Manchester

• 

Manchester: Urbis

What unites urban gardening, Kylie’s favourite fashion designer and, er, Japanese cartoon porn? Step forward Urbis, Manchester’s museum of urban life

Only a few years back, Urbis was slated as little more than a cultural white elephant. Visitor figures were low, council subsidies were high and no one was quite sure what it was actually for. Despite the arrival (and then speedy departure) of a high falutin’ creative director, Urbis continued to flounder. But all that’s set to change as Urbis storms into 2008 with three intriguing exhibitions – the beginning of a new creative direction for a museum that looks set to become one of Manchester’s most interesting.

The creative year kicks off with How Manga Took Over the World, a show that takes in music, film, games, fashion and, of course, comics – and shows how this once-niche Japanese art form has become super-cool (and sometimes pretty mainstream) around the globe. To steal a phrase from the museum’s marketing department, there’s something for all the family here: magical films and TADO toys for kids (with iconic characters Princess Mononoke and Doraemon taking centre stage), cyberpunk and violent action films for angst-ridden teens and fashion, with a nod towards brands such as Carhartt, SupremeBeing and Nike, for mum and dad. There’s even a little Manga-inspired erotica for the more deviant among you.

Next up is an exhibition in honour of local boy made good, Matthew Williamson. Now into his second decade as a fashion designer, Manchester-born Williamson’s creations have adorned the likes of Kylie, Sienna Miller and Kiera Knightly – and it’s fitting that Urbis, which last year hosted the first ever Manchester Fashion Weekend, now show off Williamson’s first ever career retrospective.

And finally, opening alongside the first daffodils and snowdrops, Urbis’ Urban Gardening show is nothing if not timely. In an era where Brits spend in excess of £50 billion on our gardens, this show examines how a growing horticultural obsession sits, sometimes uncomfortably, alongside concern for the planet. As you’d expect for a museum dedicated to city living, this show is less about Cheshire set formal gardens and more about urban and industrial greenery, from overgrown back alleys and community gardens to the window boxes of high rises.

The story doesn’t end with these three shows. More major exhibitions are in the pipeline for 2008 (including a major show of contemporary art from New York), new top floor restaurant The Modern has been pulling in the plaudit, the dodgy lift has finally been fixed (visitors can now choose which floor they’d like to go to, rather than being forced up to the fourth) an extra floor has been freed up for temporary exhibition space and the rather dull Manchester-themed exhibition that once sprawled across the top two floors has been pared down and stuffed with new, interactive exhibits.

So with its identity crisis firmly behind it, Urbis is our cultural one to watch for 2008.

Urbis, Cathedral Gardens, M4 3BG (605 8200/www.urbis.org.uk). How Manga Took Over the World, March 13-September 27; Matthew Williamson – 10 Years in Fashion, March 27-September 21; Urban Gardening, from April 26; Sun-Weds 10am-6pm, Thurs-Sat 10am-8pm; free.

• Did you find this useful? Yes No
• 

---