A new exhibition exploring our relationship with the natural world is opening at Manchester Museum next week.
Ready to take a trip to some of the world’s wildest places, all without having to leave Manchester?
If you answered yes to that, then you’ll definitely want to get yourself down to the Manchester Museum next week, as there’s a groundbreaking new exhibition called Wild opening at the city centre-based museum to coincide with World Environment Day on Wednesday 5 June.
Not only will it explore our relationship with the world around us, but it will also look at how people are creating, rebuilding, and repairing connections with nature, and how the natural world has traditionally been presented and idealised through Western art, as well as looking at some unique approaches to environmental recovery too.
A new exhibition exploring our relationship with the natural world is opening in Manchester / Credit: Supplied (via Manchester Museum)
The exhibition will also crucially look at how we can tackle the climate and biodiversity crisis by making the world more wild.
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Visitors will be introduced to five remote – or, should we say, ‘wild’ – places across the globe, and hear from a diverse range of voices to discover how they’re all looking to ‘wild’ for a more positive future.
Featuring an immersive installation, audio, film, and interactive elements, alongside natural history collections and artworks, the exhibition will be encouraging visitors to notice the biodiversity and heritage of wild places, and invite people to question relationships with the natural world.
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Wild will also look at how we can tackle the climate and biodiversity crisis / Credit: Supplied (via Manchester Museum)
Lamlash Bay on the Isle of Arran, and Yellowstone National Park in the US state of Wyoming, are just a couple of the places featured.
“Wild aims to provide hope in the face of a situation that often leaves many of us feeling pessimistic,” explained David Gelsthorpe, who is the Curator of Earth Science Collections.
“The exhibition highlights work being done by communities right now, to build stronger relationships with nature and shape their world for the better, and aims to encourage everyone to see that they can make a difference, no matter how big or small.”
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The exhibition is opening at Manchester Museum to coincide with World Environment Day / Credit: Chris Bull (via Manchester Museum)
Mr Gelsthorpe says the exhibition is as “relevant” for local families in Manchester as it is for researchers and policy-makers.
“The ultimate goal is to “ask the public what kind of world we want to live in, and what we’re willing to do to realise that vision,” he concluded.
The funds will help improve the already incredible music scene in Manchester, benefitting staples likes Night and Day Café, Matt and Phred’s Jazz Club, SOUP and more.
All of the donations will be distributed across six independent music venues and will be used for various instruments, PA equipment, backline technology and other necessities depending on the requirements of each site.
Elbow have teamed up with Co-op Live in aid of supporting Manchester grassroots venues.Credit: Supplied
This initiative has been keeping Manchester’s Northern Quarter in the forefront of people’s minds when it comes to live music as well as the impressive Co-op Live.
Alongside providing vital resources for these local institutions, Elbow teaming up with Co-op Live also helps cement the North West as one of the main powerhouses in relation to live music.
The latest efforts from the largest indoor arena in Manchester fall in line with celebrating one year of bringing some of the best live music to the city, being officially open for 12 months in May.
Co-op Live have made a commitment to the people and the planet, promising to donate £1 million annually to the Co-op Foundation.
The stunning Co-op Live venue, Manchester’s largest indoor arena.Elbow performing at Co-op Live, marking history as the first act to grace the venue.Credit: Audio North/Supplied
Manchester’s latest live music venue also contributed significantly to selected charities, including Happy Doggo – chosen by Liam Gallagher and Eric Clapton’s addiction recovery centre, Crossroads.
As Elbow teams up with Co-op Live, even more money is making its way to necessary resources, this time in the likes of crucial live music establishments.
Elbow front-person Guy Garvey says: “Playing Co-op Live’s opening night will stay with us for a lifetime, not least because of how incredible the room sounded.”
“When the venue donated funds in our name to support the city we love, it made complete sense to carry that through to the Northern Quarter and to venues that have meant so much to my bandmates and I throughout our career.”
Guy Dunstan, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Co-op Live, adds: “In the past year, I have been proud to see Co-op Live become an integral part of such an incredible city.”
“Teaming up with Elbow to directly support the venues that first put Manchester on the map, and to share something so intrinsic to us as venues – proper sound – is something truly special.”
Award-winning The Kinks musical Sunny Afternoon to kick off UK tour in Manchester
Emily Sergeant
Multi award-winning musical Sunny Afternoon is set to kick off its UK tour here in Manchester later this year.
Following a sell-out run at Hampstead Theatre, the musical production featuring all the hit songs by legendary rock band The Kinks opened to critical acclaim at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London’s West End, where it ran for two years ahead of its sensational UK and Ireland tour throughout 2016/17.
It also collected four Olivier Awards, including Best New Musical and Outstanding Achievement in Music for Ray Davies, along the way.
Award-winning The Kinks musical Sunny Afternoon is kicking off its UK tour in Manchester / Credit: ATG Tickets
Set against the backdrop of Britain on the cusp of the rebellious 60s,Sunny Afternoon is described as being an ‘exhilarating and moving’ celebration of the music, life, and the band that changed it all, The Kinks.
Sunny Afternoon celebrates The Kinks’ raw energy, passion, and timeless sound.
Charting the ‘euphoric highs’ and ‘agonising lows’, the smash-hit production tells the band’s story through an incredible back catalogue of chart-toppers – including ‘You Really Got Me’, ‘Lola’, ‘All Day and All of the Night’, and of course, ‘Sunny Afternoon’ itself.
Tickets are on sale now from just £15 each / Credit: Kevin Cummins
Producers Sonia Friedman Productions and ATG Productions announced last week that the show would be returning for another UK tour later this year, and it’ll be opening right here on one of Manchester‘s most iconic stages.
The hit musical will open at Manchester’s Palace Theatre on 10 October 2025 and it will run right through until 18 October.
Sunny Afternoon has music and lyrics, and an original story, all by the band’s frontman Ray Davies, along with a book by Joe Penhall, direction by Edward Hall, design by Miriam Buether, and choreography by Adam Cooper.
Emily Sergeant -
30th May 2024 
