On the plus side we’ll all be able to track the culture articles on the Birmingham Post’s website much easier when their new site launches next week. On the downside that means these links will probably be broken next week. Ah well. Here’s my picks from the last fortnight or so.
A director who lets the play do the talking
Director Paulette Randall talks to Terry Grimley about the social issues underpinning Roy Williams’ new play.
Katherine revives a humble craft technique of old Birmingham
Terry Grimley meets the Barber Institute’s sculptor-in-residence.
Oratory blurs glorious Cathedra sound
Maggie Cotton reviews Ex Cathedra at Birmingham Oratory.
Heard the latest news - Editors are back in town
Jon Perks speaks to Editors frontman Tom Smith.
More reasons to celebrate our talent
Peter Bacon’s Jazz Diary
Nicola keeps to a tough schedule
Only just out of her teens, young violin virtuoso Nicola Benedetti is philosphical about the rigours of a jetsetting career, writes Terry Grimley.
A young composer who takes success in her stride
Birmingham Conservatoire graduate Joanna Lee talks to Christopher Morley about her new commission for the Orchestra of the Swan.
From the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success
Harborne’s Moorpool Players got more than they bargained for when they presented themselves as the Reformation Players and unleashed an evening of dramatic disasters under the heading of Coarse Acting Strikes Back.
The idea for these button badge mock-ups came as a result of a number of experiences since I moved to Birmingham. The theme: the oddities of interpretations of place names in Birmingham derived from typos, spell-check suggestions, mispronunciations and adolescent mischief.
The full set, should you want to turn them into badges yourself, is here.
via BiNS.
Matt Murtagh’s photos from Project X Presents’ XLAB:VL are up.
Lovely as ever, but shame about the irritating Flash-based gallery. On the plus side, Matt has a blog.
RobotGirl is an art project by Ana Benlloch: a series of performances where the audience interact with the character in various guises.
Sometimes RobotGirl is a person trying to be an android; sometimes she lives in text; sometimes she is a doll or an animated character.
Police Bastard on their recent European tour:
Some Insectoid videos have been brought to my attention after the recent post.
Here’s a nice piece of recently uploaded glitch entitled Class: Insecta:
And here’s a recording of them on the green at 2006’s Artsfest:
More on the Insectoid Hive Mind channel.
Over on the Ikon site there’s a 1hr45m recording of a symposium on printmaking that took place on Feb 20th.
Ikon and Birmingham City University School of Art co-hosted a lively roundtable discussion about the nature of contemporary printmaking. The implications of digital technology were considered not just in terms of production, but also its possible impact on the meaning of printed artwork.
Ikon’s Director, Jonathan Watkins was joined on the panel by artists Tim Maguire and Christiane Baumgartner, Tessa Sidey (Curator, Prints and Drawings Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery), Frank Bordas (studio Frank Bordas) and Jeremy Lewison (Independent Curator).
Can’t find a download link so you’ll have to listen to it from your computer but this is a fantastic development for Ikon.
Pic taken from Ikon, labeled “Tim Maguire Studio. Work in progress”
Paul Geary introduces King Alfred Promotions, a new-ish outfit run by David Bunn and Anthony Harper for whom he did the following:
They launched last April and are apparently working on establishing themselves a bit more in the city. The MySpace, it be here.
The Birmingham St Patrick’s Festival has a new website, proudly launched last month.
Given that this represents one of the major cultural celebrations in the city, one which has been claimed to be one of the largest outside of New York (if I remember rightly) I’d be interested to hear what you all think.
Another of Kate Beatty’s portraits of local creatives has surfaced, this time of the Mama Feel Good DJs, Bobbalin’ Hot and Sister 45.
A film by Scott Johnston and Pram.
Filmed around Highbury Hall and Moseley Private Park, according to About My Area. via Jez
The first wave of acts confirmed for this year’s Supersonic festival in the Custard Factory have been announced by Capsule.
Taking place over three days rather than the usual two the headliners are Battles and Harvey Milk along with the usual eclectic mix of the experimental and the heavy. Here’s the full list. Not heard of most of them? That’s kinda the point!
Some interesting fashion related stuff is establishing itself in Millennium Point right now with Matthew Boulton College’s Feed Studio hosting the finals of the PIN competition. From the press release:
Matthew Boulton College celebrated the launch of their two brand new specialist design studios, ‘FEED Studio’ and ‘Fashion Lab’ situated at Millennium Point with a showcase of talent, and the opportunity for two new young designers to win £20k between them. The launch took place within the Millennium Point Hub on Thursday 21st February.
‘PIN’ is a groundbreaking collaboration between Matthew Boulton College and Midland Fashion Showcase. The aim is to profile the fashion talent of the West Midlands via a fashion competition. The final of the ‘PIN’ competition culminated on the night with 12 finalists going head-to-head on the runway, presenting their Spring/Summer 2008 collections. A panel of six judges from within the fashion industry chose the two winners from the two categories, Jenny Hardcastle from Solihull, Birmingham won the New Designer award and Shamrez Marawat from Moseley, Birmingham won the Young Business award. Each winner received £10k to develop their business.
Jenny Hardcastle believes she is more than a designer and a dressmaker…she is a sculptor of fabric. Jenny presented her collection Timeless at the event. Her feminine silhouettes evoke thoughts of Grecian romance and 1930’s elegance, which combine to create shapes that will last forever and become what can only be described as….Timeless. Jenny was overwhelmed stating ‘This means everything to me – it’s the start of a new life and a new career’. For more information about the collection visit www.timelessbyjenny.co.uk
Shamrez Marawat presented Balian, a menswear brand that utilises avant-garde sportswear tailoring techniques with subtle military influences. His collection was inspired by the philosophy of the ‘tension of opposites’ which in this case is war vs. nature and is displayed by using military cuts and muted colours. Shamrez was thrilled to have won, ‘I feel this whole ‘PIN’ journey has been incredible and a real catalyst to drive my business. I’m honoured to be a part of the creativity in the Midlands.’
Insectoid, a collective that’s been creeping into my consciousness of late.
Here’s one of their tunes, Giant Termite Queen:
Coming out of the a.a.s. group their members include Ana Milgram and Antonio Roberts, the latter of whom gives the game away in this post.
It seems they’ve been active for at least 18 months with a performance at Artsfest 06 on Eastside Green but the above photo, part of a shoot by Steve Gerrard (scroll down in that post) implies they’re looking to take things further. Where exactly I do not dare enquire…
Linking up Birmingham’s Artistic and Creative Communities
A weblog updated daily by Chris Unitt.
(Previously run by Pete Ashton until he stepped down in April)
Joint-winner of the Media Guardian Innovation Award for Independent Blog 2008. "An entrepot for the cultural chaos of Birmingham"
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