BiblioTECH: from bookshelf to big data at The Portico Library

Sara Jaspan, Exhibitions Editor
Dan Hays, Spring Snow, 2009. BIBLIOTECH: from bookshelf to big data at The Portico Library, Manchester

BiblioTECH: from bookshelf to big data at The Portico Library, Chinatown 6 July — 18 August 2018 Entrance is free

Do you prefer to hold a Kindle in your hands or a book? It’s a simple question yet divides opinion. Some relish the ability to carry near-limitless quantities of reading material around with them, stored on a device no larger than a thin paperback. While others flinch in horror at the idea of ditching the inviting physicality of curling pages and the welcome break from electronic screens.

Indeed, the majority of the words we consume on a day-to-day basis (including these) are now of the pixelated variety – a massive shift in reading habits that has occurred over a remarkably short period of time. As radical as this may seem, however, such change could doubtlessly not have happened without Johannes Gutenberg’s groundbreaking invention of the mechanical printing press over five centuries ago – a move which revolutionised access to literature of all kinds, and with it, the circulation of information and ideas. The subsequent development of libraries and global publishing made it possible for millions of people to access texts from all over the world – as has the World Wide Web today.

Taking these parallel, time-separated yet intimately-bound developments as its starting point, The Portico Library presents BiblioTECH: From bookshelf to big data – an exhibition featuring the work of three artists created in response to the opportunities and challenges that arise when we adapt to new technological formats for storing and sharing information. With vast archives rapidly becoming digitised and ‘remote access’ gaining pace as a popular way of ‘visiting’ a library’s collection; what role will books play in the future, as the rate of innovation continues to propel forwards.

BiblioTECH will feature new work by Jane Lawson that explores the era-defining profusion of fake-news and post-truths, an immersive forest of hand-cut and 3D printed miniature trees by Claire Tindale that comments on the social media and digital network environments in which we now reside, and Dan Hays’ oil paintings of digital image files and display screens.

BiblioTECH: from bookshelf to big data at The Portico Library, Chinatown 6 July — 18 August 2018 Entrance is free

What's on at The Portico Library

Where to go near BiblioTECH: from bookshelf to big data at The Portico Library

City Centre
Restaurant
Blinker

Elegant cocktail bar in the centre of Manchester, with a relaxed atmosphere and wonderfully friendly staff.

moose coffee manchester creative tourist
Manchester
Café or Coffee Shop
Moose Coffee Manchester

Moose Coffee celebrates ‘the best meal of the day’ (brunch) in American style, with stack pancakes, potato hash, Huevos Rancheros and eggs any way. There’s always a queue.

Home-X
Manchester
Restaurant
Home-X

Home-X is the online spin-off of renowned Scottish-Italian chef Nico Simeone’s Six By Nico restaurant. This is geared around kit meals to cook at home.

Manchester
Restaurant
Pho Manchester

Pho does a fine line in pho, the noodle soup that’s a staple of Vietnamese street cuisine.

Manchester
Shop
Siam Smiles

Now based at the Great Northern, Siam Smiles is a food stop that’s hot on everyone’s lips.

Chinatown
Restaurant
Manchester Art Gallery Cafe

Summery bakes, seasonal salads and fresh light meals at Manchester Art Gallery’s in-house café, courtesy of highly-regarded Head Chef Matthew Taylor.

hunan chinese restaurant manchester
Chinatown
Restaurant
Hunan Restaurant

Hunan, a Chinese restaurant in Manchester’s Chinatown, may be a bit off the beaten track – but it’s all the better for that.

Salut Wines
Chinatown
Bar or Pub
Salut Wines

Salut wines pride themselves in offering “wider horizons beyond the safe choices.” With 42 wines by the glass and a regularly changing selection of bottles in their Enomatic wine preservation machines (or  “wine jukebox,” as they’re colloquially known), this is one of be best bars in Manchester for exploring new vintages.

City Centre
Restaurant
Jamie’s Italian Manchester

Jamie’s Italian is located in Edwin Lutyens’ soaringly elegant Midland Bank, one of the city’s treasures. The menu’s full of crowd-pleasing choices, with a huge selection of pastas, mains and bruschettas, and an appealing kids menu.The drinks range is broad and deep, with wine, beer and cocktails for all tastes and budgets.

What's on: Exhibitions

Wolf in Yellowstone
Until
ExhibitionsManchester
Wild at Manchester Museum

Manchester Museum explores the concept of ‘wild’ nature as a means of tackling the climate and biodiversity crisis in a new exhibition.

free entry

Culture Guides

NEXT: A Primer on Urban Painting production still
Cinema in the North

Street art, LGBTQ+ History Month, and the first film festivals of the year are amongst our cinema highlights this month.

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

Feminist farce, a magical circus show and Oldham Coliseum return with a brand-new off-site show. All in our latest theatre guide.

FKA TWIGS
Music in the North

Masters of minimalism, leftfield electronica and cutting edge pop. We bring you the lot in our latest live music round up.

The Super Duper Family Festival
Family things to do in the North

We might be past the holiday season, but Manchester and the North's arts and cultural calendar is still packed with brilliant events and activities for families

A painting of a young child being bathed in a sink of a 197s style kitchen. Around the sink are a rubber duck, a bottle of  washing up liquid, a jug, a kettle and a mug.
Exhibitions in the North

Galleries are racing to announce new exhibitions so check out our top picks, from art films and nostalgic paintings to Hockney's collages.