Manchester: Life Under Lockdown

PLEASE NOTE – THIS IS AN ONLINE EXHIBITION

Art and Design students and staff at The Manchester College take over Manchester Libraries Instagram account in this online exhibition of work produced during lockdown…

Manchester: Life Under Lockdown documents students’ creative experiences during lockdown and reveal the importance of everyday things, family, pets, gardens and creativity. This photographic exhibition records personal, intimate responses to the crisis and are a fascinating record of these strange and unusual times. The images reflect a range of moving human emotions, situations and settings, from the tranquillity of traffic-less streets to family bonding, connections with nature, loneliness and heightened creativity.

The Instagram takeover replaces a planned week-long display of work at Manchester Central Library and starts on Monday 15 June, initially for the whole week.  A new set of images will be added to Instagram each day. For a taster of the images, scroll the image carousel above.

To view many more images and much more detail and interpretation visit: www.instagram.com/manclib_archives

Maria Foran, HOD for Art and Design at The Manchester College, said:

“Though College campuses have been closed during lockdown, our students have still been incredibly busy and creative. Their images are a living breathing document of this strange and challenging time in our history“.

Manchester City Council’s Executive Member for Skills, Culture and Leisure, Councillor Luthfur Rahman, said:

“Manchester College students have responded to the coronavirus pandemic by creating a series of emotional and personal images to document their experiences of what it has been like to live through these difficult times in our city.  It’s really inspiring to see the College and our libraries team finding ways to work in partnership during the pandemic“.

Thank you to students and staff at The Manchester College for helping to make this digital exhibition happen!

To make a donation to Manchester Central Library Development Trust to support the future of our cultural and educational programme, please click here