Created in Birmingham

Saturday 18th May – 1pm – 3:30pm

#InstaBrum is an Instagram Photomarathon, an event in which participants are given themes to photograph within certain time and post to Instagram.

Taking place on Saturday May 18th, the goal of this event is to network, have fun and spread great views of Birmingham through the web.

The starting point will be the Custard Factory, with participants given four themes to interpret and photograph within two hours before meeting at the finish line (the Bullring Bull) and heading for a drink and a chat.

More details can be found on the event’s Facebook page

Birmingham Civic Society is holding a Public Art Forum on the evening of Wednesday 15th May, to take forward the debate on the future of Public Art for Birmingham.

Birmingham Civic Society has decided to commission a new innovative work of public art to be positioned in the city centre through an open competition. The piece will be unveiled in 2018, their centenary year. This Forum will not only influence the approach and vision Birmingham Civic Society will take in commissioning this new piece of public art work, but will also allow for a wider discussion and debate about the changing status and function of public art, relating to both its relevance and relationship to a city and its residents, and the parameters of what public art can be.

Birmingham Civic Society and a panel of speakers from cultural, planning and business sectors will introduce a series of questions for discussion.

You can book a space for the event via the Birmingham Civic Society: info@birminghamcivicsociety.org.uk

More information on the Birmingham Civic Society website.

“Hit the Ode brings the most exciting poets from the region, the country and the world to the heart of Birmingham. Join us! We have poems. Poems which contain small parts, unsuitable for unsupervised play; poems scored for philharmonic orchestras and rush-hour traffic; poems with wind-up mechanisms. Good poems. Come and get them.”

The next Hit the Ode is on Thursday 16th May at The Victoria (upstairs I assume) and tickets are £5.  A very few open mic slots will be available on the door. More detailed information on their facebook page.

On 15th May, The Public are launching Ordinary/Extra/Ordinary, an exhibition curated by David Thorp, “celebrating the vitality, diversity and humour that art can embody.”

They have a number of local names you may recognise amongst their big name artists, which include; Jeremy Deller and Alan Kane, Tracey Emin, David Shrigley (pictured) Martin Creed, Hugh Locke, Vivan Sundaram, Doug Fishbone and Lucy McLauchlan.

You can read their release with more information on their website.

Of course West Brom isn’t exactly in Birmingham, but close enough and interesting enough for a mention. 

Art Bus celebrates its tenth birthday this year. Organised as part of Museums at Night 2013, the free bus will visit five galleries across Birmingham during the evening of Thursday 16 May 2013.

The bus will also stop at the mac, Barber Institute, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Eastside Projects, Ikon Gallery and the RBSA Gallery.

Each gallery is open late (to 9pm) so visitors can look round several galleries in one night.

On the night there are two art buses – both starting at Ikon Gallery in Brindleyplace – each bus will visit three galleries, enabling visitors a chance to spend more time at each venue.

Spectrum is an exhibition showcasing the work of the jewellery and silversmithing world through the work of the 13 Artists in Residence (2012-2013) at the Birmingham School of Jewellery.

The exhibition gives the audience the opportunity to see the work of the current emerging and established designers within this field. Each resident has a specialist interest within their discipline which sees traditional precious materials sit alongside concrete and wood. Examples of the work by two of the residents, Christine Davies and Hannah Fewtrell-Bolton, are featured below;

The private view is on Tuesday 7th May from 6pm – 8pm and you can confirm your attendance by visiting their Facebook page. The exhibition will continue to run from 8th May – 24th May open Monday-Thursday 9am – 8pm and Fridays 9am – 5pm.

West Midlands Readers’ Network, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and Writing West Midlands present The Shock of Spring, a readers’ afternoon with Helen Cross, Sabine Durrant, Chris McCabe and Nathan Filer. Saturday 11th May.

Join us for an exploration of the psychological thriller, the crime novel and the novel that unearths the underbelly of domestic life.

More detailed information over on the Writing West Midlands blog.

3rd – 5th May 2013

Artist, Reveal Yourself! organised by PAiL West Midlands in collaboration with Polish Expats Association, launches on the 3rd of May 2013 at the post-industrial spaces of A.E.Harris. For three days, visitors will have a chance to see many artistic projects from various art disciplines including visual arts, theatre, music, slam poetry, and to participate in some interesting workshops.

The visual art exhibition will feature works of over twenty artists. Visitors will discover paintings, installations, photography and performance, inspirations and concerns of contemporary artists.

Here’s some notable times from their programme calendar of things I thought sounded interesting:

3rd May

18:00 – Festival Launch
19:00 – Theatre Performance The Lasting Sense of Sudden by Fred Company
20:00 – Slam Poetry

4th May

12:00 – 18:30 – Various Theatre, Photography and Art workshops

5th May

12:30 – Artists talk
14:00 – Theatrical etudes and Male Ojczyzny project screening by Georgina Biggs & Ilona Krawczyk

Visual Arts Exhibition 
Exhibition opens – 3-5 May 2013
Friday, 3rd of May 2013 ,-18:00 – 20:00
Saturday, 4rd of May 2013, 12:00 – 22:00
Sunday, 5th of May 2013, 12:00 – 16:00

Single day ticket £3
Full event pass £5

Click the here for a full programme of events