Online gallery
Our free, online gallery of images from our collections is available to view on Flickr. Curated albums include images relating to the history of the University of Birmingham, The Birmingham Qur'an, Black History, women in the collections, Art of Anatomy, First World War, turn of the century China, Pugin's sketches, pets in the collections, and more.
History of the University of Birmingham: until 28 June 2024
This exhibition is in the Main Library atrium. It recounts the history of the University of Birmingham from its foundation in 1905, through the challenges and changes of two World Wars, using material from the University Heritage Archive Collection. All welcome, non-University identity card holders please report to Main Library reception. Highlights from the University's Heritage Archive Collection can also be browsed in this online exhibition.
Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins: Writing, Performance, Image.
1 July 2024 - 12 January 2025
Curated from the Cadbury Research Library collections by Dr. Caroline Radcliffe, Reader in Drama and Performance, Department of Drama and Theatre Arts, University of Birmingham. This exhibition celebrates the 200th anniversary of the birth of Wilkie Collins, novelist and playwright (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889), and welcomes the 29th Annual Dickens Society Symposium to the University of Birmingham by showcasing rare books and manuscripts relating to Collins and his friend and mentor, the ‘inimitable’ writer, Charles Dickens (1812 – 1870). The exhibition is in the Main Library atrium. Open daily 09:00 - 18:00. All welcome. Non-University ID card holders please ask at Main Library reception. An online version of the exhibition is available on CRL Flickr.
The Barber Fine Art Library from the 1940s
Photographs of the much-loved, Grade 1 listed, Barber Fine Art Library from the 1940s to the present day.
Shakespeare Institute Library on Flickr
The plays we might have lost: Shakespeare's First Folio, 1623 and Marie Corelli 1855-1924 are two online exhibiton from the Shakespeare Institute Library.
CRL supported talks at The MIAH Foundation
The Cadbury Research Library is pleased to support the Islamic Arts Circle Lecture Series at The Museum of Islamic Arts & Heritage Foundation (MIAH). Keep an eye on the MIAH website for details of forthcoming events, at MIAH, 496 Moseley Road, Balsall Heath, and at the Cadbury Research Library.
Exhibitions elsewhere
The Cadbury Research Library lends material for inclusion in public exhibitions at other venues, locally, nationally and internationally. Current and forthcoming loans are on display at:
- A History Through Objects, Research and Innovation at the University of Birmingham, Aston Webb Building, University of Birmingham, B15 2TT, until 28 July 2025.
- Taught by the Pen: the Qur'an and Calligraphy, MIAH Islamic Art Gallery, Balsall Heath,15 March - 25 May 2024, Thursdays to Saturdays 12.00 - 18.00.
- Paris 1924: Sport, Art and the Body, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 19 July - 3 November 2024.
- The Hidden Lives of Plants, Barber Institute of Fine Arts, curated by the University of Birmingham MA Art History and Curating students, 22 June - 22 September 2024.
If your organisation would like to borrow material from the collections for exhibition, please see our loan request process. Examples of organisations we have lent material to for exhibition.