Cornerhouse facts for kids
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| Location | Oxford Street, Manchester, England |
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| Coordinates | 53°28′27.50″N 2°14′28″W / 53.4743056°N 2.24111°W |
| Opened | 1985 |
| Closed | 2015 |
Cornerhouse was a fantastic place in Manchester, England. It was a hub for movies and modern art. Located near Oxford Road Station, it was open from 1985 to 2015.
This cool centre had three floors of art galleries. It also featured three movie screens for films. You could find a bookshop, a bar, and a café bar there too.
Contents
Discovering the Cornerhouse Buildings
Cornerhouse was actually made up of two different buildings. The main building, at 70 Oxford Street, was built a long time ago. It started as a furniture store in the early 1900s. The Shaw family ran it until 1985.
The other building was designed by Peter Cummings. It was finished in 1934. This building first opened as a cinema called Tatler News Theatre in May 1935. It changed names many times before closing in 1981.
A Look at Cornerhouse History
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The idea for Cornerhouse came from a group called the Greater Manchester Visual Arts Trust. Many groups helped it open in 1985. These included the local councils and the British Film Institute.
The first director of Cornerhouse was Dewi Lewis. The centre officially opened on October 3, 1985. The very first movie shown there was Insignificance. Later, Dave Moutrey became the director in 1998.
Cornerhouse hosted some big events. It showed the UK premiere of Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs. It was also the first public art gallery in the UK to ask Damien Hirst to create art.
In 2012, it was announced that Cornerhouse would join with the Library Theatre Company. They formed a new arts centre called HOME. Both organisations moved to the new HOME building in 2015. After Cornerhouse closed, its cinema building was used by a group for a few months before being cleared.
What Cornerhouse Offered
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Cornerhouse was known for showing independent films. Its art galleries featured modern art. The visual arts program focused on new artists. It also helped established artists create new projects.
The art program showed works in many different styles. It often featured films and videos. These pieces had a strong connection to the cinema program.
Cornerhouse created many of its own art shows. It also produced guides for each exhibition. A common part of its art program was international group shows. These shows often looked at social and political issues.
In 2011, Cornerhouse started "Artist Film." This project helped produce and share longer films. The first film was Self Made by Gillian Wearing.
Movies at Cornerhouse
Cornerhouse showed about 30 different movies each month. The cinemas were open every day of the week. They had shows in the afternoon and evening. This meant almost 3,500 movie screenings every year.
The film program was very international. It showed new and exciting films. It also brought back older, overlooked movies. You could see classic films, short films, and documentaries. They even showed avant-garde films and foreign language movies.
Cornerhouse also hosted two film festivals each year. These were ¡Viva! Spanish and Latin American Film Festival and exposures.
Cornerhouse Books
In 1987, Dewi Lewis started Cornerhouse Publications. This was a publishing company for books. Their first book was A Green and Pleasant Land by John Davies.
Cornerhouse Publications won an award in 1990. It was named joint winner of The Sunday Times Small Publisher of The Year Award. The company kept publishing books until 1994. During that time, they published books by many famous international photographers.
