Human Natures exhibition

Design brief

Manchester Museum is looking for a design and build team to develop the Human Natures exhibition, opening in Derby in September 2025, and to provide additional support to adapt the exhibition across the subsequent legs of its UK regional tour.

Human Natures will explore how humans shape the natural world, for better or worse. It will examine our complicated relationship with nature through the lenses of need, greed, desire and meaning-making.

MAGNET (the Museums and Galleries Network for Exhibition Touring) consists of twelve museums and galleries who aim to pool resources, develop curatorial expertise, and share their collections with diverse national audiences, and encourage experimentation and risk in exhibitions, in subject matter and approach.

The MAGNET Human Natures exhibition partnership is led by Manchester Museum and includes Derby Museums, The Great North Museum: Hancock, the Horniman and Norfolk Museum Service.  We are heading into the final delivery phase of the exhibition and have collectively developed the Interpretation Plan and Design Brief. The design team will be appointed and managed through Manchester Museum, the Lead Partner, and will work regularly with the team at Derby Museums who will be first to host the exhibition.

Human Natures is being created for the Museums and Galleries Network for Exhibition Touring (MAGNET), with Art Fund support and supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

Responses are invited by 5pm on 28 March 2025 and should be submitted to Georgina Young, Head of Collections and Exhibitions (Georgina.Young@manchester.ac.uk)