Get connected at history exhibitions launch

Residents can discover and explore unique and inspiring collections across Greater Manchester that tell the story of Our Connected History.

For the first time, each museum service across the conurbation will be sharing and showcasing objects from their neighbouring boroughs.

Playing its part is Bury Art Museum and Sculpture Centre, with a display of decorative art.

Visitors to Gallery Oldham will discover a range of eclectic objects from across the region, while Bolton Museum and Touchstones Rochdale have unearthed collections from around the world.

Also: discover how trade and export shaped Greater Manchester and the world at Salford Museum and Art Gallery; explore the way we lived and the objects we used in childhood and adulthood at Portland Basin Museum and The Museum of Wigan Life; learn how political movements and social revolutions paved the way for change at Stockport Museum.

The displays will be accompanied by a leaflet highlighting the collections across the Greater Manchester Museums Group (GMMG). It will include a map to guide visitors around the 21 venues, from art galleries and spooky halls to underground air raid shelters.

The exhibitions will be on display from October 2014 to Summer 2015.

Emma Varnam, chair of GMMG, said: “Greater Manchester museums house world-class collections that have toured internationally to great success and continue to inspire and engage new audiences. We are delighted to be able to share these objects and give visitors access to these rich collections that we hold across the region.”

ENDS

Issued: 27 October 2014.

Picture: A Robert Peel jug, which Bury has loaned to Stockport Story Museum.

Note to editors:

·  Greater Manchester Museums group (GMMG) consists of 8 Greater Manchester museum
services: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside and Wigan. They have been working together for over ten years on innovative projects that unite their collections and engage their communities. www.gmmg.org.uk

· Funded by Arts Council England - Museums Strategic Support Fund  2014/15.