Reviews
Opening this month
From Damien Hirst's conceptual work to Ottavio Leoni's baroque portraits, Geraldine Kendall selects the pick of November's new exhibitions
Books: Nature and Culture: Objects, Disciplines and the Manchester Museum
Timothy Mason is impressed by a very readable history of Manchester Museum
Origins Gallery, Stockport Story Museum, Stockport
Geraldine Kendall visits a revamped gallery that tells the story of Stockport's origins, but underplays its trump card
All Aboard: Stories of War at Sea, Imperial War Museum North, Salford
Mark Suggitt thinks this exhibition on life at sea during wartime engages visitors, despite a couple of missed opportunities
Opening this month
Geraldine Kendall selects the pick of October's new exhibitions in the north-west to coincide with the Museums Association's conference in Manchester
Industrial Revolutionaries: People Who Shaped the Modern World, Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston
A strong narrative and good design make this exhibition a success, although Sharon Heal wanted to see a little more passion
Ceramics Gallery, Burton Art Gallery & Museum, Bideford, Devon
Peter Mason on how this Devon museum has made the most of its nationally important collection of slipware ceramics
Opening this month
The messiah of psychedelic rock at Handel House Museum and vintage dust at Oxford: Geraldine Kendall picks her choice of August's new exhibitions
Leighton House, Holland Park, London
Sara Selwood is wowed by the elaborate restoration of the former home and studio of artist Lord Leighton
Market Hall, Warwick
Warwickshire Museum Service has made a small budget go a long way at its museum based at Market Hall, writes Maria Blyzinsky