Manchester Museum mixes the arts with medicine

16 Oct 2013

The Museum was the venue for a series of events forming part of The Manchester Weekender.

The Manchester Weekender returned for a fourth year  on 10-13 October to celebrate the city's art and culture with a weekend-long snapshot of the best Manchester has to offer.

On 12 October, Manchester Museum provided the venue for a series of events which explored the often-surprising synergy between medicine and the arts. In the morning, Caroline Hawkridge, writer in residence at the National Aspergillosis Centre, led a poetry and medicine workshop, which led to a stimulating discussion.

The theme continued into the afternoon, with readings from cardiologist and poet Denise Bundred's Open the Windows, which proposed medicine as an art form in itself, and a moving and personal exploration by poet Rebecca Goss of illness, bereavement and new life.

A minimal and wordless piece by musicians Chris Davies and Beth Allen, commissioned as a response to the concept ‘Breath’, showed how music could promote a sense of well-being.

The day's events were co-hosted by National Aspergillosis Centre, which treats patients with fungal disease of the lungs, and the Manchester Literature Festival.