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The University of Manchester has forced out Whitworth Gallery director Alistair Hudson over his pro-Palestine Forensic Architecture show

2022-02-24T17:39:00-05:00

A legal smear campaign has ousted a museum director over the inclusion of a pro-Palestinian statement in an exhibition examining the work of Forensic Architecture at the University of Manchester.

Artnet News is reporting the forced resignation of Alistair Hudson following a concerted lobbying effort on the part of several prominent local barristers who form the group U.K. Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI).

Hudson has been the director of the university’s Whitworth Art Gallery since 2017 and became the target of the pro-Israel group’s effort after allowing the statement as part of a show called Cloud Studies that focused in part on the activist group’s study of poor air quality and human rights in areas that included the occupied territories as well as Louisiana and Beirut.

In a statement, Forensic Architecture’s founder Eyal Weizman said the saga “makes clear yet again that the anti-colonial struggle in support of Palestine and elsewhere has to be fought within and sometimes against our ...

SOM unveils graphene-enhanced space habitat in collaboration with the University of Manchester

2021-10-07T08:30:00-04:00

SOM has entered the interplanetary market as plans for a new space habitat prototype have been unveiled thanks to a collaboration with a team from the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre at the University of Manchester.

Anticipating a future demand for infrastructure in space, SOM aims to develop a 2D scalable model with the potential to be made commercially available in the next five to ten years using robotics that can manufacturer complex shapes using an array of advanced materials like graphene.

Image courtesy SOM

“As architects, our role is to combine and integrate the most innovative technologies, materials, methods and above all the human experience to designing inhabited environments,” SOM senior designer Daniel Inocente said in a statement. “Conducting research using graphene allows us to test lightweight materials and design processes that could improve the efficacy of composite structures for potential applications on Earth and future use in space.”

Manchester has been...

Forensic Architecture reinstates exhibition at University of Manchester following censorship row

2021-08-19T20:55:00-04:00

A statement in support of Palestinian rights put up by Forensic Architecture as part of an exhibition at the University of Manchester’s Whitworth Gallery is back in its rightful place tonight after backlash against the message caused the group to temporarily withdraw the exhibition over censorship concerns.

The group shared a social media post on Wednesday showcasing the re-installation of their statement that decried the “ethnic cleansing” of the country as a prominent introduction to their exhibition titled Cloud Studies which opened on July 2nd. The exhibition outlines FA's initial phase of the latest investigation which explores and exposes how “power reshapes the very air we breathe," according to a brief posted on the group's website.

Our statement is back up! pic.twitter.com/uwE5pJM7Am
— Forensic Architecture (@ForensicArchi) August 18, 2021

Read Forensic Architecture's statement standing with Palestine here.

The move came after the announcement earlier in the week that the g...

“Inflatable Museum” to provide additional learning support to disadvantaged areas of Manchester

2016-04-18T12:43:00-04:00

An “Inflatable Museum” is about to be launched in Greater Manchester with the aim of bringing exhibits and educational programmes to schools in disadvantaged districts of the city. It is transportable in a van, can be blown up in under half an hour and can accommodate a full school class. It incorporates moveable cabinets, a large open presentation area and high definition projection equipment.

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