Manchester Museum has released a sneak peak inside its walls as its £15m transformation project continues.
The huge museum, a landmark in Manchester, has been closed to the public since this time last year, and won’t reopen until February 2023.
During its closure, the cultural institution will be adding a modern two-storey extension, a new entrance, and inclusive facilities like a Changing Places toilet, picnic area, prayer space and quiet room.
The once-in-a-generation capital development project is called Hello Future, and will revamp the 132-year old museum.
Inside the cultural institution during its refurbishment. Credit: Manchester Museum
Manchester Museum, which is part of The University of Manchester, has released new footage from its transformation.
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The original neo-Gothic building, designed by renowned architect Alfred Waterhouse, is being extended and improv ed.
The new extension is clad in green-glazed terracotta tiles to pay homage to Victorian and Edwardian period buildings across Manchester.
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It will be home to a South Asia Gallery, in partnership with the British Museum, and a new Exhibition Hall, which will open with Golden Mummies of Egypt, featuring eight mummies and more than 100 objects from Manchester Museum’s Egyptology collection.
The new accessible entrance from Oxford Road will feature breath-taking objects from the museum’s 4.5 million-strong collection.
More than eighteen thousand objects been moved or protected from building work.
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Esme Ward, Manchester Museum Director, said: “We are extending the building, making room for more joy and learning and evolving into the museum Manchester needs.
“Galleries and exhibitions will showcase the best of the museum’s historic collections, as well as addressing the urgencies of the present day.
“We can’t wait to reopen our doors in just six months’ time. Until then, we will continue to bring updates on our progress.”
Featured image: Supplied, Manchester Museum
Art & Culture
The best Manchester-based anime-style memes we’ve seen online as Ghibli craze takes over
Danny Jones
Now, the internet can be used for a lot of silly and pointless things – you might argue us sharing our favourite memes every morning is a prime example of that – but we have to admit, the second we saw a Manchester-inspired Studio Ghibli image on social media, we were hooked.
If you have absolutely no idea what we’re talking about, there is a current craze that has taken over the internet, which has seen recognisable memes and images recreated in the style of the iconic Ghibli anime films, created by legendary animator and filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki.
Once you’ve found one, you tend to start spotting them more and more frequently, and in the case of the chronically online like us, we’ve been inundated with them for weeks now.
People are using AIto create them in various different contexts, but it won’t surprise you to learn that our favourite Ghibli/anime memes are those based around Manchester. For example:
Bloody hell, the internet really is brilliant sometimes, isn't it? 😂 https://t.co/virpFx60u7
As it happens, this was the first and perhaps still the best we’ve seen to date, but it didn’t stop us from falling down an animated rabbit hole looking for others.
To be honest, we didn’t actually have to do much searching ourselves as they’re absolutely all over the algorithm at the minute, and have been for a good month or so.
‘Ghibli memes’ may be an overgeneralisation of what is a rather specific and famed art style, but this ongoing flood of anime-style cartooons is being created by users giving prompts to ChatGPT, the increasingly popular large language model (LLM) and AI tool.
Designed with OpenAI software, the artificial intelligence chatbot can do everything from write extensive study notes and flash cards to fixing blurry images, writing computer code, entire essays and quite literally countless other things.
In this instance, people are just reimagining moments from the zeitgeist and famous memes in this style by feeding the image to ChatGPT, along with an ‘in the style of Studio Ghibli’ prompt.
One for the Blues…And the Reds.All of these images have been designed using ChatGPT. (Credit: Eleventh Minute/centredevils via X)
Pretty cool, right?
You’ll find that footballer Twitter (sorry, X*), in particular, is absolutely full of fan accounts recreating iconic club scenes in the Miyazaki art style, giving their favourite players big ‘Chibi’ eyes (another unique aspect of anime) and so on.
It’s all just a bit of a laugh, after all; even we here at The Manc put ChatGPT to the test back in June 2023 and asked it to design ‘the perfect day out in Manchester’ – to varying degrees of success, we might add.
As ever with machine-learning, the more information you feed it, the better the result and although we know these are original pictures being reimagined, it still goes to show just how impressive and varied AI is becoming.
We’ve also enjoyed some that aren’t necessarily Manc but are quintessential British humour or simply more universal memes.
Exhibits E and F…
Even after all these years, we feel like we still see this in some context at least once a week – and it still makes us laugh.‘What a sad little life, Jane…’Credit: brandsynario (via Instagram)/No Context Brits (via X)
Despite these memes riding a real wave right now, the Ghibli portrait fad is just that; there are plenty of other aesthetics being toyed with, too.
Actually, it already has, as we’ve now started coming across people making action figure versions of themselves and/or famous people, full decked out with accessories inside blister packs and everything.
On the other hand, many people are understandably concerned about what this means for artists and although there is no substitute for genuine human expression, whatever form that may come in, lots of people are railing against it as the possibility of AI-based pop music has been posited.
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With that in mind, maybe the best twist we’ve seen is our very own Stanley Chow subverting the trend and doing Ghibli stuff in his equally iconic style. We’ll take these geometric gems over computer-generated imitations any day.
For now, it’s just a bit of fun and we confess we’ve got some light entertainment out of it, but the increasing possibilities being thrown up by AI in terms of art do pose a lot more complex questions.
We’ll finish with one final example because let’s be honest, there’s only really one thing on our minds at the minute – at least until the summer finally rolls around…
Let us know if you’ve seen any other fun examples and what you make of the whole Ghibli meme trend down in the comments.
A thousand Morris dancers are set to take over Stockport
Danny Jones
Stockport is set for an exciting spring celebration later this month as a whole horde of Morris dancers will be taking over the town centre – and by a horde, we mean 1,000+.
More than enough to dance a massive jig, put it that way.
As part of the Joint Morris Organisation’s annual ‘Day of Dance’ event, set up by the official Morris Federation years ago, Morris dancers from all over the country unite in dancing their socks off across various regions, including Greater Manchester.
With literally over a thousand experts set to descend on Stockport and even more spectators expected to line the streets as they soak up the song and springtime spirit, it’ll be a great day for the borough.
Taking place most of the day from 10am until 5pm on Saturday, 26 April, Stopfordians will be able to enjoy the fun of a mini-folk festival right on their doosteps, with a huge parade and Morris dancers making their way around various part of the town.
If you live in the area, prepare for a chorus of bells and folk music, as well as a sea of clashing sticks, swirling ribbons, spiralling hula hoops and more.
Hosted by Adlington Morris Men on behalf of the Morris Ring and funded by Totally Stockport BID (Business Improvement District) with support from the local Council and Merseyway Stockport, it promises to be a lively, loud and unforgettable event.
It won’t be confirmed until the day itself has passed, but it could quite possibly become a record-breaking celebration of Morris and folk dance not just in the North West but in the UK as a whole.
You can see the full programme and event map down below:
Covering the Underbank, Merseyway, Princess Street, Suffragette Square, the Old Town’s Market Place and more, you quite literally couldn’t miss it if you tried.
Better yet, rounding off the day in true folk-style, there’ll be a completely free Ceilidh dance and party at St Mary’s Church, featuring a live folk band, pop-up craft beer bar and delicious local street food.
There’ll be activities to keep all ages occupied when the dancers aren’t in sight too, with family-friendly craft workshops, shire horses, fun giveaways and other fringe events to make the most of. including thousands of Morris-themed stickers and leather badges.
Shaun Freeman Jones, Totally Stockport BID Manager, said: “This is a huge win for Stockport. To have a massive, national celebration of Morris and folk dance right in the heart of the town is truly special, and a huge opportunity for Stockport to showcase its vibrancy, community spirit and rich cultural scene.
“The festival will not only bring an incredible spectacle, but also boost footfall and support local businesses. We can’t wait to welcome dancers from all over the country – it’s going to be an unforgettable day!”
As for Stockport Council, Cabinet Member for Communities, Culture and Sport Helen Foster Grime added: “It’s a real honour for Stockport to host this national celebration of Morris dancing, welcoming groups from all over the country to our town.
“It’s going to be a fantastic celebration of tradition, community and fun. It’s events like this that bring our communities together, fill our streets with joy, and make Stockport such a fantastic place. We can’t wait to see everyone dancing and enjoying this unforgettable day!”
Daisy Jackson -
22nd August 2022 
