What is it to read? What is it to write? What is a living collection?
Made in Translation was a collaborative project between craft practitioners and researchers in Manchester Metropolitan University’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities, and The Portico Library.
The Portico Library’s collection of books provided a rich source of inspiration for new works in material, visual, and written form. Working in partnerships, a dialogue and exchange of ideas took place in which original texts were translated into an assemblage of new conversations in text, performance, objects, and other visual artefacts. The interpretations offered contemporary perspectives on the historical concerns on The Portico Library’s shelves: from journeys of scientific discovery to chronicles of social change; from details of the natural world to reflections on human conditions; and from the conflicts of colonialism to revolutions in technology, industry, and education.
The artists and writers 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. 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.
Taking part; Louise Adkins & Nikolai Duffy, Kirsteen Aubrey & Alice Kettle, Lucy Biggs & Conrad Williams, Sian Bonnell & Nicholas Royle, Eleanor Byrne & Joe McCullagh, David Cooper & Lesley Raven, Stephen Dixon & Berthold Schoene, Paul Evans, Teresa Holtom & Hazel Jones, Rachel Genn & Amanda Ravetz, Sharon Handley & Jonathan Hitchen, Edmund Keefe & David Penny, Desdemona McCannon & Eleanor Mulhearn, Ian McCullough, Jane McKeating & Helen Mort, Matthew Carlin