What's on

The Prostate Gap – Virtual Exhibition

Online

The power of photography has been employed to create a direct exploration and challenge to the public’s understanding of prostate cancer within the marginalised communities. This exhibition, The Prostate Gap, postponed last year at Central Library due to the Covid pandemic, has been transformed in to a virtual exhibition. It intends to provide an impetus […]

Reds & K 1000 – Exhibition

First Floor Display Cases

‘Reds’ Andrew Redmond met documentary photographer Karin Albinsson after completing a prison sentence. When ‘Reds’ told Karin of the 1,000 photos he had taken and lost six years ago, this project was born. During the last couple of years, they have met up regularly to retake the photos lost. Reds has spent most of his […]

Festival of Libraries – Sunday Funday

Celebrate the Festival of Libraries with a special Sunday opening at Central Library. There will be a special mix of crafts and performance plus a chance to meet some of you favourite characters. Suitable for families with children under the age of 12. Please note that this will be a specially socially distanced event so pre-booking […]

I Love You Too

Wolfson Reading Room

Kemang Wa Lehulere collaborates with 11 Manchester writers and over 100 residents of the city to create a surprising collection of love letters – a new book for Central Library South African artist Kemang Wa Lehulere spent MIF19 in residence in Manchester’s network of libraries – and two years on, we’re now presenting I Love You […]

Hamdel Ensemble Concert

Performance Space

See a free LIVE gig by Iranian maestro musician Seyed Ali Jaberi and the Hamdel Ensemble on Saturday 17 July with two COVID safe repeated concerts at 2pm or 3.30pm. Fans of world music get - at last - an opportunity to hear global music which is extremely limited due to the restrictions on international […]

Northern Publishers Fair

Performance Space

Ten cracking northern publishers serving up bookish goodness at the Northern Publishers' Fair! Come see what these innovative Northern Publishers have to offer and celebrate the North after, what we will all agree, has been a hard year for independent publishing! Ask our lovely publishers for their recommendations :) Publishers announced in the following weeks […]

Behind Closed Doors

Lower Ground Floor Exhibition Space

Behind Closed Doors is a photographic exhibition featuring life within an Intensive Care Unit at the height of the pandemic. The photo’s were taken by Petro Bekker who volunteered to go back and work in the ICU at the start of the pandemic.  Petro re-joined her colleagues, where she had been a Senior Sister and […]

Thank You Manchester Weekender

As part of the Thank You Manchester Weekender, Central Library will play host to an interactive musical extravaganza.  There will be the opportunity to try your hand at playing one of the many instruments from the library’s collection and listen to the Northern Chamber Orchestra perform.  Don't miss out on the Hip Hop archive exhibition […]

Queering the North

Performance Space

The OUTing the Past International Festival of LGBT+ History (est. Manchester in 2005) has teamed up with the Museum of Free Derry to create the first retrospective showcase of NI Queer Activism. A rare insight into the previously unacknowledged tenacious heroism of queer activism in Northern Ireland before, during and following “The Troubles”. The project […]