New Century is celebrating 60 years since the iconic building originally opened as a state-of-the-art dance hall in 1963. The three-floor social destination, which reopened in 2022 after a total refurbishment, will be commemorating this special milestone with a year of special events and activity. This includes a new exhibition in collaboration with the British Culture Archive that will explore life in Manchester in 1963 vs 2023.
The New Century team and the British Culture Archive would like to hear from anyone with memories of the New Century Hall – particularly anyone with images and memorabilia of this legendary venue during the 1960s. Although the exhibition will focus on New Century Hall in 1963, the project will explore all of Manchester life around that year, and so the teams would love to hear from people who have any photographs of their life in Manchester around that time. Anyone interested in taking part should email newcentury@siobhanhanley.com with any images and memorabilia that they have, alongside any memories they have.
A documentary photographer will also be commissioned to capture Manchester as we’re experiencing it in 2023 and the result will be a unique and authentic look at our city from the perspective, then and now, of this cultural giant of a building.
The exhibition will be unveiled in May 2023 as part of a celebratory long weekend all to coincide with the anniversary of the opening of New Century Hall, which first opened its doors to the public on May 11th 1963. The exhibition will be the centrepiece of the activity and other events will include panel discussions, a street party on Sadlers Yard and more.
In addition to this, New Century will be staging special events and gigs across the whole of 2023 with the full programme to be revealed throughout the year.
Equipped with its original 60s disco ceiling and sprung floor, as well as a new bar and state of the art sound system, the original New Century Hall was reimagined last year to bring a new live music and events venue to Manchester. With its independent kitchens below, home to a number of independent food traders plus its magnificent, mid-century style central bar, New Century is a new social destination for the city.
Abby Moore, Managing Director at New Century said: “We’re so excited to be dedicating such a big part of our 60th anniversary celebrations to delving into the heritage of this beautiful building’s incredible past. Working with the British Culture Archive will allow us to do this on a scale never done before and create a completely unique and important piece of work. We want to celebrate the Mancunian spirit that is behind New Century and everything we do. We can’t wait to uncover more about New Century and Manchester itself from the people who were there.”
The British Culture Archive is a leading independent archive and cultural organisation set up to document, highlight and preserve the changes in British culture and society through documentary photography. It aims to make this work available to people from all backgrounds and has created and displayed exhibitions across the UK.
Paul Wright, founder of British Culture Archive said: “I’m proud to be collaborating with a partner as iconic as New Century for what we expect to be a fascinating new collection of photographs. The British Culture Archive is about celebrating ordinary lives throughout time and this exhibition will allow us to do that with the focus around one of the most exciting eras in modern history. With its rich history and pivotal role in Manchester’s music heritage New Century is the perfect cornerstone for an exhibition that looks back but also faces forward too”
New Century 34 Hanover Street, Manchester, M4 4AH
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