Tony Wilson Archive X SMOLENSKY
Tony Wilson Archive teams up with Smolensky Gallery for first ever public gallery exhibition with special edition prints released to celebrate
What is the Tony Wilson Archive
The Tony Wilson Archive (TWA) is a collection of documents, ephemera, and personal items kept by Tony Wilson throughout his life. From his early years in Manchester to Cambridge University, Granada TV, Factory Records, The Haçienda, and the Madchester explosion — the archive captures the story of a man who helped shape British music and culture.
Preserved for years at the Museum of Science and Industry, the archive has now found a permanent home at the John Rylands Library, where it’s accessible to the public as a cultural resource for Manchester. TWA exists to open up this material to a wider audience — not just to study, but to experience.
Run by Oli Wilson, Tony’s son, TWA is a deeply personal project driven by a desire to share his father’s creative world. Limited collections and collaborations will be released throughout the year — reproductions, prints, and new works that reflect Tony’s ethos: working with local artists (for example DR ME from Islington Mill), using high-quality materials, and keeping everything made in Manchester or Salford. This is for the collectors, the fans, and the city that started it all.
About Tony Wilson
It’s near impossible to have a conversation about the history of Manchester’s music culture without one man and his impact on the city coming into the conversation, legendary broadcaster and co-founder of Factory Records, Tony Wilson.
Joy Division, Happy Mondays, New Order and the Haçienda Nightclub are just some of the Manchester icons Tony Wilson aka ‘Mr Manchester’ played a part in creating.
Having been preserved and catalogued in museum vaults for the last nearly 20 years the Wilson family, led by Tony's son Oliver, are proudly partnering with Smolensky Gallery to host the first public exhibition held by the Tony Wilson Archive of his works.
The immersive exhibition curated by Smolensky Gallery will feature an intimate collection of personal letters, photography, memorabilia and artwork, exploring Wilson’s impact on music, design and culture in Manchester
A collection of memorabilia stored in the attic of Tony Wilson’s house, and found by his son: tracking Tony's life. The archive is a way of making Tony Wilson’s memorabilia more accessible as a source of Manchester’s culture. For years the Museum of Science and Industry kept it safe, then transferred to John Rylands Library.
The Archive includes handwritten notes, Factory release budgets, a Haçienda bouncer beanie, and offbeat ads, posters Tony had created for The Human League, Echo and the Bunnymen and Joy Division, and a screenprinted document wallet that contains all of the Risograph creations.
Since 2010, Manchester-based design studio DR.ME (Ryan Doyle & Mark Edwards) has been known for its bold, experimental style. Recognized by the V&A Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, DR.ME’s work embodies the creative ethos that Tony Wilson championed.
Designed in-collaboration with Manchester-based artists DR.ME, The Tony Wilson Archive embodies the Wilson ethos with all works made in Manchester by local artists.
Featured Works
● 10-piece FAC Collection risograph print series – Limited edition, handcrafted in Manchester, to be released over 10 months.
● Archival artefacts – Original ephemera, letters, and memorabilia from Factory Records, The Haçienda, and beyond
● Collaborations with local creatives – New editions produced with DR.ME and other Manchester-based artists
NEW
Tony Wilson Archive (TWA), What Are You Searching For Man, 1979/2025
- Regular
- from £ 90.00
- Sale
- from £ 90.00
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