Made in Translation: Exhibition and book launch

Made in Translation
Exhibition and book launch
Thursday 27th April – Wednesday 3rd June 2017
The Portico Library, 57 Mosley St, Manchester, M2 3HY
Supported by The Zochonis Charitable Trust

Made in Translation is a collaborative project between craft practitioners and researchers in Manchester Metropolitan University’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities, and The Portico Library.

Manchester School of Art and the University’s Manchester Writing School have joined colleagues in Humanities to respond to a chosen text or texts. From Captain Cook's travels, to the Shaker movement, hot air ballooning and fern collecting, The Portico Library has provided a rich source for creative response. With new writing and objects, performances and photographs, the exhibition will not only be a presentation of works but also an artist book catalogue.

As part of the Library’s 2016/17 Reading and Writing Non-Fiction project, they have drawn on subject areas from natural history and meteorology to colonialism and the industrial revolution to expand their practices and develop new pieces across disciplines.

A new book, commissioned for the project by The Portico Library and designed by Jonathan Hitchen, will be published to coincide with the exhibition and will be available to buy throughout. Featuring all of the artists and writers’ new work and documentation of their research, it features photography by David Penny and introductions from project leader Alice Kettle, Portico Library curator James Moss and writing lecturer Matthew Carlin - with support from The Paper Library.

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NOTES TO EDITORS

The Project – Reading & Writing Non-Fiction

The Portico Library was born out of a group of Manchester’s Enlightenment thinkers’ desires to pool resources and share the knowledge, adventures and opportunities offered by their books and journals. Today, we continue their tradition of fulfilling the printed word’s potential, bringing the contents of the library’s collection to all the people of Manchester and beyond. Through the innovative interpretations of our resident artists, writers and researchers, our exhibitions and events offer contemporary perspectives on historic concerns: from journeys of scientific discovery to chronicles of social change; from details of the natural world to reflections on the human condition, and from colonialism’s conflicts to revolutions in technology, industry and education. Manchester Metropolitan’s newly combined Arts and Humanities Faculty have embraced the invitation to explore The Portico Library’s collection, working collaboratively across disciplines for the last twelve months to develop new works in object, image and text that respond to the library’s Zochonis Charitable Trust funded project Reading & Writing Non-Fiction.

The Portico Library

The Portico Library is a 211-year-old independent subscription library and exhibitions space in Manchester city centre. Still housed in its original purpose-built venue on Mosley Sreet, it is now open free to the public six days a week for an eclectic calendar of exhibitions and events, complementing the unique collection of books, archives and illustrations spanning over 450 years. Previously a members’ only institution with associates including John Dalton, Peter Mark Roget, Elizabeth Gaskell, Val McDermid and Eric Cantona, all visitors can now enjoy a meal or drink in the gallery cafe from Monday to Saturday and participate in diverse outreach and engagement programmes including the prestigious biennial Portico Prizes for Literature and Sadie Massey Awards for Young Readers and Writers.

James Moss, Exhibitions Curator at The Portico Library, said: “It’s been a privilege to watch the Crafts Research Group’s new commissions for The Portico Library develop, the contributors’ wide-ranging and curious researches taking in everything from the history of the Shakers and Captain Cook’s travels to nature printing, hot air ballooning, amoebas and witch trials. Their interpretations remind us that reading and writing are not only things we do with our eyes and with our hands, but with our minds, our hearts, and our imagination.”