Open House

Open House is a project that connects life lived in front of the wallpaper with the 10,000 wall coverings looked after at the Whitworth, an art gallery in Manchester, UK. It includes an exhibition, an extensive events programme, a volunteer project, and a call out for your photographs and stories about wallpaper.

Wallpapers began arriving at the Whitworth in 1967 and today we house a collection of around 10,000 examples. Some of these are luxurious, beautiful, old and hand printed, but most are the cheap and cheerful output of factories that gave remnants to museums after ceasing production.

Until now we haven’t recorded the stories provoked by these patterns. In its heyday wallpaper saw inside it all: Law courts, pubs, manor houses, council flats, shopping, fights, meals, politics, parties, loneliness, housework, laughter, desire, bath-time, DIY, play, music, addiction, television, pets, rest, illness, fear, hunger, mess, grief, excess, prayer, death, boredom, and joy all muddied our views of the wallpaper. If we continue to clear these chaotic lives and losses out of the way, as museum practice is inclined to do, we lose the chance to tap into the democratic potential of a decorative surface that was in every type of interior.

Over the course of the project we gather your photographs and stories about the lives wallpapers have witnessed. Explore this website to find out more, see what has been contributed so far, and get involved!