Two of Manchester’s foremost researchers into all things Gothic have worked together to co-curate a new exhibition at the John Rylands library.
Dr Xavier Aldana Reyes and Dr Linnie Blake of the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies at Manchester Metropolitan University have co-curated the Library’s latest super-spooky exhibition, Darkness and Light.
Housed in the neo-Gothic grandeur of The John Rylands Library, Darkness and Light reveals how Gothic architecture and anatomy inspired and influenced a literary genre, and how the lasting legacy of Gothic can be found in art, films and subculture today.
From the fantastical to the macabre, this intriguing exhibition unearths Gothic treasures from the Library’s Special Collections to investigate subjects as varied as the role of women in the Gothic movement, advances in medical science and classic literature.
Dr Xavier Aldana Reyes said: “We have been working closely with the John Rylands library since we launched the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies in 2013, so when they approached us with the idea of co-curating a Gothic exhibition last year, it felt like an obvious collaborative step forward.
“It was clear from our first meeting that we wanted the exhibition to have a special flavour and that the themes for the displays cases needed to be intrinsically connected to the building hosting them. Hence the focus, for example, on architecture, such a characteristic aspect of the Rylands, or anatomy, as the library hosts a significant collection of medical books. The focus on the local Goth community was also fundamental, as it is such a huge and important part of Manchester life.”
Amongst the fascinating items on display is Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto (1764), the first Gothic novel. With a Gothic medieval castle, doomed love and restless spectres of the past, it sets the scene for the genre and sits alongside a whole host of Gothic bestsellers including The Monk, The Mysteries of Udolpho and Jekyll and Hyde.
The exhibition also showcases artwork by students from the University of Salford and a gallery of photographic portraits of ‘Goths’, celebrating diversity and inviting visitors to explore what Gothic means to them. A series of events taking place throughout the year will provide further opportunities to explore the dark and brooding world of the Gothic.
Alongside the exhibition, visitors will be able to experience a ghostly Gothic tour of the Library or screenings of classic Gothic films, including FW Murnau’s Nosferatu, in the striking Historic Reading Room.
Dr Aldana Reyes said: “We are incredibly excited that the Rylands is supporting all things Gothic in this way. It has allowed us, and all the other academics, writers, artists and students involved in the curation of the exhibition, to really get to grips with what makes the Gothic such a fascinating topic to study and research.
“The Rylands collection is surprisingly thorough and we were very pleased to find in its catalogue first editions of such key Gothic novels as The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) and The Monk (1796). Anyone with an interest in the area will undoubtedly find a few favourites here.”
