19 THE ART OBSERVER July 2010 Exhibitions WENDY J LEVY GALLERY, DIDSBURY Peter Blake and Sandra Blow 11 June until 3 July Summer Mixed Show 9 July until 28 August Derek Bradbury and Alan Joyce 10 September until 1  October TATE LIVERPOOL Picasso ‘Peace and Freedom’ 21 May until 30 August Rineke Dijkstra ‘I See a Woman Crying’ 27 April until 30 August GALLERY OLDHAM Qasim Riza Shaheen ‘Nine Acts of Reciprocity’ 15 May until 11 July ‘Fired Up: Ceramics and Meaning’ 17 July until 14 November Jane Fairhurst ‘Transition’ 24 July until 5 September ‘Digitalis’ 31  July until 19 September CORNERHOUSE MANCHESTER Contemporary Art Iraq 16 April until 20 June ‘Unrealised Potential’ 17 July until 12 September MANCHESTER ART GALLERY Dorothy Bohm ‘A World Observed 1940 - 2010’ 24 April until 30 August Francisco de Goya ‘Fantasises, Follies and Disaster’ 15 August 2009 until 25 July 2010 ‘Visual Dialogue: Disasters of War’ 6 October until 25 July WHITWORTH GALLERY ‘Walls Are Talking: Wallpaper, Art and Culture’ 6 February until 30 August ‘Admire/Desire’ 1 May until 15 August CUBE ‘4 Degrees’ 7 June until 3 July MANCHESTER MUSEUM ‘The Evolutionist’ A Darwin Extravaganza until 30 August ‘After Life’ ongoing CHINESE ARTS CENTRE MANCHESTER ‘Lanwei/Decaying End’ anothermountainman (Stanley Wong) 16 April  until 12 June LOWRY Leo Fitzmaurice ‘Transformations 3: Panoramia’ 1 May until 5 September SALFORD MUSEUM & GALLERY ‘Life Through the Lens, Snapshots of Salford’s Past’ Until January 2011 STOCKPORT ART GALLERY ‘Reggies Roller Palace’ 15 May until 9 January 2011 WALKER ART GALLERY, LIVERPOOL Diana Dias-Leão ‘Dare to Wear, Glass Dresses’ 27 March until 30 September Emma Rodgers ‘From Sketch to Sculpture’ 28 April until 6 July On Stage LIBRARY THEATRE, MANCHESTER The Library Theatre will be in temporary accommodation after 4th July. Visit the website: www.manchestertheatres.com/library theatre.htm for details ROYAL EXCHANGE, MANCHESTER ‘Charley’s Aunt’ 22 June until 7 August Robin Robertson and Carol Anne Duffy, the first in a series of ‘WORD’ events 25 May THE OPERA HOUSE, MANCHESTER Monty Python’s ‘Spamalot’ 5 July until 10 July ‘Hairspray the Musical’ 13 July until the 31 July THE PALACE THEATRE, MANCHESTER ‘Guys and Dolls’ 12, 13 and 14 August USEFUL TELEPHONE NUMBERS Cornerhouse 0161 200 1500 Manchester Art Gallery 0161 235 8888 Whitworth Art Gallery 0161 275 7450 Urbis 0161 605 8200 Chinese Arts Centre 0161 832 7271 Lowry 0870 787 2649 Fact 0151 707 4444 Liverpool Tate 0151 702 7400 Central Library Manchester 0161 234 1900 Walker Art Gallery 0151 478 4199 Royal Exchange Theatre 0161 833 9833 Palace Theatre 0870 145 1163 Opera House 0870 145 1163 Wendy J Levy Gallery 0161 446 4880 Manchester Museum 0161 275 2634 Salford Museum and Art Gallery 0161 745 9490 Gallery Oldham 0161 770 4653 WHAT’S ON Artists and performers, individuals and organisations all over Didsbury will take part in a week-long celebration of local talent involving 100 events in 8 days. There will be a strong Arts Exhibition programme involving more than 30 artists many of whom will also collabo- rate with local shops to create a virtual village gallery alongside the festival gallery.  Also Poetry, Craft, Comedy and Jazz Cafés will take place each day with many more music and artistic events planned.   The 2010 festival will take place from Saturday 25 September to Saturday 2 October and organisers plan to make it as big a hit as last year’s inaugural event. Local artists and performers, schools and community arts groups will all support the event by providing venues or through sponsorship and donations. Lots of local volunteers will help with planning and at events during the festival. Didsbury Arts Festival 2010 25 SEPTEMBER TO 2 OCTOBER There are also two major festival com- petitions; a photography competition open to all, both amateur and profes- sional, which will be judged by well known Manchester based ‘Red Eye’ photographer and writer, Len Grant, along with artist and curator Penny Skerret. The closing date for entries is 1 August. Writers of all ages are also invited to enter the festival’s Open Poetry and Short Story competitions. The judges will include specially appointed poets in residence, Linda Chase and Adam O’Riordan and writers in residence, Adèle Geras and Nicholas Royle. Entries must be in by 16 July. Information about all the competitions is available on the new festival website at www.didsburyartsfestival.org Didsbury Arts Festival 2009 proved a huge success, attracting a total audi- ence of more than five thousand people. With events held at forty local venues - bars, parks, churches, schools and even a launderette were called into serv- ice to showcase the wealth of artists, writers, musicians, and performers for which Didsbury is renowned. Organised by a group of enthusiastic, local residents, the aim of Didsbury Arts Festival is to celebrate the diverse wealth of talent, the vibrant community and the unique places that make Didsbury so special. Festival Director, Maria Stripling, said: ‘Last year’s Didsbury Arts Festival was amazing. There is just so much talent in Didsbury and the local area of South Manchester and we had a fantastic response from local people and organisations. Without their support, it just wouldn’t have been possible. We aim to make Didsbury Arts Festival 2010 just as successful and events are also being planned with some great highlights to look forward to. The new web site will be updated regularly with details of highlights and the programme is available early August.   For information and to see what happened in 2009, visit the Festival website at: www.didsburyartsfestival.org All enquiries to: info@didsburyartsfestival.org