Litmus (Cottonopolis Collective) x Human Natures Exhibition at Manchester Museum

Are we losing our connection with nature? Modern life can make it easy to forget people are part of the natural world and that the actions we take can have impacts that we don’t even see.

Many of us buy what we need rather than growing or making it ourselves. This makes it harder to notice the complex relationships we have developed with the plants, animals and landscapes on which we depend.

By seeing the planet as a resource rather than an interconnected system we live within, we have contributed to global environmental change.

Using objects from the Museum’s natural history collection, Human Natures explores stories of overconsumption and overexploitation of animals, plants and minerals. It looks at the consequences this has for climate, biodiversity and people but it also shares inspiring examples of individuals and organisations taking action to live in balance with nature.

Human Natures is a MAGNET partnership exhibition, with Art Fund support and supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. 

The exhibition has grown from an experimental partnership between five museums and museum services across England, who have shaped the exhibition’s design and content. Each host venue will adapt the exhibition to reflect their unique context and location, highlighting local stories, collections and action. The exhibition tour began in Derby in 2025, and will visit Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Norwich and London between 2026 and 2028.