Cornerhouse

Cornerhouse was conceived by the Greater Manchester Visual Arts Trust, chaired by Sir Bob Scott. It opened with the support of the then Greater Manchester County Council and Manchester City Council, North West Arts Association (now part of Arts Council England) and the British Film Institute. Cornerhouse's first director was Dewi Lewis, who had previously been director of Bury Metro Arts. The building opened on 3 October 1985. The first film screened (on 18 October) was Nic Roeg's Insignificance. Dave Moutrey was director and CEO from 1998 until 2024. Since its inception, Cornerhouse has hosted the UK premiere of Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and was the first UK public gallery to…

Cornerhouse occupied two buildings. The main building, 70 Oxford Street, was built for John Shaw in the early 1900s and was a furniture store run by the family until it closed in 1985. The building on the other side of the approach to Oxford Road station was designed by Peter Cummings, was completed in 1934 and opened as a cinema, Tatler News Theatre, in May 1935.