What is it like in 2125? Is it full of people? Does it get busy? I was asking because right now it is chaos. Do you still have lizards? Do you want my favourite recipe to make for dinner? I can show you. Here.

Showing at Manchester Art Gallery in 2025 and again in 2125, An Inheritance brings together a sprawling collection of knowledge, advice, jokes, memories and objects curated by local primary school children. Explore the inheritance – and contribute some knowledge or advice of your own – before it’s locked away for 100 years.

The collection has been assembled by over 500 primary school children from across every borough of Greater Manchester. Working with artists Andy Field, Beckie Darlington and Rosabel Tan, these young people have been thinking about Manchester 100 years from now and what they can leave behind for its children – from a jar of honey (in case there are no bees in 2125) to advice on how to make friends, and everything in between.

To make sure the inheritance is passed down, key representatives from the city will attend a special ceremony where they will sign an oath written by the children promising to safeguard the collection for the next 100 years. At the end of Summer 2025, the inheritance will be carefully stored away until it’s ready to be unearthed again and given to the future children of Manchester.

Both a gift and a tribute to some of the city’s youngest inhabitants, An Inheritance is an invitation to think about the world we live in now, the legacy we leave behind and what it means to be a good ancestor.