Recollection: Memory & Time at The Portico Library

Creative Tourist

Visit now

Recollection: Memory & Time

The Portico Library, Chinatown
28 July-10 September 2017

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

Courtesy of The Portico Library
Book now

An exhibition of books, artefacts and new artworks by five North West artists at The Portico Library explores the theme of memory as part of the library’s reminiscence project for people with dementia and their carers. An associated programme of workshops, talks and performances from, among others, Asia Triennial Manchester Director Alnoor Mitha, Jameel Prize nominee Saima Rasheed, artist and educator Stacey Coughlin and the Alzheimer’s Society’s ‘Dementia Friends’ network, will also run alongside.

When describing the difference between ‘emotional’ memory and ‘data’ memory in those with dementia, the Alzheimer’s Society invokes the analogy of two bookcases, one sturdy and resilient, the other rickety and unstable. The Portico Library’s collection of 25,000 books is not only a memory bank of information, but a source of inspiration that stimulates emotional responses from visitors and researchers, opening myriad routes of contemplation and discovery. Recollections: Memory & Time presents starting points for thinking about what memory is and the role that it plays in our lives: where it comforts or troubles us; where it motivates us to preserve our world; where it helps to build culture and identity; where it brings us together; and where it gives form to our personal lives.

What's on at The Portico Library

Where to go near Recollection: Memory & Time 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.

Manchester
Restaurant
Lennox

Lennox is chef Nico Simeone’s new restaurant, serving dishes similar to his Six By Nico restaurant but with bigger, more ambitious ideas.

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.

What's on: Exhibitions

Until
ExhibitionsManchester
Manchester Open 2026 at HOME

Four editions in, the Manchester Open has become both a biennial survey of the region’s creative output and a genuine leveller for artistic talent.

Free entry

Culture Guides

Food and Drink in the North

Squeeze the most out of these final weeks of summer thanks to our mid-August guide to food and drink in Manchester and the North.

Exhibitions

Summer isn’t usually a high point in the exhibitions calendar, but Greater Manchester’s small galleries seem to have made a pact to change that this year.

Matt Spratt.
Music

Aphex Twin-endorsed electronica, an eight-hour organ marathon and the most exciting band in Ireland's current folk revival all feature this month.

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre

From intimate dramas to spectacular outdoor festivals, discover the North West performances worth adding to your diary.

Emily Lloyd-Saini as Grace in Space and Harrie Hayes as Lieutenant Strong in Horrible Science
Family things to do in the North

Whether you’re after storybook theatre, museum wanderings or illusion-bending play spaces, there’s plenty to keep curiosity ticking through winter and beyond.

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
Cinema in the North

There's no shortage of great films out at the moment, whether you're looking for the latest blockbuster, that hot arthouse flick fresh from Cannes or a cosy classic.