Dream FM: What do you dream of? at Manchester Central Library

Creative Tourist

Visit now

Dream FM: What do you dream of?

18 November-16 December 2021

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Book now

“Night falls and metropolis mirrors the cosmos. Destinies connected by light and dust send signals, alone, to one another. The city glitters: On Air.”

In August 2021, artists Danielle Swindells and Brit Seaton asked the people of Greater Manchester what they dream of. Directed to the automated voicemail system of fictional radio station Dream FM, members of the public picked up the phone and left their answers.

The sound work What do you dream of? brings together selected hotline musings of the vast metropolitan borough. Strange encounters during sleep, visions of change for a better world and personal tales of love and loss are among a constellation of intimate responses to the question, capturing an audio portrait of dreams spanning from simple and symbolic, to poetic and surreal.

What do you dream of? features an original score by Joshua Inyang and Joshua Tarelle, Space Afrika, which takes sonic cues from pre-digital airwaves, the DIY spirit of pirate radio and musical auras of Greater Manchester’s past and present.

Attend the in-person premiere of the broadcast on Thursday 18 November, 5.30-8pm at Manchester Central Library. What do you dream of? will also broadcast from www.dream-fm.com every night at 9.00pm from until Thurs 16 December.

The in-person event will be BSL Interpreted by Lizzie Wharton. Seating will be socially distanced and you’ll be politely encouraged to wear masks unless exempt. Tickets are free and limited – please cancel if you are unable to attend.

Dream FM

Accessibility

  • British Sign Language

Where to go near Dream FM: What do you dream of? at Manchester Central Library

St Peters Square Manchester
City Centre
St Peter’s Square

St Peter’s Square is a public space in Manchester – home to the city’s iconic library, town hall, Pankhurst statue, art gallery and famous Midland Hotel.

Manchester Art Gallery. Photo by Andrew Brooks
City Centre
Gallery
Manchester Art Gallery

The Charles Barry-designed, Grade I-listed Manchester Art Gallery is one of the city’s leading galleries and is back open for visitors once more.

Manchester
Restaurant
Ban Di Bul

Ban Di Bul is a longstanding Korean restaurant in the very centre of Manchester.

Chinatown
Hotel
The Alan

This high-end city-centre restaurant has an excellent afternoon tea option that more than matches up to the superb main menu.

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.

Manchester
Restaurant
Friska

Latest branch of Friska, the independent healthy fast food chain.

Manchester
Restaurant
Don Giovanni

Traditional Italian restaurant, serving everything from pizza to steak. All this in a large modern venue with floor-to-ceiling windows.

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.

City Centre
Tourist Attraction
Manchester Town Hall

Re-opening in 2024, Manchester Town Hall is a monument to Victorian Manchester’s ambition, and one of the city’s most-loved landmarks.

City Centre
Tourist Attraction
Albert Square

A public square in the heart of Manchester which plays hosts to festivals and major events. Home to the Albert Memorial and statues of Bishop James Fraser, John Bright, Oliver Heywood and William Ewart Gladstone.

What's on: Music

Film still
CinemaManchester
Faust: A German Folk Legend at RNCM

F. W. Murnau’s silent-era masterpiece Faust: A German Folk Legend gets the big screen treatment at the RNCM, with a live improvised organ score.

From £12.00
MusicManchester
Model/Actriz at Band on the Wall

Blending post-punk aggression with queer pop and industrial techno, New York’s Model/Actriz play Manchester in support of their second album, Pirouette.

Westside Cowboy Press Image
MusicLiverpool
Westside Cowboy at Future Yard

With a ballooning fanbase, a debut EP out in the wild, and an album surely around the corner, Westside Cowboy’s current tour feels like a big one.

From £13.20
MusicManchester
Manchester’s Christmas Gospel

Manchester’s Christmas Gospel sees Manchester and London’s finest gospel artists, including Wayne Ellington, Sharlene-Monique, and Matt Maijah.

MusicManchester
Heartworms at Band on the Wall

Pulling from gothic post punk and motorik menace, South London’s Heartworms brings her brilliant debut album to Manchester.

From £16.50

Culture Guides

Hofesh Shechter - Theatre of Dreams at Lowry
Theatre in the North

Picks this month include bold visual art, wondrous opera and cinematic dance - plus a touch of ghostly storytelling for the Halloween season.

A white mattress is burning in a black rocky landscape.
Exhibitions in the North

In galleries around the North this autumn, you'll find tactile sculptures, Treasures with a capital 'T' and plant magic.

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
Cinema in the North

It's busy month across the cinemas of the north as Halloween programming leads into two of the region's biggest film festivals.

Music in the North

From New York’s experimental underground to the most exciting sounds coming from local scenes, we're lining up a noisy autumn of gigs.

Poet Helen Mort.
Literature Events in the North

One to add to your TBR pile, our latest round-up is a bumper edition and features some amazing events in Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and beyond...