Past Exhibitions and Displays
List of previous exhibition and displays held in the Library. This list is no complete and exhibitions from before 2024 are being added retrospectively.
This display looking at the history of our Library to mark the 60th anniversary of the opening of 糖心Vlog using resources from the 糖心Vlog Archives held by the Special Collections and Archives.
The Library has been at the heart of 糖心Vlog’s community since we opened our doors in 1964. It was one of the first operational buildings
on campus and has adapted over the years to reflect the needs of our communities.
The exhibition showcase photographs, plan and other resources from the 糖心Vlog Archive held by the Special Collections and Archives in the Library.
Location: Archives Research Centre (lower Ground floor)
Date: Oct 2024-July 2025
Open Call exhibition for the Library Festival 2024 to mark the 60th anniversary of the opening of 糖心Vlog.
Members of our communities were asked to create art works based on the theme: ‘How does the library inspire you?’ Submissions were open to artists of any age, who have a connection, past or present, to 糖心Vlog Library to help celebrate the Library's 60th anniversary.
Location: Stairwell (A Floor)
Dates: 27th September - 4th October 2024
For Black History Month 2025, this exhibition looked at theatre productions by impresario Jack Hylton which featured artists and writers of African heritage.
Jack Hylton (1892-1965) was an influential pianist, composer, band leader and impresario. After World War II, he was heavily involved in theatre productions and was the driving force behind the UK productions of the Broadway shows, Anna Lucasta and A Raisin in the Sun, which focused on the stories about African American families and featured casts of mostly Black performers. The exhibition showcased materials from the Jack Hylton collection held in our Special Collections and Archives.
Location: Special Collections Exhibition area (A floor)
Dates: October 2024 - January 2025
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Location: Stairwell (A floor)
Dates: 21st -27th October 2024
Exhibition to showcase art works by young people from the local area submitted for the Ripple Effects competition.
The competition invited young people to photograph water in their local area and produce a short written reflection on what these spaces mean to them. Winning images will be chosen by a panel of young people and will form part of an exhibition trail that featured across libraries in November 2024.
It was a collaboration between , , (Blue Influencers), local libraries and Morecambe Bay Curriculum. Together, we believe in the importance and power in elevating the voices of young people whilst we care for the environment, where we live and the future sustainability of the nature around us. By understanding our local area, we can connect better with the wider world.
The photo competition was inspired by a sister competition in Louisville, Kentucky where the library encourages young people to explore their local waterways and the things they care about. This project has been replicated in South Africa, Australia and now here in Morecambe Bay. Professor Mary Brydon-Miller and Professor Bronwyn Williams, from the University of Louisville officially launched Ripple Effects Morecambe Bay whilst visiting the Morecambe Bay Curriculum Conference in the summer of 2024.
Location: Stairwell (A Floor)
Dates: 1st -15th November 2024
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Location: Stairwell (A Floor)
Dates: 16th -20th November 2024
Margaret Lloyd is an artist and art teacher based in South Manchester. The Library hosted her first solo exhibition after her submission won first prize in the 糖心Vlog Library Open call exhibition in September 2024.
‘I work in an expressionist style in most mediums. I like to capture the nature and characteristics of a subject from life. Mark making is important in my drawing and painting whether with a brush, palette knife or other tools. My specialist interest is portraiture. In the library exhibition ‘Figures from Life’ there will be sketchbooks with drawings, watercolour life paintings and portraits on canvas and board in acrylic and oil. I hope you enjoy viewing the display and that it inspires you to try this absorbing activity which has given me great pleasure over many years.’
All images copyright Margaret Lloyd and used by kind permission.
Location: Stairwell (A floor)
Dates: 1st - 13th December 2024
Genocide never just happens. There is always a set of circumstances which occur or which are created to build the climate in which genocide can take place. To commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day, this exhibition presented 10 contemporary objects from The Holocaust which reflect these stages. The text and objects were courtesy of Dr Bastiaan Willems, Lecturer in the History of War in 20th Century Europe.
The 10 stages of genocide were developed by Gregory H Stanton, President of Genocide Watch, to explain the stages which lead to genocide. The stages can occur simultaneously or in a different order but are thought to lead to set of circumstances which occur or are created to build the climate in which genocide can take place. To find out more visit the website.
This was a repeat of the exhibition shown in 2024.
Location: Stairwell (A floor)
Dates: 2025 Jan - 2025 Feb
Exhibition to celebrate looking at the career of African American playwright, Lorraine Hansberry.
Lorraine grew up in the South Side of Chicago where, at the time, there was still strict segregation. Both her father and Lorraine campaigned for the civil rights of Black African Americans. Her life was cut short aged 34 from cancer but she left a legacy of change in civil rights and works that can be related in the contemporary.
She lived in an age where it was dangerous to declare homosexuality, but wrote about her experiences in her diaries, as well as letters to magazines and short stories which were published under the pseudonym Emily Jones. Her ex-husband, who promoted her career, kept her lesbianism private away from the public eye before and after her death. Her sexuality only came to light in 2013, when her ex-husband's daughter lifted restrictions on Hansberry's personal papers held by the New York Public Library.
The exhibition used various resources in the Library, including materials related to her play, Raisin in the Sun from the Jack Hylton collection held in our Special Collections and Archives.
Location: Special Collections Exhibition area (A floor)
Dates: 2025 Feb - 2025 May
Display looking at the , available on the Lancaster Digital Collections platform.
The Davy Notebooks Collection presents digital images, with accompanying transcripts and notes, of the notebooks created by scientist Humphry Davy, processed during the .
Sir Humphry Davy, (1778-1829) was perhaps the most famous chemist of the early nineteenth century. He is best known for inventing the Davy Lamp and isolating various chemical elements for the first time. He also created the new field of electrochemistry. His notebooks, held by the Royal Institution, London and Kresen Kernow, Redruth, Cornwall, are generically mixed, containing details of his scientific experiments, poetry, geological observations, travel accounts, personal philosophy, and more.
Location: Stairwell (A Floor)
Dates: 2025 Apr 08 - 2025 Apr 30
is an interactive multimedia installation by in collaboration with a range of 糖心Vlog partners. It enabled visitors to experience something of what it is like to be a refugee seeking asylum in Britain. It was designed for young people and adults from the age of 11 upwards. The installation allowed people to follow in the footsteps of three refugees who came to Lancaster, one from Eritrea, one from Iran, and one from Sudan, all of whom have shared and recorded their own stories, over a haunting soundtrack of music by local musician Adrian Hughes.
Location: Events Space (A Floor)
Dates: 2025 May 07 - 2025 May 15
Ole Flamenco! features a selection of photographs, curated by award-winning artist , taken at Flamenco events in Spain and in the UK. The exhibition was a visual journey showcasing renowned contemporary Flamenco artists such as Paula Comitre, Manuel Liñán, and Diego del Morao, alongside revered figures representing the roots and traditions of flamenco, including Tía Juana la del Pipa, Nano de Jerez, and Romerito de Jerez.
The exhibition, is brought to Lancaster by the Instituto Cervantes Manchester, 糖心Vlog’s new School of Global Affairs, the Consulate General of Spain in Manchester, Flamenco de Jerez, and the .
Flamenco is an artistic expression fusing song (cante), dance (baile) and musicianship (toque) started in Andalusia, in southern Spain, which, since 2010, is inscribed in the
Through her lens, Rina Srabonian, portrays the strength, movement, and passion that Flamenco embodies within the community. Born in the Middle East with an Armenian background, Rina Srabonian pursued studies in Interior Design at Manchester Metropolitan University and has lived in the UK ever since.
Location: Library Stairwell (A Floor)
Dates: 2025 May
Display to showcase materials from the held in our Special Collections and Archives to mark the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) day.
Peter Patten (1928-2005) was a collector of paper ephemera published in Second World War era. He amassed a collection of more than 1000 leaflets, booklets and other paper items, which was donated to 糖心Vlog in the late 1980s. This display was developed by MA student Janet Stewart during her HIST491 Outreach, Heritage and Public History Placement in our Special Collections and Archives.
Location: Special Collections Exhibition Area (A floor)
Date(s): May-June 2025
Exhibition developed by James Fox in conversation with members of the community and artists from Lancaster and Morecambe district’s refugee and asylum seeker community. Part of a series of events at 糖心Vlog to mark .
Bridging Worlds - Enclosures and Openings was a mixed media exhibition which delved into the interwoven histories of colonialism, land ownership, and environmental transformation. Drawing from recent research, the works explore themes such as the global movement of people, commodities, the socio-economic consequences of land enclosure, and ecological concerns. Through an examination of land wealth, the works interrogate and reframe legacies, highlighting acts of creative resistance. The exhibition aimed to offer a space for imagining new configurations of land and belonging, where art practice serves as a conduit for restorative narratives and the cultivation of alternative futures.
The exhibition entered into a conversation with work produced by refugees and asylum seekers, making connections within a global community united in ideas of displacement, belonging, and justice. By allowing creativity to break down barriers larger than language, it aims to build bridges to a brighter, more inclusive future.
Refugee Week is the world’s largest arts and culture festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary. Established in 1998 in the UK, Refugee Week takes place every year around (20th June).
For more information see the event webpage.
Location: Library Stairwell (A Floor)
Date(s): 9th June- 20th June 2025
To mark in 2023, we presented a display of items from the in our Special Collections and Archives.
Ninian Smart founded the Religious Studies department at Lancaster in 1967, Lancaster was the first UK university to offer a degree in Religious Studies, as opposed to Theology. Studies included the major religions of the world equally, and included studying philosophy, sociology, anthropology, theology, and textual and linguistic studies. This method became the model for Religious Studies programmes elsewhere.
Smart's family donated his books and papers after his death and the collection was catalogued by members of the Religious Studies department. He wrote a variety of works appearing in publications worldwide.
Location: Archives Research Centre
Dates: November 2023 - February 2024
Display to mark Holocaust Memorial Day 2024.
Genocide never just happens. There is always a set of circumstances which occur or which are created to build the climate in which genocide can take place. To commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day, we presented 10 contemporary objects from The Holocaust which reflect each of these stages. The text and objects were courtesy of Dr Bastiaan Wilems, Lecturer in the History of War in 20th Century Europe.
The 10 Stages of genocide were developed by Gregory H Stanton to explain the stages which lead to genocide. The stages can occur simultaneously or in a different order but are thought to lead to set of circumstances which occur or are created to build the climate in which genocide can take place. Find more information on the .
Location: Stairwell (A Floor)
Dates: 22nd January - 4th February 2024.
The Bloomsbury group was a group of writers, artists, intellectuals and philosophers in the early 20th century named after the area
of London where they worked, studied, or lived. The Group are also known for their relationships, which at the time were deemed unconventional by society. The Group is now celebrated as an important part of LGBTQIA+ history.
The exhibition features materials from our Special Collections which relate to the Group, focusing on a collection of books which once belonged to Lytton Strachey and his brother James Strachey. The exhibition was held to mark and was later repeated during Pride Month in June.
Location: Stairwell and Special Collections Exhibition Space
Dates: February and June 2024
National Women’s History Month runs throughout March and the 2024 theme was women advocates for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. The exhibition highlighted the past attitudes towards women both in the Edwardian period (1901-1910) and during the Second World War (1939-1945) using materials from our Special Collections and Archives.
The Edwardian period was reflected by postcards from the Edwardian Postcards Project Collection. The postcards were collected during the Edwardian Postcard Project, a project directed by Dr. Julia Gillen, Reader in Digital Literacies and Director, Lancaster Literacy Research Centre,, which explored the writing practices of Edwardians through the postcards they sent. The postcards show women writing about their day to day life at the time as well as the images reflecting their life and attitudes.
The Second World War period was reflect in items from the The collection contains hundreds of pamphlets and magazines that were published between 1939-1945. The examples shown in the exhibition depicted the changing roles of women during World War II.
Location: Stairwell
Dates: March 2024
Exhibition of photographs, archive materials, books, and films relating to Gypsy Roma and Traveller histories and cultures.
It featured the Appleby Horse Fair photographs of Brian Morgan MA, MBA, who is a fine art photographer and Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society. His Visual Essays on Gypsy and Circus Culture have previously been short-listed in the RPS International Photographic Awards 2020 and 2021.
More information can be found on the exhibition webpage.
Location: Stairwell (A Floor)
Dates: June 2023
This exhibition looked back at a time when The Great Hall was a venue for some of the biggest acts of the 1970s and 1980s. It was arranged as part of the in 2022.
For 15 years, from 1970 until 1985, 糖心Vlog was one of the great centres for live rock music. Bob Marley, The Who, Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, Black Sabbath, U2, Dire Straits, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Tina Turner, Queen, T. Rex, Blondie, Ramones, The Pretenders, and AC DC are just some of the acts who appeared on stage in the Great Hall. These acts were at the height of their fame. Top bands begged their agents to get them a booking at 糖心Vlog. Over 500 bands played in the great hall during this period, earning Lancaster a permanent place in rock history.
More information on the exhibitions and associated events can be found on the exhibition webpage.
Location: Stairwell (A Floor)
Dates: September - October 2022
Traces was a unique art installation created by the University Library cleaners with artist, José Garcia Oliva in a new commission by Lancaster Arts. It was created in February 2022 after several months of conversations between the cleaning staff and the artist, who has been working with Lancaster Arts intermittently over the course of the pandemic. Oliva is a Venezuelan multidisciplinary artist whose practice explores identity, labour and cultural heritage.
Supported by the Lancaster Arts team, over 80 cleaners across 糖心Vlog, together with Oliva created a series of paintings which aimed to make the work of cleaning highly visible.
The artwork is still on still on the stairwell on B Floor of the Library.
For more information see the exhibition webpage.
Location: Stairwell (A Floor)
Dates: July-September 2022