‘The Meditation of Drawing’ Exhibition

MAFA exhibition at Manchester Cathedral 10th September – 12th October 2023

‘Photography is an immediate reaction; drawing is a meditation’ – Henri Cartier-Bresson 

The purpose of drawing can be many things to different individuals; it can describe, record, document, explore, invent, create, visualise and communicate. Drawing is the most basic tool of depiction; it can become a meditational act of awareness. The Manchester Academy of Fine Arts initiated this exhibition to explore and promote the positive aspects of drawing. 

Visitors to this exhibition will see how MAFA artists each have their own individual approaches to drawing. We hope you will be inspired by the drawings on display in the Nave of the Cathedral and selected sketchbook images in the Chapter House. Responding to the concept of the exhibition, the public will be able to participate by drawing the surroundings around them. A catalogue will accompany the exhibition with essays by Professor Tim Brennan, Julia Midgley and John Hewitt. The essays examine how drawing is a meditation of the world around us.

Connected to this exhibition, a Bunker Talk was held by The Manchester School of Art in conjunction with MAFA. Professor Tim Brennan, Julia Midgley and John Hewitt were interviewed on the subject of drawing. Click here to watch the talk.