In Case You Missed It

Exhibition responds to the closure and imminent demolition of Manchester's much loved modernist campus - UMIST.

03.11.23 - 24.12.23

Twenty-six artists have come together to celebrate their affection for the former UMIST Campus. The exhibition features a variety of artforms including photography, collage, painting, printmaking, video, LEGO and even a hat.

'I've often wondered how certain places can anchor people from a vast web of different backgrounds and experiences. Over time buildings and their surroundings come to represent more than mere bricks and mortar and become place holders for memories, ideas and feelings. When I learned about the fate of the UMIST Campus and the general outcry against it's demise I had the same thought, What does this place mean to people?

Built as the forefront of technical innovation, UMIST holds a special place in Manchester's cultural identity and history, it's now iconic buildings defining the height of 1960's modernism and the city's strides into science and technology. Yet for me, strolling through on an evening, UMIST is an oasis in the city, a cocoon of calm white concrete and green space where you can hear the birds sing. Over the site's six decades countless students, scientists, lecturers and visitors will have had their own very individual relationships with the site.

In Case You Missed It is an exhibition about these relationships. It is a collection of creative responses to a Manchester institution: The view from an artist's first studio, the morning cut through on the way to work, a favourite building captured in spray-paint, an inspiration for Utopian visions, a beloved and constant backdrop to the Mancunian Way. These personal stories tell us about UMIST's impact just as vividly as the clean lines that make up it's facades and stand as a celebration to a place that in all likelihood will only exist as a memory in the future.'

Gemma Parker