Hope will give an overview of the exhibition and highlight some of her favourite artworks that have been newly created by the artists.

Whether you are a fluent BSL user or learning, this is a great event to engage with others in a entirely BSL environment.

📅 Saturday

⏰ 14:15pm - 15:15pm

📍the Whitworth

🎟️ Book your free tickets now

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Micheala Yearwood-Dan brings painting and ceramics together and creates a powerfully resonant space dedicated to the ongoing practice of self-transformation and movement towards liberation.

Drawing on the aesthetics and symbolism of the Catholic church, Yearwood-Dan creates a powerfully resonant space to examine the intersection of the histories of colonialism and institutional religion through the lens of her own memory and experience - reflecting on the ongoing process of personal and collective liberation.

Using the language of abstraction, Yearwood-Dan’s paintings incorporate fragments of her own diaristic writing alongside adapted and borrowed texts and lyrics. These words move between intimate and political, appearing at varying scales across the canvases. References to writers such as civil rights activist James Baldwin sit alongside the artist’s own reflections, inviting the viewer to consider how the personal and the political intersect in new ways.

About the venue

The Whitworth is a venue with level access throughout, and facilities to support you during your visit. Alongside this our visitor team will be on hand to assist you in the gallery. Find out more about planning your visit to the Whitworth and accessibility information for you.

If you’d like to speak to a team member about any access or additional needs, please get in touch with the gallery and we will be happy to assist you. Email whitworth@manchester.ac.uk or telephone 0161 275 7450.

The Whitworth art gallery and gardens is driven by a mission to work with communities to use art for positive social change, and actively addresses what matters most in people’s lives. We are proudly part of The University of Manchester, operating as a convening space between the University and the people of the city.

(Image Credit: Michaela Yearwood-Dan, The Practice of Liberation (2026) installation view at theWhitworth © the Whitworth, The University of Manchester. Photographer: MichaelPollard)

Description supplied by the event organiser.