On Thursday evening last week, Creative Republic brought together council leader Mike Whitby and head of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, Jerry Blackett to discuss the role of Birmingham’s creative industries in the Big City Plan. Mark Ball (at the lecturn in the pic) hosted.
What I took away from the evening was that nothing’s yet set in stone and there’s still a lot of work to be done on developing the plan.
The thing is, things are currently at the talking stage. It’s hard to get a sense of what direction things are taking as there doesn’t seem to be anything we can really get our teeth into, dissect and inspect. I think I remember Mike Whitby saying that there might be something more tangible to look at in October. A follow-up event is in the offing.
The other thing that was impressed upon us all is that, in terms of employees and Gross Value Added, the creative sector is comparable in size to the city’s lauded financial sector. There’s a lot of latent power there that could influence the way the city develops.
We were told that if anyone wants to get involved in shaping the plan then there’s no need to wait for an invite. Unfortunately the mechanism for getting involved isn’t that clear, although according to the Big City Plan site, Richard Healy is the initial point of contact for anyone wanting to get in touch. You can call him on 0121 303 3075 or email richard.healy@birmingham.gov.uk.
Helga Henry from Creative Republic said that they would be asking everyone who was there to submit one big idea for Birmingham. They’ll be collected together and presented to the Big City Plan peeps.
To feed into that, and perhaps addressing anyone who hasn’t signed up to the Creative Republic charter:
What’s your big idea for Birmingham?
Whack it in the comments and it’ll be thrown into the mix. I’ll start things off…
In fact here it is – the image created by the mosaic is of her grandfather and, although she knew it had been shortlisted for use, the final image was a closely kept secret until the covers came off:
Details of the next PXP event are out. It’s on 13 September, is called Digital Dystopia and here’s the flyer:
Join us for a joyous celebration where many performers combine to present a seamless whole of sound, light and interaction …an “omnimedia experienceâ€.
Three stages and multiple projection screens will allow the presentation of a seamless flow of multi genre entertainment including bands, performers, comedians, VJs, DJs, dancers, poets.
Tickets are a tenner and on sale at The Ticket Seller and soon at Jibbering Records in Moseley.
In the meantime, there’s a Radio To Go audio preview to listen to and they’ve also spruced up their website which you can see at Project X Presents (with bigger pics of the flyer).
Jamie at Audiences Central has blogged about something interesting which makes me wonder which is more likely:
Traffic wardens are routinely told to wander around abandoned industrial units in Ladywood at night looking for cars to ticket; or
Visitors to (the nationally acclaimed) Birmingham Opera Company’s King Idomeneo are being opportunistically targetted by the city’s traffic wardens.
After hearing council leader Mike Whitby expound on the importance of the arts in the city last night I sincerely hope it’s not the latter.
Now, fair enough, a double-yellow’s a double-yellow and there’s a fire station a couple of roads away that it wouldn’t be very smart to block off. But why does the response have to be to send people to ticket the cars (and rake in the cash) night after night? Those streets surround derelict buildings and are deserted in the evenings so surely there’s a more constructive solution.
I understand the Opera Company have actually been managing the limited parking availability as well as possible – stewards are telling people where not to park and they’ve put on buses from the Town Hall – so there’s a sense of satisfaction when the wardens (allegedly responding to ‘a complaint’) are unable to ticket anyone. Maybe, in hindsight, the Company should have contacted the council themselves to put extra arrangements in place.
Birmingham Opera Company are busting a gut to do something spectacular, putting Birmingham on the map (for the right reasons) and providing something genuinely exciting to attract new audiences and people from outside the city.
Why on earth would anyone from the city want to stand in their way?
By the way, I’ve tried to be a proper journo about this and have called the council’s press office for a response but I’m still waiting for that and, heck, there’s a comment box below. If I do hear back from anyone I’ll update this post.
Oh, and the final performances of King Idomeneo are tonight and tomorrow – if you’ve not gone yet then please do, it’s great.
SUPERSONIC ’08 Online Survey
Did you go? Do you have 5 mins spare? Do the survey and make the world a better place (or Supersonic 09 even better, at least)
an online application that stitches together digital photographs of an area and converts them into a three-dimensional map
Unfortunately it’s hard to do justice to it in words. However, when this video was released a couple of years ago there was a lot of ooh-ing and aah-ing about it:
About this point you’re probably wondering what this has to do with Birmingham. Well,
The Birmingham Post has teamed up with its creators Microsoft to produce Birmingham’s first ever online, 3D representations of Victoria Square and St Philip’s Cathedral
Which strikes me as jolly interesting. Unfortunately I’m blogging this blind because, according to Microsoft’s special version of wisdom, Photosynth has been made Windows only and I’m labouring away on a Mac. Gah!
Hurrah for gong-giving! The Creative City Awards 2008 will take place on 29 November at the ICC. The awards:
were created by Birmingham City Council to recognise and reward achievement from within the city’s diverse and vibrant creative sector
and, carrying on from last year, they’re open to all small, creative businesses in the Birmingham & Solihull area.
There are 7 categories:
Creative Industries Award
Innovation Award
Outstanding Business Development (Birmingham) Award
Outstanding Business Development (Regional) Award
Best Newcomer Award
Outstanding Market Development Award
Best Brand Award
and the deadline for entries is 17 October. Good luck to any and all who apply – details and forms are on Birmingham Council’s Creative City Awards page.
KateGoes and Writes a BBC Theme Tune
“KateGoes are doing a theme tune for a new BBC sitcom called Coming of Age” as spotted by Dunc from the Autumn Store
Juneau Projects Live Album Launch
Fused also report that “Juneau Projects will be launching their live album ‘I Went to the Woods’ at New Art Gallery Walsall on Thursday 28 August 2008, 6pm-8pm and admission is free”
Help break a World Record this week
If you have any free time this week everyone working on the Big Picture would love to see you at Thinktank to help build this huge artwork. You can turn up at any time between 10am – 4pm each day until Thursday this week (if you’d like more details see the Big Picture site)
Sarah Ray exhibition
Fused report that “The very talented Sarah Ray will be exhibiting her work at The Marcus Galleries from the end of this month”
Running annually since 1994, the festival promises:
Great concerts, international stars and exciting and inspirational programmes brought to the heart of Birmingham
Which sounds lovely. Shows will take place at the Barber Institute, St George’s and St Augustine’s churches in Edgbaston and St Phillips Cathedral.
In case you’re too embarrassed to ask, early music refers to Baroque, Renaissance, choral and other music in that vein. Here, have a link to the wikipedia entry.
Between The Lines is a promenade performance taking place at the Central Library on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 September at 7pm, 8pm & 9pm.
Intriguing events are unfolding between the dusty bookshelves.
Night time strangers exchange unexpected messages, books fall open on empty pages, and a writer is eating his words.
Silence creeps through the maze of lettered corridors.
Some people come here to lose themselves, others to be found.
The Library at Night is not for every Reader
I have no idea what it will involve but it looks kinda cool. Places are free but, because of the nature of it you’ll need to book – just call 07530 939 380 or email needleandthreadtheatre@yahoo.co.uk.
Since 2003, when a smaller ‘UK version’ was shown in Birmingham Cathedral, the show has visited (among others) Australia, Slovenia, Canada, the USA, Denmark, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and various places around the UK. This time it will be turning up at the AE Harris Factory in/near the Jewellery Quarter.
This will be only the second showing of the larger ‘world version’, the scope of which is kinda mind-blowing:
As you approach this former metalworking factory you will be given a grain of rice. This grain is you. Inside lots of people are waiting for you, billions of them, each represented by a grain of rice. 112 tonnes of rice – 6.7 billion grains – one for everyone on the planet.
As you explore the extraordinary landscape of rice hills and mountains stretching out in front of you, you discover every pile represents a different population and that together these piles tell hundreds of stories, stories of the world’s people and politics, history and current affairs.
I’m a bit slow in reporting on this and have just noticed that it’s now almost finished. If it ever started, of course (Wayne at the Metro has doubts).
Donald Savage is an ‘American international cultural producer and curator’. Since 9 August he has been:
Bringing you the very best in artistic excellence from around the globe to the heart of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. I specialise in discrete and perhaps less obvious presentations of artists’ work that I have the pleasure of including in this current exhibition programme
There’s an introduction to the artists involved on Donald Savage’s blog and here’s the flyer:
BIAD’s MA students will be showing their work at the School of Art on Margaret Street from 29 August to 7 September. There’s a delightfully hectic website (or tumblr for those who’re fussed) featuring many examples of the work that’ll (presumably) be on show. To see that just click this link – Margaret Street MA Show 2008.
Meanwhile, this excellently succinct description/call to arms for the launch party:
PLEASE come to the annual Margaret Street MA show (Fine Art etc) Private View. Free Booze.
appears on the Facebook event. The private view is on Friday 29 August from 6-9pm. There’s also this ‘tacky retro animation’ (the MA Publicity peeps’ words, not mine):
Additionally, Creative Republic have arranged to jump on the RSA Fellows‘ trip to the show on Tuesday 2 September at 5.30pm which will include a welcome talk from Prof John Butler, a tour of the building and a look around the exhibition. Have a look on the Creative Republic website for more info.
