What is it to read? What is it to write? What is a living collection?
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 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 provided a rich source for creative responses. With new writing and objects, performances and photographs, Made In Translation was not only a presentation of works but also an artist book catalogue.
As part of The Portico Library 2016/17 Reading & Writing Non-Fiction project, supported by The Zochonis Charitable Trust, the artists and writers in Made In Translation drew upon subject areas from natural history and meteorology to colonialism and the industrial revolution to expand their practices and develop new pieces across disciplines. An accompanying artists' book, designed by The Modernist magazine’s Jonathan Hitchen, was published to coincide with the exhibition and remains available to buy from the library. 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.
