An exhibition tracing Richard Cobden’s life, career and legacy Richard Cobden (1804-1865) is usually remembered as leader of the Anti-Corn Law League, which campaigned for free trade in food during the ‘hungry forties’, but his public career embraced far more. He was a supporter of educational reform, press freedom, and extension of the vote. He […]
Exhibition to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Ugandan Expulsion, highlighting the experience of British Ugandan Asians and the many volunteers who helped them. In August 1972, Ugandan President Idi Amin ordered the country’s Indian and Pakistani communities to leave within 90 days. Many of the displaced were British citizens and, as a result, around […]
Jill Furmanovsky : Photographing the Invisible For the last 50 years, Jill Furmanovsky has been photographing music’s greatest icons. Now for the first time, Jill has created a fascinating retrospective featuring some of her most famous works as well as hidden gems from her extensive archive. Guest curated by Noel Gallagher and photo-historian Gail Buckland, […]
This exhibition celebrates the Polish-British cooperation in breaking the Enigma code, marking the 80th anniversary of Polish codebreakers coming to the UK. The Enigma code was a nightmare for secret services all over the world. It was an unbreakable code granting Germany a tremendous military advantage. 'Enigma' means puzzle or secret in Greek. This is […]
Join Jill in this special talk with Professor Jon Savage from the British Pop Archive, talking archives, curating Photographing the Invisible and the difficulty of choosing what to leave out. Professor of Popular Culture at the University of Manchester, Jon Savage is is an award winning author and film writer. His books include England's Dreaming: […]
The perfect party to make your Eurovision week go with a boom bang a bang! Join the dream diva, Angel Delight, for an evening of singalongs, card games, bongo bingo, music quizzes and lots of surprises, all with an added Eurovision sparkle! Doors open at 7.30pm. Bar will be open all evening. Over 18's only.
In celebration of her first retrospective at Manchester Central Library, music photographer Jill Furmanovsky is joined by long-term friend and former head of music at the BBC Mark Cooper comparing stories of their life in the music industry. Mark Cooper began his career as a music journalist in the pages of Record Mirror, Q and […]
MAFCFEST presents a creative session with Aysha on silk painting! In this workshop, motifs and designs from The Silk Road ( Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkey etc) will be used to produce a Silk Painting. Aysha will demonstrate how to apply the design to the Silk fabric from a drawing, followed by techniques of filling in with […]
Learn how to use local maps, street directories, censuses and various other archives to identify a local person - Free - please drop in Other Local Community History Month events include: 1921 Census talk by Leslie Turner (free) - Friday 26 May, 11am - Book your place here Handling session - Rates and Electoral Registers […]
Leon the Pig Farmer is a Manchester-based Yorkshire beat poet. An ex-serviceman who began writing verse to help him deal with a PTSD diagnosis, he has an assertive take on spoken word with fast firing rhythmic verse and a sharp outlook on both his mental health recovery, social observation and political imbalance. Leon has two […]
PLEASE NOTE: Tickets for this event are on a “pay what you can” basis.They range from £2 – £8 plus the Eventbrite booking fee. All tickets allow the same access to the event. This is a just a pricing system to accommodate for individual financial circumstances. Signed books will be available to purchase after […]
Manchester Town Hall has been closed since January 2018 for an extensive restoration programme that will repair and upgrade the building to modern standards. The work will include the conservation of many heritage features. Our series of Heritage Lectures aims to shine a light on some of the fascinating work that’s been going on behind […]
Manchester Town Hall has been closed since January 2018 for an extensive restoration programme that will repair and upgrade the building to modern standards. The work will include the conservation of many heritage features. Our series of Heritage Lectures aims to shine a light on some of the fascinating work that’s been going on behind […]
Manchester Libraries and Queer Lit Bookshop present An Evening with TJ Klune. Meet bestselling author TJ Klune for a captivating discussion about his writing process and latest works, followed by a Q&A and book signing. Join us for a book author event featuring the talented TJ Klune, bestselling author of "The House in the Cerulean […]
While photographing refugees in France, Belgium, Austria, and Sweden in 2018, Alan Gignoux noticed that a recurring theme among them was the gradual erosion of self, resulting from prolonged periods of living at the fringes of society. Similarly, he heard many of them talk of being invisible both to the immigration bureaucracies and to the […]
Join us for this live performance by an experienced folk musician who draws inspiration from local and family history. Michael Burns’ repertoire incorporates music from a wide timespan and he is interested in music pertaining to social commentary and how it relates to the present day. Click on the links to hear some of Michael's […]
From dedicated performance spaces to stairwells, screens, nooks and domes, Central Library might directly inspire your next event or intervention. Contact us to arrange a tour.
