Bunker Talk - Manchester Academy of Fine Arts

MAFA presents a discussion on “Looking Back, Moving Forward - Creating, Collecting and Conserving Art in Manchester”. Contributors include Hannah Williamson, Curator of Fine Art at Manchester Art Gallery, Peter Davis, MAFA Archivist and Wendy Levy, Gallerist in Manchester for 40 years. Chairing the discussion will be Dr Fionna Barber, Reader in Art History in the Department of Art and Performance in Manchester School of Art.

Hannah Williamson has been a Curator at Manchester Art Gallery for 12 years. Previously she worked at Hat Works, the hat museum in Stockport, and at the National Trust’s Quarry Bank Mill. She is interested in connecting industrial and social history with art history, and in exploring lesser-known art movements. Her curating cuts across time to make unexpected combinations, and her keenest professional pleasure is found in talking about art. Hannah has recently started a PhD in museum history at Manchester Metropolitan University. She lives in Macclesfield and serves on the board of trustees of Macclesfield Silk Museum.

Peter Davis has been MAFA’s Archivist since 2022 and delivers talks on our archives. He is also a Northwest based professional artist whose paintings capture contemporary life, reflecting today’s societal narratives, including technology addiction, mental health, race and gender. His work is held in public collections, and he has exhibited widely including the John Moores Painting Prize 2020 and the Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Prize 2024 at the National Portrait Gallery. As well as being a MAFA member, Peter also belongs to the Contemporary British Portrait Painters (CBPP) and Castlefield Gallery Associates.

Wendy Levy is a patron of MAFA. Wendy’s career began in 1971 at the Pitcairn Galleries, Knutsford, founded and owned by Peter Burdett. Eventually she took on the gallery showing work by artists including Sir Matthew Smith, L.S. Lowry, and David Bomberg. Later, she went on to show work Ben Nicholson, Winifred Nicholson and many other St Ives artists. From 2000 until 2013, Wendy continued showing work in her gallery in Didsbury; exhibiting North West artists, including some Manchester Academicians; representing, nurturing and assisting in establishing their careers. She continues to promote artists by presenting exhibitions in her online gallery.

This talk is a precursor to an exhibition by the Manchester Academy of Fine Arts at Manchester Cathedral entitled ‘Voyages’ (July 2nd – August 31st 2025), where the idea of discovery through a voyage personal to the artists is reflected in their works. The catalogue accompanying the exhibition will feature contributions by the participants extracted from the Bunker Talks.

Find out more about MAFA at www.mafa.org.uk