Manchester’s Newest Free Exhibition Challenging The Status Quo
The Portico Library sits in the heart of Manchester, just minutes away from Piccadilly Gardens, it has been here for over 200 years and is an integral part of the history of this city.
It is currently running an exhibition which is free for the public to enter called “In the Margins”. This showcase will run from the 8th of April to the 27th June and is located within the main hall of the library.
In the Margins is designed to allow the public to share their ideas on how to make the library more representative of all people, as the founding 400 members of the Portico in 1806 wanted books depicting life all over the world, and often the only access to literature about these far off places would be through books written from the English perspective.
Therefore, In the Margins showcases books that show all walks of life, but from their own perspective. There are ground-breaking books accounting life as a trans person, books accounting disability and other under-represented groups of people
I spoke to Apapat Jai-in Glynn, the Engagement and volunteer coordinator for the Portico about the importance of this exhibition and they said “In the Margins not only discusses what the Library holds in the collection but how we can imagine it as a tool to further use for education, art, research and more.”
They continued by stating “the voices of people who were excluded in this space before when the Library was established — are now at the centre of the room, speaking loudly, speaking to you all.
It is an exhibition which invites everyone to think about the future of the historic books collection and how we will deal with them now and in the future”. Asking the question “How are we going to proceed with the history behind without abandoning the truths and embracing the future?”
The Portico is one of the cities' hidden gems, only a two minute walk from Piccadilly Gardens In Central Manchester. In this video I will show you the walk to the Portico from there, and show you around the inside of the exhibition whilst listening to one of the Libraries’ historians Dr Debbie Challis talk about the importance of this exhibition.
If you are interested in checking out your local library and you live in Manchester, then check out this interactive map to see where your closest is.
Libraries are a crucial part of towns and cities all over the UK, but they are being underfunded and forgotten about now more than ever. In the last decade over 800 libraries have closed in the UK, a fifth of the UK’s total.
During the COVID pandemic home schooling became a necessity for a while, and many families of low income will have had to rely on a library for educational resources and internet access.
For more information on the Portico and their exhibition please check out their website https://www.theportico.org.uk/ .
