Come join us at The Portico Library for an evening of spoken word and live music.
Standing Together: Ending Men’s Violence Against Women
Together, men and women can break the silence. Together, we can stand against injustice. Together, we can end men’s violence against women.
Are you a Teacher? Teaching Assistant? School Librarian? A Literacy or History Lead in a school or college? This event is for you.
HappeningInMCR and The Portico Library invites you to explore a Life Drawing class with a difference.
A handpicked collection of classical music from under-represented composers for small string ensembles.
It was such a pleasure to me to sit out in the open garden and paint.’
Holiday Sketches uses books from the Portico Collection and loaned art works to explore travel by a female artist, with her friend and husband, to an island, then in the Ottoman Empire, and the people she met and drew.
In this exploration of books in our historic collection, Jonathan Swinton looks at the beauty of science amongst some of the lesser-known books in our collection: from plants to harmony to computing.
We’re putting the club back in book club with an evening of readings, dancing, chatting, and more.
Join Libby Tempest for a cup of tea with Cranford. A bookclub but with a difference - just a few passages from a book to read & discuss.
Jennifer Reid returns to the Portico Library fresh from her New Zealand tour to perform songs from the Portico collection and perhaps share some of her new album before the official launch on 21 May.
Join contemporary storyteller Stephe Harrop for a creative writing workshop around stories and folk tales from the northern borders.
A bookclub but with a difference - just a few passages to read & discuss. This time it is nature passages from Charlotte Bronte's Shirley.
To celebrate the 250th anniversary of her birth, join the Portico Kitchen for an afternoon of thoughtful conversation and delectable bites centred on the work of Jane Austen.
HappeningInMCR and The Portico Library invites you to explore a Life Drawing class with a difference.
Inspired by original research and filled with colour and drama, The Roads to Rome is an exploration of two thousand years of history as seen through one the greatest imperial networks ever built.
In this workshop, Vashti will transport you through her autobiographical writing, videos, poetry, and photography to Jos Plateau in Nigeria
Make your own journal for going away to keep tickets, postcards etc in through traditional techniques.
We will make an A6 crossed structure notebook - a non-adhesive binding developed by Carmencho Arregui.
We will make a proper hardback book with a difference!
A panel discussion with clips of archive footage from documentaries about apartheid & the liberation of South Africa from the 1960s to 1990s
Why do we have different accents and where do they come from? Why do you say ‘tomayto’ & I say ‘tomahto’? And is one way of speaking better?
Create a green eco friendly book from scratch.
Come in. Sit down. Explore. The Unbuilt Room is part-performance, part-game... an interactive journey where the Portico creates memories.
Come in. Sit down. Explore. The Unbuilt Room is part-performance, part-game... an interactive journey where the Portico creates memories.
Come in. Sit down. Explore. The Unbuilt Room is part-performance, part-game... an interactive journey where the Portico creates memories.
Come in. Sit down. Explore. The Unbuilt Room is part-performance, part-game... an interactive journey where the Portico creates memories.
Come in. Sit down. Explore. The Unbuilt Room is part-performance, part-game... an interactive journey where the Portico creates memories.
Come in. Sit down. Explore. The Unbuilt Room is part-performance, part-game... an interactive journey where the Portico creates memories.
Stephe is a contemporary storyteller, creating and sharing intelligent, irreverent spoken-word with audiences across the UK, and beyond. Tangling together a new set of traditional tales, celebrating lives and loves transformed in northern lands, Northering Soul traces a twisting path through a mythic north that’s stranger than we think …
HappeningInMCR and The Portico Library invites you to explore a Life Drawing class with a difference.
Come join us at the Portico Library to participate in our Under Construction, the Portico Experiment pop up display. It’s a chance to find out where we have got to with our plans for Reuniting the Portico, find out about some of our history and collection.
How did Kate Greenway’s art reach and move generations of children? How do named literary prizes influence book sales and the publishing trade? Why does it seem that historical women are erased more often than men? This talk by historian and librarian, Dr Rose Roberto, will answer these questions.
Tour of the Streets around the Portico Library and the library
This display of artwork marks 30 years since the first democratic elections in South Africa. Norman Kaplan’s linocuts and prints speak to what life was like under the apartheid regime and remind us of the enduring relationship between art and protest.
The exhibition ‘All Shall Be Afforded Dignity’ celebrates 30 years of democracy in South Africa and offers a chance to reflect on the enduring question of ‘dignity for all’ in South Africa and beyond.
On International Women's Day, come and find out about the women in the pages of the Portico's books - the women who are almost forgotten.
Drop in and find out more about some of the books in our collection on World Book Day. Just pop in and first editions of Victorian classics - some known, some not so known - will be on display as well as some notable works in our collection.
A talk on the Kindertransport by Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines.
To mark LGBTQ+ History Month, we’ll be bringing some books out from our collection to explore Oscar Wilde, Sappho, Chevalière d'Éon and Jeanette Winterson.
A screening of Mat Lingard’s Mother Tongues film (16 minutes) about the Chinese community in Manchester from 1986
Join the Portico Kitchen team for a series of unique dining experiences in one of the city’s most extraordinary settings.
Join Seleena Laverne Daye for all things zines. Hear a potted history of zines, how they can be a tool for art and activism as well as being a fun way to express yourself creatively.
Live music, visuals & talks for a sensory exploration of the Portico with John Haycock (Kora, Clarinet + electronics) DBH (Fiddle, guitar) with support from 'Magpahi' Alison Cooper (voice, electronics)
Join us for an early Valentine's treat with folklore and tradition expert Dr Ceri Houlbrook, who shares her research on love-locks.
An introductory workshop for beginners to bookbinding.
Celebrate the Lunar New Year in with a Lion Dance cavorting amongst the books.
Barry Clark explores William Morris's deep and long relationship with Manchester through Morris' art, commercial activity and politics.
Leading psychologist and wellbeing expert, Lee Chambers shares his thirteen essential tools to help you unlock your potential.
Echoes invites audiences to engage with the collection of the Portico Library and the communities who are reclaiming the colonial narrative written and illustrated in the Library's books.
