Join curator Imogen Holmes-Roe for a tour of Beneath the Great Wave: Hokusai, Hiroshige, and ukiyo-e print, the Whitworth’s first exhibition dedicated to Japanese prints in over 100 years. This exhibition presents iconic artworks by Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) and Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858) to explore the evolution of traditional ukiyo-e woodblock prints and paintings.

Translated as ‘Pictures of a Floating World’, ukiyo-e prints were popularised during the Edo period (1615–1868) and reveal Tokyo’s emergence as a city at the cusp of the modern age. Exploring the work of Japan’s most celebrated artists, the exhibition shows how Hokusai and Hiroshige’s landscape prints transformed the genre.

Meet in the foyer of the Whitworth Gallery.

Join curator Imogen Holmes-Roe for a tour of Beneath the Great Wave: Hokusai, Hiroshige, and ukiyo-e print, the Whitworth’s first exhibition dedicated to Japanese prints in over 100 years. This exhibition presents iconic artworks by Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) and Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858) to explore the evolution of traditional ukiyo-e woodblock prints and paintings.

Translated as ‘Pictures of a Floating World’, ukiyo-e prints were popularised during the Edo period (1615–1868) and reveal Tokyo’s emergence as a city at the cusp of the modern age. Exploring the work of Japan’s most celebrated artists, the exhibition shows how Hokusai and Hiroshige’s landscape prints transformed the genre.

Meet in the foyer of the Whitworth Gallery.

A Tour of Manchester Art Gallery’s Remarkable Collection of Pre-Raphaelite Paintings

Pre-Raphaelite paintings have a way of striking you, even from a distance. They are often bejewelled with luminous colour, redolent of some beautiful dream world and indeed, many evoke the same sense of a lost past that can be found in poetry. The human figures seem almost too real, whilst the trees, grasses, leaves and flowers appear possessed of a vibrant living force.

Manchester Art Gallery has some of the very finest examples but of course, like much else in the art world, they tend to divide opinion. Gallery visitors come from far and wide to see them but there are also detractors who find the works overly sentimental.

Join volunteer guide John Ward in a quest to determine whether or not these world famous masterpieces speak as powerfully to us as they once did to our forebears.

A Tour of Manchester Art Gallery’s Remarkable Collection of Pre-Raphaelite Paintings

Pre-Raphaelite paintings have a way of striking you, even from a distance. They are often bejewelled with luminous colour, redolent of some beautiful dream world and indeed, many evoke the same sense of a lost past that can be found in poetry. The human figures seem almost too real, whilst the trees, grasses, leaves and flowers appear possessed of a vibrant living force.

Manchester Art Gallery has some of the very finest examples but of course, like much else in the art world, they tend to divide opinion. Gallery visitors come from far and wide to see them but there are also detractors who find the works overly sentimental.

Join volunteer guide John Ward in a quest to determine whether or not these world famous masterpieces speak as powerfully to us as they once did to our forebears.

Discover Manchester’s Northern Quarter through fresh eyes.

For more than forty years, the walls and shutters here have been transformed from hidden graffiti tags to bold street art, and even full‑scale advertising. Today, the neighbourhood is an open‑air gallery where every corner has a story to tell.

On this walking tour, we’ll explore the busy squares and tucked‑away backstreets that showcase world‑renowned artists such as Akse P19, Hammo and Faunagraphic. From striking photo‑real portraits to playful characters and nature‑inspired designs, you’ll see how these artworks have become part of Manchester’s cultural identity.

But this isn’t just about admiring the paint on the wall. We’ll ask questions.

What messages are hidden in the colours and layers? How do these pieces reflect our city’s social and political life? Why do some murals last while others vanish almost overnight?

Along the way, we’ll uncover projects like Outhouse and Cities of Hope, meet the spirit of initiatives such as Spray Days and Art Battle, and trace how protest, community, music and humour all leave their mark in this ever‑changing urban canvas.

Join us to see the city differently, alive with creativity, history and ideas.

Ready to walk the streets as if they were a gallery?  Book your place now.

Meet inside the entrance of Ducie Street Warehouse which has a cafe and toilets.

(Round the corner from Piccadilly Railway Station).