Wild launch party
Get a first look at our new exhibition
Are you ready to get wild with us?
Well, join us for the launch of our big, new exhibition and we’ll take you on an exciting journey through the natural world.
Enjoy wild-themed canapés and cocktails (plus non-alcoholic serves), music inspired by the saturated beauty of temperate rainforests and poetry paying tribute to Mancunian greenspace, then get stuck into a series of artist-led workshops.
But, most importantly, get a first look at Wild before it opens fully on Thursday 6 June. Our new exhibition explores our relationship with the natural world and asks whether going ‘wild’ can help us tackle the climate and biodiversity crisis.
You’ll be whisked to a series of inspiring wild places across the world to hear a diverse range of voices, from Aboriginal elders to researchers and community activists. Find out how they’re shaping their environments and looking to wild for a more positive future.
Music on the evening will come from Manchester-based artist Werkha, whose star has been on the rise following a number of critically-acclaimed projects. He will present, the first live iteration of new project Saturama, a collaboration between artists, environmental researchers and wild spaces.
This initial live collaboration brings together earth activist and musician Simmy Singh with recording artist and producer Tom Leah (aka Werkha), as a first wander into this world. Physical instrumentation and live recordings combine to illustrate the saturated beauty of a globally rare habitat, temperate rainforests. Almost lost to the world but right here on our doorstep in the UK, they hope to bring its atmosphere to our attention. Reconnecting us to a space we’ve perhaps never known is ours to celebrate.
The full programme for the Wild launch party is:
Exhibition Hall
6-9pm – the first public opening of Wild.
Living Worlds
6.10pm – reading of ‘The Song of Ryebank Fields’ by Ali Davenport from Save Ryebank Fields.
Main Hall
6.30pm – Saturama performance by Werkha music and serving of Wild-themed cocktails.
7pm – Wild canapes created by the Museum Café.
Chinese Culture Gallery
6-8.30pm – five animals tai chi taster sessions.
South Asia Gallery
6-8.30pm – family workshop, creating fans inspired by the beautiful collection of birds and butterflies displayed in our South Asia Gallery.
Top Floor
6-8.30pm – Visible Mending: artist Lucy Burscough demonstrates how to weave on mini looms to create fabric for badge making.
Image credit: NPS:Neal Herbert.