Man with a Movie Camera film discussion on Wednesday
Enjoy watching an extraordinary film from the comfort of your settee, then join us to let us know what you think of it...
This Wednesday 16 December at 7.30pm Andy Willis, Professor of Film Studies from the University of Salford, will facilitate an online discussion of Dziga Vertov’s avant garde Soviet documentary Man With a Movie Camera. This forms part of our celebrations of the 90th anniversary of the UK’s oldest film society, the Manchester & Salford Film Society, whose archive we hold.
We're encouraging you to watch the film on YouTube between now and the event - and we're very grateful to Carol Moores from the Society who has provided us with accompanying notes for that purpose (these are available via the event page here). Then we'll all join up on a live-stream on the evening of 16 December to discuss what we have seen and experienced. Please click on the link below shortly before 7.30pm on Wednesday:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81545563573?pwd=c29DOFIycG1IZG42Q3FLdXlCRm4xdz09
Or use
Meeting ID: 815 4556 3573
Passcode: 695364
Man With a Movie Camera was first screened by what was then the Manchester and Salford Workers’ Film Society on 24 October 1931, with Ewan MacColl in attendance along with many others. So here's your ticket to the show...:
More details about the free event are here.
Library re-opening plansThe Library is planning to re-open to readers on Tuesday 5 January. As when we were last able to open, we can welcome a maximum of two readers per day by appointment. Do contact us via info@wcml.org.uk to book your place. We look forward to seeing you again.
Please note that we will not be available to take bookings or answer other email or phone enquiries after Wednesday 23 December until Monday 4 January.
The Dandelion Clock - an evening of poems with Oliver James Lomax
A date for your new 2021 diary, should you possess such a thing... On Thursday 14 January at 7.30pm we invite you to join poet Oliver James Lomax for a New Year treat of an evening as he reads for us poems from his new collection, The Dandelion Clock. The event is free but Oliver has kindly suggested that participants might want to send the Library a donation... Find out more about Oliver and his work at https://oliverjameslomax.com.
This event will be live-streamed - details to follow.
LOITER - a live public art exhibition
SAVE THE DATE 30 January 2021 - more details to follow.
Beginning at the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art and meandering through to Chapel Street and the Working Class Movement Library, LOITER is a live public art exhibition incorporating new films, animations, sound, intervention and augmented realities taking place from 11.30am to 6pm on Saturday 30 January.
The event is the brainchild of arts platform ProForma; six different artists are involved, and 'our' artist is Christian Selent, a graphic & motion designer, animator, writer and musician based in Chemnitz, Germany. Christian is recipient of a Remote Residency at WCML developed in partnership with site specific art festival Begehungen, Chemnitz.
Artist Tink Flaherty is creating a living archive of intergenerational memories and stories of those living or working in the Chapel Street area and would like to record a conversation with as many people as possible for their artwork. If you are interested in sharing your experiences of Chapel Street, please email Chris Bailkoski at info@proforma.org.uk titled 'Tink Flaherty Conversation' for more information. Deadline: 15 December 2020.
Engels cards
We have just got more of our Marx and Engels cross-stitch cards (made specially for us by 8bitnorthxstitch) to mark the 200th anniversary of Engels's birth. They cost £2.80 plus p&p. Email us at info@wcml.org.uk if you'd like to buy some, and we'll calculate the p&p for you.
Women's activism in the miners' strike and feminism
Later today, Monday 14 December from 7 to 8.15pm, Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite and Natalie Thomlinson from the Women in the Miners' Strike project will be running an online event to discuss Women Against Pit Closures and the question of feminism.
Many activists from the Women’s Liberation Movement got involved in supporting the miners' strike in 1984-5. Relationships with women's support groups in the coalfields were often positive, but there were sometimes tensions because of the different ways women understood gender equality and feminism. Excerpts will be played from the project's oral history interviews with women involved in the strike, and there will be plenty of time for discussion.
Sign up to get the Zoom link - it's free, and all are welcome - by clicking here.
The project online exhibition is here.