We've got an incredible number of works in
00:51 the exhibition. We've got 473 works and they've been anonymously selected by a panel of judges.
00:59 It's the biggest celebration of creativity in Greater Manchester. We had an incredible
01:04 number of applications this year. We had 1,800 applications which is the highest number of
01:09 applications we've received so far. You'll see a whole range of mediums and issues that
01:14 are addressed in the artworks. We've got sub-themes around the climate change, sustainability,
01:20 borders, migration, LGBTQ issues, issues around celebrating diversity and diasporic communities.
01:27 I really think there's something for everyone."
01:30 "It's drawing from architectural structures, kind of memories of architectural structures.
01:36 So it's not a specific representation of a specific building or site but it's drawing
01:41 from memories of the kind of forms and shapes that you see around the city. So it's part of a
01:46 much larger collection of sculptures which come together and create a sort of immersive
01:52 installation. And the idea of the work was trying to connect to the sensory experience and creating
01:59 a space where you can slow down and be curious. And they're all painted in this like really vibrant
02:04 blue. It's very vibrant but it has a calming quality and it's got this super powder finish
02:09 which I think is very enticing."
02:10 "Basically wanted to do a piece inspired by the piece called 'Dance' by Matisse for a while and
02:17 it was based around the theme of connection and community and I really like mushrooms as well. So
02:24 I was like researching mushrooms and I really liked the like symbiotic nature they have in
02:32 the forest and how they work with trees to like give each other what they need. So I wanted to
02:37 sort of translate that into terms of community."
02:41 "Anyone can submit you just have to have a greater Manchester postcode so be based here or be working
02:47 here."
02:48 "Having all the like the diverse work shown in a gallery like this at home which is a real
02:53 platform you'll get to show work to an audience that might not ordinarily come across your work
02:57 which I think is really important and sort of connecting with other people."
03:00 "It's good because of the variety of artworks and it's good for
03:05 artists like of all kinds and at all stages to be able to get their work seen and to like be
03:11 able to exhibit for the public to see and like I love that the Manchester Open exhibition is free
03:16 as well so it means there's like no barriers like for entry for the public and for people who might
03:22 not usually go to a gallery or an exhibition they can just come in and have a look."