The Manchester Contemporary announce 2025 exhibits and record art fund support

Mancunian artists and art lovers alike, clear your schedules. The Manchester Contemporary returns this month, the annual exhibit and art fair that brings together leading independent galleries, artists and curators from across the UK and beyond. This year, with an expanded exhibitor list and a number of fresh gallery debuts.

They welcome exhibits and talks from leading London galleries, Brooke Benington, Kate MacGarry, and William Hine, each making their Northern debut. And from their returning roster that includes Liverpool Biennial, Castlefield Gallery, Paradise Works, Venture Arts, and Abingdon Studios Project Space. A new feature, Retrospection, will also spotlight galleries whose journeys began at the fair and have since reached international recognition.

Running as always alongside the annual Manchester Art Fair, the 2025 event will showcase bold new works and celebrate a record £40,000 raised by the Manchester Contemporary Art Fund, which helps acquire pieces for Manchester Art Gallery’s public collection.

Watch the video below to see the impact the Manchester Contemporary Art Fund has on local artists and the northern art landscape

Curator Nat Pitt said the art fund and fair mission remains rooted in supporting diversity and opportunity: “The way we platform new work by emerging artists, create opportunities for artists from under-represented backgrounds and provide an opening for artist-led spaces outside London is integral to the fair.”

“Each year, we welcome a growing number of international collectors, as well as over 11,000 art-buying members of the public from across the North and beyond.”

Since its launch in 2017, the Manchester Contemporary Art Fund has supported the acquisition of 38 works for the city’s permanent collection, helping cement Manchester’s reputation as a hub for accessible, forward-thinking contemporary art.

The weekend itself sees 50 Talks & Workshops, 200 Artists, 35 Exhibitors, and 11,072 visitors operating and admiring the works  in Manchester Central

The Art Talks programme for 2025 features a varied set of discussions: art and IP lawyer Jon Sharples joins critic Eddy Frankel to explore the future of art criticism; former curator Paulette Brien speaks with artists Rachel Goodyear and Leo Fitzmaurice about the opportunities and pressures of art-fairs; and critic Louise Buck chairs a panel of leading collectors – including Frank Cohen, Roland Cowan, Hannah Barton, Sigrún Davídsdóttir and Eliza Gluckman – to talk about motivations, challenges and responsibilities in building contemporary collections.

The Manchester Contemporary 2025 opens with a preview evening on 21st November, before running throughout the weekend. If you want to catch the preview, then be quick and head to grab tickets at manchesterartfair.co.uk. One and two-day tickets for the weekend are also available.

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