Mindfulness and the art of getting away from it all
Manchester Art Gallery
Saturday 2 April 2022–Sunday 6 April 2025
The noise and overstimulation of the modern world gets too much for many of us.
Room to Breathe is a dedicated space to help you experience art in a more mindful way.
You can see a variety of works from our collection and listen to original audio guides to help you to explore the art using mindful techniques.
Furniture, colour scheme, number and height of art works, text and audio meditations have all been carefully chosen in a way that we hope will encourage deeper engagement with art and reduce stress.
This a room for you. To rest. To recover. A room to breathe…
#MAGwellbeing
Visitor enjoying And Breathe…
Events:
What’s REALLY going on when you look at art?
Research project with Goldsmiths, University of London part of Room to Breathe
Wed 11 May, 10:30 – 16:30
Thur 12 May, 10:30 – 16:30
Fri 13 May, 10:30 – 16:30
Wed 25 May, 10:30 – 16:30
Thur 26 May, 10:30 – 16:30
Fri 27 May, 10:30 – 16:30
No need to book, just turn up!
We are excited to be teaming up with psychologists from Goldsmiths, University of London to explore whether mindful viewing can deepen personal connection to art and reduce stress.
Members of the public will learn about their own bodily responses to art, while participating in a guided mindfulness practice. Each person will be fitted with a wrist sensor that will record in real-time their physiological reactions and responses to the artworks.
Visitor being fitted with wrist sensor
Visitor answering survey after viewing artworks in Room to Breathe
Listen to our Room to Breathe mindful audios. Listen at home or come into the space and see the artworks up close.
Further Resources:
Health and Wellbeing, at the Manchester Art Gallery
Stay Well, mindfulness videos from the Manchester Art Gallery
Limina Collective, bringing mindfulness to art
Mindful.org
The Art of Slow Looking, podcast from the Tate Modern in London
A 5-minute Meditation on Turner’s “Rain, Speed, and Steam,” by the National Gallery
Image credit:
Frank Auerbach, Head Of E.O.W. III, 1963-64 ©Frank Auerbach