The Manchester Exhibition, the birth of the Halle

On Saturday I went to see a fantastic exhibition at the City Art Gallery celebrating 150 years of the Manchester Exhibition. http://www.manchestergalleries.org/whats-on/exhibitions/index.php?itemID=25 

The incredible array of artworks on display was as interesting as the story of the exhibition itself. In 1857 contained over 16,000 exhibits. It was pulled together by leading entrepreneurs of the city, keen to show Manchester in a different light, as at the time it was perceived as simply a city of commerce. Its ironic now that we’re primarily a city known for culture and not commerce. The feat was incredible, a huge building was constructed to house the displays of paintings, sculpture, photography, and even two instrumental concerts each day, with the best musicians from around Europe conducted by Charles Halle. This was the beginning of Halle’s desire to create a resident orchestra in Manchester, and therefore 2008 is the 150th anniversary of the orchestra’s creation.

Its all fascinating stuff and well worth a visit, for the history alone, although the collection is wonderful too. Its an incredible testament to Manchester’s wealth and ambition that it took only 3 weeks to raise the money to complete the budget for the great exhibition, could you imagine such a thing happening today! The other remarkable thing is that it wasn’t created by an arts council, or a city council, but by industrial entrepreneurs of the day not least Fairbairn, the designer of the famous boiler that helped to fuel the industrial revolution. 

I was rather horrified to discover the forward in the lovely handbook was by our own Sir Richard Leese, which nicely laid out an overview of the event. I wonder if he’s aware of the irony that such a thing couldn’t happen today in the days since the Labour movement in Manchester. Its no longer visionaries who drive our city forward, a city council would produce a politically correct version falling far short. The most recent incarnation of a Manchester Festival cannot hold a light to the original, and serves to starve funding from the most incredible Manchester institution that sprang from this great event 150 years ago, our own Halle orchestra, among others too.

Its well worth a visit, see some Manchester favourites that are resident at the gallery permanently, and soak up the pride of when Manchester was a great world city.