Open Eye Gallery

22/10/2026

New Faces, New Focus at Kirkby Gallery

In New Faces, New Focus, Anoosh Ariamehr engaged with people in Knowsley, who share memories of the area through the years and reflect on how it has changed.

Visits to Open Eye Gallery’s archive and the collection at Prescot Museum sparked an exploration of life journeys through personal archives – from community work, caring professions and industry, to creative pursuits, travel and moments in time.

“This project reminded me that photographs do not only hold images; they also hold time, silence, memory and the possibility of another story", says Anoosh Ariamehr. "Through partipiants' photographs, collages and words, the past entered into conversation with the present. For me, the most powerful part has been watching people discover that their everyday experiences, memories and local places are not small stories; they are part of the history that deserves to be seen and remembered.”

Alongside New Faces, New Focus, is the first UK exhibition of Comfort Work by Andrii Dostliev and Lia Dostlieva, acquired with the generous support from Art Friends Merseyside.

New Faces, New Focus is part of Going Places, an Art Fund programme made possible with major support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and The Julia Rausing Trust, with additional support from a generous group of trusts, foundations and individuals.

Images by Rob Battersby

15/10/2026

Work with us: Operations Manager (Job Share)

✅ Equivalent of 2 days a week (16 hours)
✅ Permanent contract
✅ Closing Date: Sunday 8 November, 23.59
✅ In-person Interviews: Monday 16 November

The Operations Manager (Job Share) divides the following responsibilities from the full-time position: overall day-to-day operational administration including human resources, building maintenance, health and safety and team coordination. Working closely with the Finance Manager, who has responsibility for the management accounts, and the Operations and Programme Assistant, you will also process day-to-day financial transactions.

Full job description and how to apply: https://openeye.org.uk/operations-manager-share/

We strongly encourage applications from all backgrounds, and we fully recognise the value of a team that is made up of diverse skills, experiences and abilities. We are particularly keen to hear from people of colour, and those living with disabilities.

13/10/2026

New exhibition: exploring the role that nature and creativity can play in healing from trauma, particularly in the context of male violence and abuse against women and girls.

❤️‍🩹 Fractured Landscapes and how we heal
📍Gallery 3 (upstairs)
📩 Launch: Thursday 5 November / 6pm – 8pm

RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1999780694891

New photographic work by Jaskirt Dhaliwal-Boora will feature alongside works created by women from four refuges across the country, each working with a lead artist to inspire and encourage them.

Katy Sadler has worked with Birmingham & Solihull Women’s Aid, Audrey Albert has worked with Chrysalis Centre, Liverpool, Lynn Weddle has worked with Safe in Sussex in Littlehampton and Lynda Laird has worked with Oasis in Gravesend and Dungeness.

Jaskirt Dhaliwal-Boora says: “The fabric of trauma alters your landscape and perception of the world. Traumatic experiences shift and change you; you move through the world differently to the version of you before it. The beauty still exists, but sometimes it’s through a new lens.

The seismic actions of male violence can be fatal, for many of the women involved in this work it has caused significant, life changing disruption. There is no quick fix to heal from trauma, it takes years of work, but we must start somewhere.”

The project has been supported by an Arts Council England Project Grant with further support from The New Art gallery Walsall, Open Eye Gallery, Photo Fringe and Peter Marlow Foundation.

08/10/2026

Currently showing: New Faces, New Focus: Stories We Share

A journey does not always begin with a ticket, a suitcase or leaving a place. Sometimes it begins with the loss of a familiar place, a change in life, a change in the body, a new responsibility, an old photograph, or a memory that suddenly returns. New Faces, New Focus grew from this understanding of journey; a human experience that can change the way we see ourselves, other people and the world around us.

Developed through socially engaged residencies in Liverpool City Region, Armagh and Aberdeenshire, the exhibition explores the theme of journeys, identity and home through the voices of local communities whose stories have not always been represented in museum collections – including those with lived experience of migration and displacement.

Created by Open Eye Gallery in partnership with Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council and Aberdeenshire Council’s Museums Service, New Faces, New Focus is part of Art Fund’s Going Places programme.

Going Places is made possible with major support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and The Julia Rausing Trust, with additional support from a generous group of trusts, foundations and individuals. Art Fund is continuing to fundraise to reach the full potential of the programme and make the biggest impact for museums and visitors across the UK.

Images by Rob Battersby

06/10/2026

OFFSHOOT Symposium: Cultivating connections – art, nature and place

Wednesday 28 October / 10am – 6.30pm / University of Salford

Hosted by the Royal Horticultural Society, University of Salford and Open Eye Gallery, this one-day symposium brings together artists, commissioners, academics, funders, cultural organisations, environmental partners and public sector leaders to explore how cross-sector collaboration can create ambitious, place-based cultural projects.

Attendance is free but booking is required: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/offshoot-symposium-tickets-2001236206365

Through panel discussions and facilitated roundtables, the symposium will explore the practicalities of commissioning artists beyond traditional cultural venues, developing long-term partnerships across the cultural, environmental and higher education sectors, and strengthening the evidence for the impact of creative work on people, place and nature.

The day is designed to encourage the exchange of ideas, experience and best practice, with a particular focus on sharing learning, championing long-term collaborative partnerships, broadening access to arts, heritage and nature, and building stronger connections between research, culture and the natural environment.

Whether you are developing commissions, shaping policy, undertaking research or delivering creative and environmental programmes, the symposium offers an opportunity to connect with peers, share expertise and contribute to the future of collaborative, place-based practice. The day will end with a drinks reception in the Yan Wang Preston: Memory Keepers exhibition at Salford Museum and Art Gallery, the final exhibition of the OFFSHOOT project.

01/10/2026

Seeking Sanctuary, Seeking Humanity: Atrium exhibition at Open Eye Gallery. On until 11 October, free, all welcome!

Seeking Sanctuary, Seeking Humanity looks at the stories of nine people seeking sanctuary in Europe. They left behind many different homes for many different reasons, but all carried a piece of that home with them: a ring, a photograph, a hat. Items they held onto through long, perilous journeys – including the dangerous sea crossings they made in the Central Mediterranean before being rescued by a Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) search-and-rescue ship.

While stories about migration in the news often focus on division and fear, these images show a different side of the story: one of resilience, hope, and humanity.

MSF is an international humanitarian organisation providing medical care in more than 70 countries. Since 1971, they have been treating people caught in complex crises and chronic healthcare emergencies around the world. These emergencies include the physical and mental health consequences faced by people seeking sanctuary – both as a result of dangerous journeys, but also the impacts of restrictive and inhumane migration policies.

18/09/2026

15/09/2026

In our Gallery 3 (upstairs), we will be launching Next Up-2026, an annual graduate exhibition of work from the MA in Socially Engaged Photography course, a joint programme Open Eye Gallery runs with the University of Salford.

Launch: 17 September / 6–8pm / Open Eye Gallery / free, all welcome!

RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1998093867545

This year, Next Up features:

📸 The Gathering: Stop the Clause by Helen Constantinou, in partnership with Homotopia Arts.

This work brings together twelve separate photographs taken at the beginning of the anti-Section 28 protest march on 30 April 1988.

📸 Without A Map: A Journey of Displacement, Identity, and Belonging by Yaqeen Amir

Photography, personal memory, and participant contributions explore how identity is preserved and reshaped through displacement.

📸 Print’s Not Dead by Ella Horniman

Collaborative zines made across different workshops in North Manchester, exploring class, identity, neurodivergence and creativity.

📸 Anti-Charity by Jack Smith

A dystopian but hopefully fun look at the environmental issues around the North West.

10/09/2026

Work with us!

Open Eye Gallery’s curator will embrace co-authorship as an approach to their practice. We are looking for someone who can work effectively with our arts, academic, community and other partners to create, share and champion photography.

Full job description and how to apply: https://openeye.org.uk/work-with-us-curator/

This varied, hands-on role provides opportunities to explore and experiment with curation and co-curation models. It also provides the chance to shape the next generation of practitioners, and the role of photography within people’s lives for the years to come.

2027 is our 50th anniversary, providing our new curator with the opportunity to work with multiple photography sector leaders and key partners in an exciting year for the organisation.

We strongly encourage applications from all backgrounds, and we fully recognise the value of a team that is made up of diverse skills, experiences and abilities. We are particularly keen to hear from people of colour, and those living with disabilities. We welcome applications from those with knowledge or experience of Eastern and Central European cultures.