Art & Culture

New independent arts bar to open under the arches

53Two Bar will be a community hub by day and members' club by night to support and promote local creatives in Manchester.

Anna Willis Anna Willis - 23rd April 2021

A new independent arts venue will open below the arches at Manchester Central in May.

53Two Bar has been launched to support local artists, creators and producers after what has been a very difficult year for the creative industry.

Opening in a Grade-II listed heritage site beneath the former train station, the 150-capacity bar will be a ‘community hub’ for the arts sector – serving coffee and cakes during the day and drinks and live entertainment at night.

The venue is also supporting local producers by serving beer from local breweries and pasties from Bolton-based HM Pasties – as well as a range of support services for people working in the industry.

53Two Bar will also operate as an ‘artists members club’ after 11pm where creative industry workers can relax for a late-night drink.

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Ahead of its official launch, the space will be used as a studio and private cinema room for streaming live performances and plays.

Simon Naylor, Director of 53Two said: “53Two Bar will continue our tradition of creating an inclusive, accessible place for Manchester – full of laughter, creativity and conversation.

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“Everyone’s welcome, especially anyone working in the arts who has struggled during lockdown.”

The 53Two Bar will open on May 30.

Featured image: 53Two

Art & Culture

Manchester’s historic Portico Library secures £6.4m funding grant towards its transformation

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Manchester’s Portico Library has secured a whopping £6.4 million grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

In case you missed it, ambitious plans to transform the historic Grade II-listed building on Mosely Street were already unveiled last October… but now, The National Lottery Heritage Fund has announced it is committing £6.4 million of funding towards the project, hoping that the building thrives as the UK’s most sustainable historic library for generations to come.

The grant is being described as a ‘major milestone’ in the approximately £12 million Portico Reunited project.

The Portico Reunited project will look to ‘reunite’ the historic building’s three floors for the first time in over a century, creating a fully-accessible and sustainable cultural library.

Founded all the way back in 1806, The Portico Library played a central role in Manchester’s rise as the world’s first modern city, and since then has been serving as a window into the past and a providing a place of inspiration for anyone who needs it.

The Portico Library has secured a £6.4m funding grant towards its transformation / Credit: Purcell Architecture (Supplied)

Crucially, plans will see a step-free entrance and lift installed to make the library accessible to all.

There’ll also be new exhibition and event spaces introduced as part of the scheme to explore the stories of Manchester’s communities and the city’s heritage. There will a Northern Bookshop, showcasing regional and emerging writers, and independent publishers, as well as a creative Portico Kitchen, which will celebrate the city’s food culture, writing, and history.

A place for school groups, families, and all people to explore Portico’s collection and experiment creatively also forms part of the plans.

Dr Thom Keep, Librarian and CEO of The Portico Library, called the funding grant a ‘landmark moment’ in the Portico’s ‘rich and complex history’, and a ‘huge achievement’ for its staff, trustees, volunteers, and partners.

“Thanks to National Lottery players, we can reunite this extraordinary building and make room for people to discover, learn and create together,” he added.

“We have listened to thousands of people about what the Portico could become, and their ideas and experiences have helped shape these plans.

“Our ambition is a library that belongs to the whole city – a place to discover remarkable collections, question the stories we have inherited, and create new possibilities together.”

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Manchester City Council has granted planning permission and listed building consent for the project, and the building is expected to close for construction in late spring 2028 and reopen once again in early March 2030.

Following reopening, the transformed library is expected to welcome around 95,000 visitors each year.

Featured Image – Purcell Architecture (Supplied)

Art & Culture

Iconic Manc movie 24 Hour Party People is set to return to cinemas for its anniversary

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

One of Manchester’s most iconic movies is set to return to the big screen next month.

Remastered in 4K and returning to UK cinemas to mark 24 years since its original release, Michael Winterbottom’s 2002 biographical comedy drama film, 24 Hour Party People, tells the story of Manchester‘s popular music community from 1976 to 1992 – specifically about Factory Records‘ founder Tony Wilson.

The film begins with the punk rock era of the late 1970s, before moving through the 1980s into the rave and DJ culture, and of course, the ‘Madchester‘ scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The narrative largely follows the career of Tony Wilson, played by Middleton-born actor Steve Coogan, while also covering the careers of the major Factory Records artists – especially Joy Division and New Order, as well as A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, and Happy Mondays.

If you haven’t seen 24 Hour Party People before, it’s a dramatisation based on a combination of real events, rumours, and urban legends, as the film is sure to make clear.

Coogan is joined by a cast by a mixture of big names and, at the time, rising stars like Paddy Considine, Shirley Henderson, Lennie James, John Simm, Ralf Little, Andy Serkis, Sean Harris, John Thomson, and even Peter Kay, alongside cameos from other figures connected to the Manchester music scene.

Before it returns to cinemas, the film will first open music and media festival/conference, Beyond The Music, at MediaCity in Salford on 6 October.

The screening at the festival will also be followed by a Q&A with Coogan, Winterbottom, and producer Andrew Eaton.

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24 Hour Party People will then be re-released in UK cinemas from 9 October, and you can check your local cinema for screening times and book tickets online now.

Featured Image – Altitude

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