Library Live

South Manchester Camera Club Exhibition
2025-10-13 08:00 - 2025-12-31 17:00 UTC | First Floor
South Manchester Camera Club 2025 Exhibition of Members’ Images.
SMCC welcomes everyone to visit Manchester Central library to view a wide selection of members’ images. Pictures have been captured across a wide section of our members representing their individual skill, technique and style. SMCC is an active, friendly and progressive photography club offering a wide range of speakers, outings and events.
The Club was formed in June 1952 by a group of friends in Didsbury, led by Fred Veal FRPS, FRSA, the Club’s first President. The aim of the Club was to encourage “good friendship through photography” which is now the Club’s motto. The club has a mentoring scheme for Club members by setting up small interest groups. These groups are each led by a couple of experienced leaders and cover Landscape, People, Urban/Street, Macro Photography, Astro Photography and a Basic Skills group.
Each group arranges its own practical outings and review sessions, where images are shared within the groups and constructive and supportive critique is given to help members improve their photography. Members can join as many groups as they want and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
For more information, please contact www.smcc.org.uk
Free – just drop in
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Architecture for the People - Exhibition
2025-11-07 - 2026-02-28 | First Floor Exhibition Hall
Architecture for the People
Manchester City Architect’s Department, 1902-2003
For 101 years, the City Architect’s Department in the Town Hall served the citizens and met diverse civic needs by designing hundreds of different municipal buildings. They ranged from grand airport terminals to the small public lavatories, from the high profile like the new Free Trade Hall to the hidden away but essential facilities like mortuaries.
For the first time, this exhibition presents a selection of the works delivered under the direction of the seven official City Architects spanning across the twentieth century. In the early days of the Department, Manchester Corporation controlled gas and electricity undertakings, most public transport, schools, police, fire and ambulance services, waste collection, parks and recreation, housing, libraries, crematoriums and more. Such responsibilities meant a need for new buildings and the upkeep of existing facilities. The City Architect’s Department designed and delivered these, changing the face of the city and its suburbs, providing thousands of new homes, and scores of schools, libraries, public baths, amongst a host of civic buildings. Using archival photographs, drawings and ephemera, the exhibition traces the Department and its buildings, showing how architectural commissions mirrored the constitution of the Corporation and the changing fortunes of the city.
Curated by Martin Dodge (University of Manchester) and Richard Brook (Lancaster University)
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Stroboscopic Synergy
2025-11-22 08:00 - 2025-12-13 17:00 | Henry Watson Music Library
Photographer Tracey Welch and five musicians from diverse musical backgrounds come together in an exploration of photography and music. A fascinating collaborative project and exhibition, inspiring new connections, shared experience and experimental composition.
In 2022, photography and music came together in the Stroboscopic Project, an exploration of photographic technique and musical inspiration. Such was its success, the project has continued to evolve and its latest incarnation, Stroboscopic Synergy is about to emerge, in the form of new visuals, cross genre musical composition and a documentary film. Un-Convention Manchester will be the first opportunity to view the latest still images from the project, featuring musicians Leonore Wheatley (vocals and synth), Inder Goldfinger (Tabla), Rich Westley (drums), Charlotte Cartwright (piano and vocals) and James Adrian Brown (guitar). The exhibition will then move to Manchester’s Central Library, where visitors will also get an insight into the stop motion style moving imagery and music.
Stroboscopic Synergy has once again attracted support from Arts Council England. Photographer Tracey Welch, who co-founded the project with drummer Rich Westley (Reverend and the Makers) feels this underlines the creative value of their latest collaboration:
“The artists involved in Stroboscopic Synergy are from really diverse musical backgrounds. The stop motion style of photography enables them to reflect on their performance in a really unique way. This, in
turn, inspires musical experimentation and an exchange of creative ideas. It has been really fascinating to document the process in film”. The collaboration culminated in a studio session where artists came together to develop and deliver a completely new, organic composition. “We’re excited to share the new, stroboscopic images in Manchester, alongside some of the music and some stop-motion style film. Like the musicians, I’m learning from the experience and inspired by the energy and creativity the project has generated.”
Free please drop in
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The Great Hall Exhibition
2025-11-26 08:00 - 2026-02-28 17:00 | Lower Ground Floor Exhibition Space
Manchester Town Hall closed in January 2018 and work then began on a labour of love: a once-in-a-lifetime chance to repair, protect and update this architectural masterpiece for future generations. The Great Hall is the Town Hall’s centrepiece. It includes a huge variety of conservation and restoration projects and is a great example of the work we’re doing throughout the building. Our approach to the unique elements of this space reflects the level of care needed for the whole project. This exhibition looks at just three details of the Great Hall to tell some of the story of the Our Town Hall project.

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Funny Stuff – Exhibition
2026-01-12 08:00 - 2026-02-28 17:00 | Ground Floor
A creative and humorous response to grief, memories and the stuff we accumulate, hoard and hate to let go, from Manchester comedy legend, Lipservice Theatre Company.
Free – just drop in.
Please make a donation to support our Library Live cultural programme at one of our cash or contactless donation boxes or online

Bridge of Sunflowers - Exhibition
2026-01-26 08:00 - 2026-02-27 17:00 | Ground Floor (Oculus Area)
Bridge of Sunflowers is composed of artwork by young Ukrainian artists from the city of Lviv. This unique collection explores the impacts of the ongoing conflict, as well as the hopes and dreams of those living through it.
Participants were supported by the Sunflower Dreams Project, which showcases the work of Ukrainian children in exhibitions across the European Union, the United Kingdom and North America. The project was created and is supported exclusively by a team of multinational volunteers.
Creative responses from young people in Manchester can be viewed alongside the artwork. These are the outcome of workshops run by creative arts charity Never Such Innocence (NSI), who give children and young people a voice on conflict. The workshops were led by expert practitioners – author Nik Perring and artist Alex Hinge. All of the work on display is responding to NSI’s international competition theme for 2025/26 – ‘In Someone Else’s Shoes’.
This exhibition is a collaboration between the Sunflower Dreams Project, Never Such Innocence and Manchester Libraries.
Free please drop in
Please make a donation to support our Library Live cultural programme at one of our cash or contactless donation boxes or online
