A new exhibition, 'Everything to Everybody: Your Shakespeare, Your Culture' has launched at the Library of Birmingham and will be open until November 2022.
Credit: Jas Sansi
Free to visit, the exhibition is a collaboration between the Royal Shakespeare Company and the ‘Everything to Everybody’ Project and is presented by the Birmingham 2022 Festival.
The exhibition brings to life the Shakespeare Memorial Library with objects from the collection and new responses to Birmingham’s distinctive Shakespeare heritage in film and spoken word. The exhibition challenges visitors to think about what culture means to them today and how they themselves can effect change in the city.
Visitors can learn about the pioneering founders of the Shakespeare Memorial Library as well as seeing first-hand some of the precious collection of Bard-related items, translations and programmes. The exhibition will also feature the collection’s rare 1623 Shakespeare First Folio: the first collected volume of Shakespeare’s plays and bought for Birmingham’s public collection in 1881. It is the only copy of this historic book purchased as part of a programme of education and inclusion for the working classes.
The exhibition brings nineteen-century activism into the present day with a section called Future Forward featuring a powerful new commission by Birmingham Poet Laureate Casey Bailey and a film titled A Great Feast of Languages – What is this City but its People?
This wonderful, thought-provoking and challenging exhibition reveals the ‘everything to everybody’ ethos as the key to Birmingham’s historic identity and present-day potential.
Professor Ewan Fernie, Project Director of the ‘Everything to Everybody’ Project said: “This wonderful, thought-provoking and challenging exhibition reveals the ‘everything to everybody’ ethos as the key to Birmingham’s historic identity and present-day potential. We’re delighted to be showcasing the riches of the world’s first great Shakespeare library, including many items that have never been seen before. And we’re thrilled to have cooperated with the RSC on an exhibition which invites all its visitors to make their own mark on culture and drive forward positive change.”
Ida Ballerini, Everything to Everybody: Your Shakespeare, Your Culture curator said: “By bringing past and present together, drawing parallels between the Victorian thinkers who pushed Birmingham forward and the opportunities to be socially pro-active today, the exhibition is hoping to encourage visitors to make their own changes. It’s saying ‘think about it, take this inspiration, think about what these amazing people did and think about you and what you are uniquely placed to change and do.
“We also ask specific questions such as ‘in Birmingham today what does forward mean to you and how would you like to see this city change and what are you going to do to make it better?’ It’s a very participatory exhibition as well as informational.”
The exhibition aims to highlight the Shakespeare Memorial Library’s relevance to the people of Birmingham today as well as showcasing the more than 40,000 volumes, 17,000 production photographs, 2,000 music scores, hundreds of British and international production posters, 15,000 performance programmes and 10,000 playbills that can be found in the collection.
Visitors can also participate taking a selfie within the exhibition and they will have the opportunity to share a cultural highlight such as a book, film or song which has impacted on their lives. For children there is the chance to construct a library out of building blocks and for all visitors an opportunity to create a pin badge advocating for change in the community.
The ‘Everything to Everybody’ Project is a collaboration between the University of Birmingham and Birmingham City Council, with funding contributed by National Lottery Heritage Fund and History West Midlands. ‘Everything to Everybody’ will give Birmingham’s uniquely democratic Shakespeare heritage back to people and communities across the city. To achieve this, ‘Everything to Everybody’ is working in conjunction with anchor institutions and grassroots organisations across Birmingham.
‘Everything to Everybody’ Project’s Your Shakespeare, Your Culture is free to visit at The Gallery, Level 3, Library of Birmingham from July 22 to November 5.
Everything to Everybody: Your Shakespeare, Your Culture is curated by the Royal Shakespeare Company Creative Placemaking & Public Programmes Team. The exhibition is presented by the Birmingham 2022 Festival, generously funded by Arts Council England and the National Heritage Lottery Fund.
For further information please contact Helen Annetts, PR on behalf of the ‘Everything to Everybody’ Project, tel: 07779 026720.
Notes to Editors
Listing
Everything to Everybody: Your Shakespeare, Your Culture
22 July – 5 November, 2022
The Gallery, Level 3, Library of Birmingham, Centenary Square, Broad Street, Birmingham, B12ND
FREE
This exhibition brings Birmingham’s historic Shakespeare Memorial Library to life with objects from the collection and new responses to them in film and spoken word. The exhibition challenges visitors to think about what culture means to them today and how they can contribute to change in the city.
Visitors can learn about the founders of the Shakespeare Memorial Library as well as seeing first-hand some of the precious collection of Bard-related items, translations and programmes, including the only 1623 Shakespeare First Folio in the world that was bought by a city as part of a programme of education and inclusion for the working classes.
The exhibition brings Birmingham’s heritage of social action into present day activism with a section called Future Forward featuring a new commission by Birmingham Poet Laureate Casey Bailey and a second film titled ‘A Great Feast of Languages – What is this City but its People?’
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Everything to Everybody Project
Founded in 1864, Birmingham’s Shakespeare Memorial Library was the first great Shakespeare Library in the world. Expressly established for all the citizens of the town, it helped win nineteenth-century Birmingham a reputation as a trailblazing modern city. The ‘Everything to Everybody’ Project - an ambitious collaboration between the University of Birmingham and Birmingham City Council - will recover this precious heritage for today.
Working in conjunction with anchor institutions and grassroots organisations across Birmingham, it will give the city’s uniquely democratic Shakespeare heritage back to the people. Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and History West Midlands, this ambitious collaboration between the University of Birmingham and Birmingham City Council comprises a three-year, action-packed programme of community-facing activities which will climax in conjunction with the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Follow on Twitter @E2EShakespeare; Facebook @e2eshakespeare; Instagram @e2eshakespeare
About the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC)
The Royal Shakespeare Company creates world class theatre, made in Stratford-upon-Avon and shared around the world, performing plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries, as well as commissioning an exceptionally wide range of original work from contemporary writers. Our purpose is to ensure that Shakespeare is for everyone, and we do that by unlocking the power of his plays and of live performance, throughout the UK and across the world.
We believe everybody’s life is enriched by culture and creativity. We have trained generations of the very best theatre makers and we continue to nurture the talent of the future. Our transformative Learning Programmes reach over half a million young people and adults each year, and through our Creative Placemaking and Public Programme we create projects with and for communities who have not historically engaged with our work. We are a leader in creative immersive technologies and digital development.
We have a proud record of innovation, diversity and excellence on stage and are determined to grasp the opportunity to become an even more inclusive, progressive, relevant and ambitious organisation.
We are committed to being a teaching and learning theatre – in which we create world class theatre for, with and by audiences and theatre makers of all ages. We provide training for emerging and established theatre makers and arts professionals, for teachers and for young people. We share learning formally and informally. We embed training and research across our company, work and processes.
We recognise the climate emergency and work hard to embed environmental sustainability into our operations, creative work and business practice, making a commitment to continually reduce our carbon footprint.
About the Birmingham 2022 Festival
The Birmingham 2022 Festival unites people from around the Commonwealth through a celebration of creativity, in a six-month long programme, shining a spotlight on the West Midlands' culture sector.
Running from March to beyond the conclusion of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games in September, the festival aims to entertain and engage over 2.5 million people in person and online.
Delivering over 200 projects across the region including art, photography, dance, theatre, digital art and more the festival will embrace local culture and generate lasting change and a creative legacy beyond the games with funding to community led projects from Birmingham City Council’s Creative City Grants scheme.
Major support has been dedicated by Arts Council England, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Birmingham City Council and Spirit of 2012. The Birmingham 2022 Festival is grateful for further support from British Council, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, National Lottery Community Fund, Canada Council for the Arts, the High Commission of Canada in the UK, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Create Central, Creative New Zealand, UK/Australia Season 2021/2022, and Birmingham 2022 Organising Committee.
Chair of Shakespeare Studies and Fellow
Biographical and contact information for Professor Ewan Fernie in the Shakespeare Institute at the University of Birmingham.
