Wolfson Reading Room

Manchester Central Library is celebrating ten years since its major transformation, and 90 years since its grand opening by King George V on 17 July 1934. This display in the Wolfson Reading Room celebrates it's many achievements and successes over the last ten years. As the ‘jewel in the crown’ of Manchester’s libraries, and one […]

Foundation Art and Design Students from The Manchester College have brought the Art School’s ethos of research to the heart of our iconic Wolfson Reading Room. Each student has developed a personal body of work which has initially been inspired by one of the books from Central Library. The boards exhibited are an insight into […]

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 […]

In 1967 the law in England and Wales changed to partially decriminalise homosexual acts between men in private. This was followed by further legislation relating to the age of consent, the role of LGBTQ+ people in the armed forces, improved partnership, inheritance, and adoption rights, that have positively affected the lives of LGBTQ+ people. However, […]

The LGBT+ Centre (previously known as The Gay Centre) is located on Sidney Street, off Oxford Road and is the longest continuously running LGBT+ Community Centre in the UK.  ‘Documenting Demolition’ is a photographic exhibition of the Centre’s final months before the groups moved out and the building was demolished to make way for a […]

Foundation Art and Design Students from The Manchester College have brought the Art School’s ethos of research to the iconic circular reading room with a series of stunning works. Each exhibited board is an insight in to personal research and subject matter, produced in traditional messy art school rooms where students become inspired and have […]

For those who are to come presents the diverse faces and colours of Amazonia. The exhibition was first shown at COP26 and is now in Manchester for the first time as part of the festival. Curated by Eduardo Carvalho and Vanessa Gabriel–Robinson the exhibition presents photographs from three influential photographers that show the different Amazonias […]

The exhibition tells the story of the Together Trust’s 150-year history in Manchester and the north west. It charts the development of this disability charity from its origins as a 12-bed homeless boys’ refuge in Manchester city centre, to an organisation championing and caring for thousands of people in the region today. The exhibition features […]

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 […]

Students from The Manchester College’s UAL Diploma in Foundation Studies Art and Design were given random Dewey numbers (the most widely used method for classifying books in libraries) from Central Library’s collection. Their brief was to use the book as a starting point to develop a body of research, work and outcomes in response to […]

What’s it like to be sixteen years old now? In this exhibition, leading contemporary photographers join forces to present multimedia project, Sixteen, exploring the dreams, hopes and fears of sixteen-year olds across the UK. Photographer Craig Easton conceived this ambitious project following his engagement with sixteen-year olds at the time of the Scottish Referendum. It was the first, and as […]