Everything to Everybody, Library of Birmingham
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![Visitors in a colourful gallery. In the background, a long wall is covered with posters for Shakespeare plays in different languages. Freestanding showcases display open books. A table in the centre is stacked with piles of coloured blocks.]()
An exhibition to inspire Birmingham's people to engage in its cultural history and celebrate common ownership.
Everything to Everybody: Your Shakespeare, Your Culture For the University of Birmingham and Birmingham City Council at the Library of Birmingham. 22 July – 5 November 2022. Curated by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Text consultant Rebecca Mileham.
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![A man holds a protest placard in front of a video projection of a person holding a similar sign. To their right is a large image of a group of people also holding signs up.]()
This exhibition at the Library of Birmingham told the story of world’s first public Shakespeare library, founded in Birmingham in 1872, and also celebrated the city’s industrial heritage and social activism. It challenged visitors to think about what culture means to them and how they can effect change in the city.
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![The corner of an open, ornately-bound book. The word “FINIS” is printed above a large decorative motif, signifying the end of a play. Next to it, a purple rubber-stamped text reads “Birmingham Free Libraries Reference Department”]()
We were inspired by the Birmingham Free Libraries stamp found in the middle of Shakespeare's First Folio (1623), which was purchased in 1881 for the people of Birmingham. Our designs reflect this gesture of common ownership and civic justice.
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![A woman stamps a card at a table in the middle of a colourful gallery. In the background a video projection of a man plays next to exhibition text asking "What is the city but the people?" To the right, showcases display open books.]()
We worked with a curator from The Royal Shakespeare Company to reflect their approaches and archival research. This resulted in a vibrant contemporary colour palette, showcases used as graphic surfaces, and the use of sustainable and recyclable corrugated cardboard as the main exhibition component.
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![A woman takes a colourful sticker from a table with a sign reading "Speak For Change In Your City"]()
Audience participation was key, and reflected the wider project focus on Birmingham’s history of social activism. We designed a series of low-tech, hands-on interactives to support visitor engagement with the themes and activate in the space.
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![A video of a man with a cityscape behind him is projected against a colourful gallery wall with a green, yellow and pink spray-paint effect and a flyer for Shakespeare’s Othello. The video is titled “Bodily Anguish by Casey Bailey for Ira Aldridge”]()
Commissioned videos highlighted Birmingham 2022 poet laureate Casey Bailey’s poem about Ira Aldridge, one of the first black Shakespearean actors, and a montage of Shakespeare excerpts read in different languages.
