Two Manchester-based attractions have been named in a round-up of the best to visit in 2023.
The Guardian has named the Golden Mummies of Egypt exhibition at the soon-to-reopen Manchester Museum and the opening of Factory International amongst some of the best art and design shows to head to this year. The Manchester art attractions have been included in a list which features shows and exhibitions in cities spanning London, Amsterdam and New York.
The Golden Mummies of Egypt will be open to the public when the museum opens in February, following its £15m transformation. Meanwhile, Factory International - the landmark cultural space and Manchester International Festival's new permanent home - will open in June.
Read more: The best things to see and do in Manchester in 2023
After a hugely successful tour across the United States and China, The Golden Mummies - Manchester Museum's opening exhibition - will offer 'unparalleled access' to he museum's Egypt and Sudan collections. Featuring more than 100 objects and eight mummies, it promises 'a rich perspective on beliefs about the afterlife during an era when Egypt was part of the Greek and Roman worlds'.
The spectacular show of ancient Egyptian treasures isn't just about gold though, as it uses non-intrusive science to explore mummified bodies and heir elaborate wrappings. It will be displayed in the brand-new Exhibition Hall, on the ground floor, where the museum will host and tour shows that explore the 'richness of our world and our past, present and future'.
The museum has been closed since August 2021 for an ambitious makeover totalling £15m. One of the largest university museums in the UK, with a collection of 4.5 million items, the transformation encompasses a contemporary two-storey extension, comprising a new Exhibition Hall on the ground floor, and a South Asia Gallery on the first.
The Guardian article also nods to Factory International, Manchester's flagship arts centre, which is set to become a "landmark" venue for the city when it opens in June. Designed by the Rotterdam-based Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in the form of a gigantic hangar, the £210m facility is being built on the former Granada TV Studios site and is anticipated to attract 1.15m visitors a year.
The giant futuristic building, which will form the centrepiece of the 2023 Manchester International Festival from June 29-July 16, will officially open with a large-scale immersive performance based on the Matrix films in October. The event, called Free Your Mind , will bring together the choreography of Kenrick "H20" Sandy MBE, a score by Michael "Mikey J" Asante MBC, designed by Es Devlin and directed by Radcliffe's own Danny Boyle.
It was announced back in September that 5,000 tickets for the opening show will be made available for £10 or less as organisers are keen for the arts space to be "accessible to all". Factory International's artistic director, John McGrath, has described it as a "space for the world, a space for everyone, a space for the communities of Manchester".
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