EXHIBITION- Ghosts of Winterhill @ Urbis

The Winterhill transmission station has been responsible for broadcasting to the homes of the North West since Granada launched in 1956.  To coincide with the Digital switch over the exhibition was put together as a celebration of TV in the Manchester region. Phil Griffin (co-curator) spoke heart-warmingly of this project reaching out to popular culture, creative industries and communities.

Ghosts may not seem the right title for a success story, but it somehow fits.  Walking through the entrance people are faced with familiar images of televised moments and stars, creating a cosy atmosphere and a remembrance of past times. Sitting rooms are set up for each decade, starting with the BBC’s first broadcast in 1953, Queen Elizabeth’s II coronation. The rooms progress from small black and white box sets to flat wide screens.  Images tell of revolutionary moment like the Sex Pistols first appearance on TV in the ’70s (in Rusholme!) to the comedies of today such as Shameless.

Of course there are lots of Corrie references, as the first British soap and obviously because it is still the most successful show run by Granada.  

However the feeling of nostalgia starts to fade when entering the sets of the ’90s and ’00s.  Fewer images are displayed; fewer explorations of programmes are present.  It is interesting to see the visual break in terrestrial success.  

Walking around you would be forgiven for mistaking the exhibition as a memorial.  Concern is apparent for the move forward.  Will it live up to the past 60 years portrayed in Ghosts of Winterhill?  The last Future Sitting Room supports the quote, “I will be following links, not searching channels,” by the creator of the World Wide Web. Biased as he is, something rings true.  After all how many of us use the internet to watch TV?

Ghosts of Winterhill presents the success of early broadcasting and poses the question of whether the new Media City UK will be able to resurrect the television Media in Manchester to an even better standard. All of us will be waiting to see if Media City in Manchester can continue to entertain us on our television in our own sitting rooms…

Until April 2010