History Hit: The Ruskin Lectures, Re-Enacted at The Portico Library

Part of an upcoming programme of free events and exhibitions produced by The Portico Library and Manchester Art Gallery, The Ruskin Lectures are reenactments of “A Joy Forever” – John Ruskin’s pair of lectures from when he came to Manchester in July 1857. The programme itself runs from 4-18 July, coinciding with the Manchester International Festival fortnight. Commemorating 200 years since the Peterloo Massacre and marking the bicentenary of the birth of John Ruskin, with the lectures on Monday 8 and Saturday 13 July. The events place alternative voices centre-stage in conversations about power, democracy, language and the press. The lectures – The Discovery and Application of Art and The Accumulation and Distribution of Art – will be re-enacted at The Portico Library and Manchester Art Gallery respectively during the Ruskin in Manchester bicentenary festival. Actor and art historian Paul O’Keeffe will perform these original lectures in two of the most important architectural treasures remaining from Victorian Manchester.

Lecture 1: The Discovery and Application of Art, Mon 8 Jul, The Portico Library, 57 Mosley Street, Manchester, M2 3HY. 6.30pm, free,  www.theportico.org.uk

Lecture 2: The Accumulation and Distribution of Art, Sat 13 Jul, Manchester Art Gallery Mosley Street, Manchester, M2 3JL, noon, FREE www.manchesterartgallery.org