Oldham Wakes! by Sophie Tyrrell

Taking inspiration from the seasonal traditions of Old Lancashire holiday festivals, rush carts and processions, Oldham based artist Sophie Tyrrell populates the gallery with a fabulously colourful and deeply political handmade carnival installation. Sophie’s giant festival-bright endangered species artworks are poised between ecological grief and hopeful imagination. Above this weirdly joyful spectacle, a magnificent murmuration of paper starlings made by local schoolchildren signals that ‘the starlings are in trouble’.

Original music from Manchester Folk Collective ‘Brown Wimpenny’ underscores the scene. You are invited to experience wonder, to dress up, and be merry, in a celebration of the radical power of collective joy.