SPARK #51: Human Natures

SPARK #51: Human Natures

Join us for a visit to Manchester Museum's Human Natures exhibition, which uses objects from the Museum’s natural history collection to investigate our relationship with the natural world..The Museum's Environmental Action Manager Hannah Hartley will introduce us to the themes and thinking behind the exhibition.

Are we losing our connection with nature? Modern life can make it easy to forget that we are part of the natural world and that the actions we take can have impacts that we don’t even see.

Many of us buy what we need rather than growing or making it ourselves. This makes it harder to notice the complex relationships we have with the plants, animals and landscapes on which we depend. By seeing the planet as a resource rather than an interconnected system that we live within, we have contributed to global environmental change.

Human Natures' sections on  Making Nature, Making Ourselves Comfortable, Making a Mess and Making Changes explore stories of overconsumption and overexploitation of animals, plants and minerals. As well as looking at the consequences this has for climate, biodiversity and people, the exhibition shares inspiring examples of individuals and organisations taking action to live in balance with nature.

Please meet in the Main Hall outside the entrance to the exhibition. 

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Hannah Hartley’s work is grounded in the belief that arts and culture play a powerful role in tackling the climate and ecological crisis. As Environmental Action Manager at Manchester Museum she leads public events and engagement, builds relationships with local changemakers in the Top Floor co-working hub, and supports organisational action and learning. Hannah is also Lead Lecturer in Event Sustainability at BIMM Music Institute [bimm.ac.uk]; a Senior Assessor for the A Greener Future certification scheme [agreenerfuture.com]; and Strategy Board member for the Greater Manchester sustainability network GMAST [g-mast.org].

Image credit: Bottle top artwork by Plastic Shed; photo by Tobias Longmate

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Access Info
Manchester Museum is wheelchair accessible.
Please see https://www.museum.manchester.ac.uk/accessibility for further access info. 

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SPARK

The SPARK network was set up by Castlefield Gallery in 2022 to facilitate a Greater Manchester/North West-based network of artists wanting to intervene in the climate crisis. The gallery initiated SPARK in response to the high demand for places on the 2021/22 SUSTAIN programme focussed on low carbon artmaking. 

SPARK #51 follows SPARK sessions at Manchester Art Gallery, Rogue, The Birley (Preston), Eccles Friends Meeting House, Manchester Museum, AIR Gallery, Paradise Works, Editional Studio, Cadishead and Little Woolden Moss, Gallery Oldham, the John Rylands Library, Dunham Massey, Lindow Moss, Castlefield Viaduct, Gallery Oldham, The Atkinson, Castlefield Gallery, Northern Roots, Hulme Community Garden Centre, Salford Museum and Art Gallery; and a group exhibition and events programme at Rogue Studios.

Castlefield Gallery continues to provide admin and co-ordination support via its Artist Environmental Lead, Jane Lawson, as well as promotional support. 

https://www.instagram.com/sparkartistsnetwork/