Special Exhibitions Gallery

Against the Odds: The Story of Bomber Command in the Second World War
27 May 2006 – 7 January 2007
This exhibition told the extraordinary story of Bomber Command, featuring the experiences of air and ground crew, as well as WAAFs and aircraft factory workers from Trafford Park.  Hear about the preparation behind the plans, the essential ground crew who helped make the operations possible, the aircraft and the experiences of those who flew in them.

Witness: Highlights of First World War Art
4 February 2006 – 23 April 2006
This exhibition brought together paintings, drawings and sculpture by artists working during the First World War.  Alongside were powerful eyewitness accounts taken from letters, diaries and memoirs in the Imperial War Museum’s extraordinary collections.  These works provided remarkable insights into how the First World War affected the lives of the men and women who lived through it, at home and at the front.

Link to website

The North at War
24 March 2005 - 8 January 2006
In the 60th anniversary year of the end of the Second World War, the exhibition opened with the celebrations surrounding VE and VJ Days and Armistice Day. Moving on to examine the highs and lows of the Home Front and how news of war got from the Front Line to our front door, The North at War culminated in setting out the hopes and aspirations felt by many as war ended and peace began.

The Greater Game
Saturday 3 July - 9 January 2005
The first major exhibition to look at sport in wartime using personal stories and a wealth of iconic objects from across the UK.  Hear about those real sporting heroes who also fought for their country, and the servicemen and women who used sport to build team spirit.
Look at sport as a symbol for war or peace - from the 1914 Christmas truce football games to the recent test match between India and Pakistan. In the great sporting city of Manchester, The Greater Game tells real stories of sporting heroism.

Shipbuilding: Stanley Spencer and Patricia McKinnon-Day
7 February to 7 June 2004
Stanley Spencer's monumental shipbuilding paintings are amongst the most important works of the 20th Century. Painted while he was an official war artist, they are a unique record of wartime shipyard workers on the Clyde. Alongside is a new work by artist Patricia McKinnon-Day who provides a contemporary echo to Spencer's commission.

Reactions: Laura Ford
January and February 2004
Laura Ford's extraordinary sculptures, of steel, wool, felt and a host of other materials, can appear charming and sinister in equal measure.

Hughie O'Donoghue: Painting Caserta Red
27 September 2003 - 18 January 2004
This major new exhibition featured a series of paintings that traced the artist's father's wartime experiences, from conscription, through war in Europe and to his return to Manchester in 1946. Inspired by letters, photographs and postcards sent home by his father to his mother between 1943 and 1946, O'Donoghue's work brings to the forefront the story of an individual's experience in exceptional times.

In the Mood
5 April - Sunday 7 September 2003
Imperial War Museum North's first major special exhibition looked at 100 years of music, dance, theatre and film in the context of war. Entertainment has long been an essential coping mechanism in times of war and conflict.

Land Marks
Photographs of IWM North by Len Grant
5 July 2002 to 9 March 2003
The Museum's opening exhibition documented the work that went into IWM North, showing the incredible scale of the construction and the faces of the people who built it. It featured Len Grant's stunning photographs and a soundtrack of building site noises and voices, including architect Daniel Libeskind.

WaterWay

Tony Linforth-Hall: Gallipoli
23 Apr 2005 to 7 Aug 2005
This photographic exhibition recorded the Gallipoli battlefields as they are today and considered those aspects of the campaign that made it unique: the landings from the sea, the disease, the wide range of nationalities represented in the armies.

Jenny Matthews: Women in War Zones
22 January - 10 April 2005
One of the most respected photojournalists working today, Jenny Matthews shows women caught up in conflicts in war zones around the world, reflecting their experiences and the roles they play - from mothers to soldiers.

Taken by the Gun: Mothers Against Violence
1 October 2004 - 16 January 2005
A powerful photographic exhibition by Paula Keenan examining the impact of gun conflict on a group of mothers in South Manchester. Through portraits, quotes and film footage the exhibition explored the experience of bereavement, common to all families experiencing conflict.

The Days Before D-Day
June - 26 September 2004
Photographic images from Imperial War Museum’s collections showing the preparations for D-Day, from the military to the factories and homes. Timed to coincide with a series of performances and events at the Museum to mark the 60th anniversary of the Normandy Landings.

Steve Dixon: 21 Countries 
Saturday 21 February to Monday 31 May 2004
Kindly supported by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. The United States has been involved in the strategic bombing of at least 21 different countries since 1945. This small exhibition, by leading ceramacist Steve Dixon asks difficult questions about our attitudes towards the means of battle, not least 'does the end justify the means?'

Echoes of the Great War
Photography by Tony Linforth-Hall
January and February 2004
The Western Front, as it appears today, with some of the history that overshadows the contemporary landscape.

Paula Keenan
25 January to 15 March 2003
This exhibition introduced the work of photographer Paula Keenan, who was awarded a placement at the Museum as part of the North West Arts Board Setting Up Scheme. Paula Keenan worked within the Museum and with the local community creating new photography and digital based work.

Trafford MBC, Crafts Council, Arts Council of England and IWM North supported the scheme. The project was part funded by the European Regional development Fund.