River Stories was exhibited at Manchester Histories Hub, Manchester Central Library, from February to March 2026 – bringing together the work of Many Hands Craft Collective and artists Fiona Brehony and Liz Wewiora, who since 2024 had been exploring their collective relationship to the River Irk, a waterway that runs throughout North Manchester.

The exhibition drew on the group’s shared conversations about the Irk’s ever-shifting landscape – its industrial past, personal memories of the river, and the ways in which regeneration and gentrification are reshaping access to and experience of the water. With issues of blocked natural light, diminishing rights of way, and the pressures of urban development at its heart, the exhibition invited visitors to consider their own relationship to Manchester’s blue spaces and their future aspirations for them.

Brehony’s contribution centred on collaborative work made with Many Hands Craft Collective over the preceding two years. Working through clay and natural materials from the river, poetry sessions, and sound recordings, the project began by asking what humans and rivers have in common. From these conversations emerged a poetic city symphony film weaving together the collective’s voices, underwater recordings, and collectively written poetry — also displayed on fabric in the space. Alongside this, a durational cyanotype made at HMG Paints recorded the factory’s atmosphere through sunlight and rainwater, leading to a short film about the site, and the sound piece Two Worlds – made with Many Hands and composer Simon Knighton – layered field recordings to reveal the River Irk as organic machine: natural ecosystem and lively industrial archive.

Brehony also made a series of short films about the River Irk and urban regeneration, which will be distributed to the North West Film Archive’s database.

A series of public workshops accompanied the exhibition, including a zine-making session using archival materials from HMG Paints and Manchester Library’s collections, and a deep listening and creative writing workshop drawing on Two Worlds, in collaboration with writer, Joe Shute. Partners included Manchester Histories, Manchester Central Library, HMG Paints, University of Salford, Open Eye Gallery, and High Peak Community Arts.