Imperial War Museum North & Lowry
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
Fancy a break in the UK? Manchester might just fit the bill. Recently I took the family to the capital of the north and spent an interesting morning in the Media City area close by Old Trafford.
If you were thinking that the Imperial War Museum North was just a clone of its Lambeth namesake forget it. IWM North is an entirely different concept, utterly modern, the opposite of what was once London’s Bethlem Royal Hospital.
Entry is free but you will have to pay for parking. It is truly educational for all ages and particularly youngsters who cannot imagine the idea of bomb-damaged streets in Britain, similar to those currently in the Middle East.
It is designed for a post WWII generation who watched the rise of new cities in the aftermath of the European war, but it also includes conflicts around the world and the story of the Berlin Wall.
Ours was a mature group but what was noticeable were activities exclusively for young people, including the Learning Studio, where children were given the chance to get crafty and create their own souvenir. The Learning Studio also has a soft play area, for youngsters who are a bit too young to get involved with the craft-making.
An architectural competition for the new museum was held in 1997, with the winning design being that of Berlin-based architect Daniel Libeskind, born in Lodz (Poland), in 1946. Libeskind's family had suffered during WWII with dozens of his relatives murdered in The Holocaust. At the museum's opening, Libeskind said that he sought to "create a building which emotionally moved the soul of the visitor toward a sometimes-unexpected realization."
In addition to the physical exhibits, the walls of the gallery space are used as screens for the projection of hourly audiovisual presentations called the Big Picture, which explore themes related to conflicts. These presentations use up to 1,500 images from the Imperial War Museum's photo library. The images are complemented by personal accounts from the museum's oral history archive. The Big Picture was devised after the reduction in the museum's budget forced the scrapping of the previous exhibition plan and has proved to be a big success.
There is a lack of artefacts, but that does not matter, with steelwork on display retrieved from the World Trade Centre attack in 2001 very prominent and a reminder that War covers many different conflicts, some current. Reading the captions does take time. Allow for two hours plus to get around. And if there is criticism, a lack of background is a failure. A US-painted BAe Harrier vertical take-off aircraft hung from the ceiling, British designed and British built. But no words to describe exhibit.
The Lowry Museum is just a short walk away (as is Old Trafford – Home of Manchester United, with a tour available costing £38). This is also free. At the core of the complex is the 1,730-seat Lyric Theatre with the largest stage in the United Kingdom outside London's West End. It played host to the 2011 Royal Variety Performance.
Laurence Stephen Lowry (1 November 1887 – 23 February 1976) was an English artist. His drawings and paintings mainly depict Pendlebury, near Manchester (where he lived and worked for more than 40 years) and its neighbour Salford.
He painted scenes of life in the industrial districts of North West England in the first half of the 20th century. He developed a distinctive style of painting and is best known for his urban landscapes peopled with human figures, often referred to as "matchstick men". He also painted mysterious unpopulated landscapes, brooding portraits and the "marionette" works, which were only found after his death. Lowry was fascinated by the sea, and painted pure seascapes, depicting only sea and sky, from the early 1940s.
He never married and is best descried as “odd”. He turned down numerous offers of recognition including a knighthood but did accept the freedom of the City of Salford. The museum was opened by Queen Elizabeth in October 2000, acknowledging Britain’s greatest contemporary artist, part of a successful campaign to help regenerate the derelict docks area.
In 1978, Brian and Michael reached number one in the UK Singles Chart with the tribute single "Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs”.
The exact number of paintings L. S. Lowry produced remains uncertain due to incomplete records and the ongoing discovery of previously unknown works. However, it is widely estimated that he painted over 1,000 pieces, including oil paintings, watercolours and sketches.
Allow two hours plus for a leisurely stroll around the exhibition. And if you are concerned about eating both venues offer café facilities and the whole area has cafés and restaurants. You should not get hungry.
The Metrolink tram service runs directly from Piccadilly Gardens central Manchester to MediaCityUK. The journey takes around 23 minutes and tickets cost approximately £2–£3 per trip. Trams operate frequently, with departures every 10 minutes.
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