Bridge of Sunflowers – Exhibition
In 2024, Manchester Libraries became twinned with Lviv Regional Youth Library in Ukraine – Manchester Libraries twin with Ukraine Library
As a result of this partnership Manchester Central Library will soon host the Bridge of Sunflowers exhibition.
Bridge of Sunflowers is composed of artwork by young Ukrainian artists from the city of Lviv. This unique collection explores the impacts of the ongoing conflict, as well as the hopes and dreams of those living through it.
Participants were supported by the Sunflower Dreams Project, which showcases the work of Ukrainian children in exhibitions across the European Union, the United Kingdom and North America. The project was created and is supported exclusively by a team of multinational volunteers.
Creative responses from young people in Manchester can be viewed alongside the artwork. This artwork and poetry from Manchester school children are the outcome of workshops run by creative arts charity Never Such Innocence, who give children and young people a voice on conflict. The workshops were led by expert practitioners – author Nik Perring and artist Alex Hinge. All of the work on display is responding to Never Such Innocence’s international competition theme for 2025/26 – ‘In Someone Else’s Shoes’.
This exhibition is a collaboration between the Sunflower Dreams Project, Never Such Innocence and Manchester Libraries.
When the exhibition finishes in Manchester Central Library at the end of February, it will be transported to Ukraine, to be displayed in Lviv Regional Youth Library
The exhibition runs from 26 Jan 2026 — 27 Feb 2026, and will be on the ground floor and in the Reading Room on the 1st floor.
