Unspoken – try our wellbeing trail leaflet at Manchester Art Gallery
The Unspoken resources at Manchester Art Gallery are part of a display of paintings from the permanent collection, Myth, Dream and Reality: The Human Form 1700 - 1920.
Using the paintings on display in Myth, Dream and Reality, the Unspoken project participants worked for 15 weeks with Start and gallery staff, to explore how artists tell stories through the body language of the people in their paintings. Course participants then used this knowledge to make new photographic renditions of some of the original paintings, by working with actors, as well as insightful photographic self-portraits celebrating their own personal strengths.
Participants learned about symbolism in art, the history of the paintings, and also examined how a better understanding of body language can support confidence and wellbeing.
This is what participants said about the course:
"Thank you for this course it was an opportunity to learn first about myself, secondly about other people and thirdly about a subject close to my heart - art."
Start service user
"I have been to the gallery before years ago, I was looking at paintings but there was no interest. Now there is. Now I can focus and talk about my personal insight."
Start service user
In partnership with Manchester Art Gallery, the course resulted in a wellbeing trail leaflet that guides visitors through reflections on body language, in connection with some of the paintings in the display.
Unspoken photographic portraits, exploring use of body language in the Myth, Dream and Reality paintings and in portrait photography, feature in the new interactive interpretation system which accompanies the Myth, Dream and Reality display.
You can try these resources out at any time when visiting the gallery. Displays are located in the entrance hall.
Myth, Dream and Reality: The Human Form 1700 - 1920 explores the various ways in which artists have represented the male and female body and human interaction over more than two centuries. It was inspired by the casts from the Parthenon frieze given by George IV to decorate Manchester Art Gallery's entrance hall. It has been curated and installed in response to requests from Gallery visitors to display works of art in the entrance space.
Read more about it here: http://www.manchestergalleries.org/whats-on/community-programmes/past-projects/unspoken/
See all the self-portraits on Flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/manchester_city_galleries/sets/72157626703227516/
The gallery is open Tuesday - Sunday 10-5, Admission free.
Manchester Art Gallery
Mosley Street
Manchester
M2 3JL
0161 235 8888
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