It’ll be at The (ex-Orange) Studio in the city centre and will be hosted by Paul Murphy & Gary O’Dea.
The Songwriter’s Cafe
started in the autumn of 1996 to encourage the art of song writing by establishing a regular dedicated high profile performance platform for local songwriters, a rare thing in those days
With the Hello World after party ending at 8pm there’s talk in certain quarters of trying to move things along here afterwards. It may be worth reserving your free tickets now if you’re interested in going.
At long last The Drum is launching “Young Gifted Brum“, a free and continuous program of performing and digital arts for Children and Young People.
The launch will take place on Thursday, 6th November at 5.30pm – 7.30pm at The Drum, Aston and all Young People aged 8-18yrs are welcome to come along if they are interested in Singing, Dance, Music, Digital Art, Acting and Spoken Word to find out what will be on offer in the coming months. They do not have to have any experience and it is not just open to people who want to perform. There will be an opportunity to showcase your talents at two annual events, whether your talents lie in producing, writing, directing, delivering events or performing in them.
There will also be a free “Taster Session†that will take place at The Drum on Saturday, 8th November between 12pm and 4pm.
For more information please contact Dee on (0121) 333 2431
Taken from the Arts Council’s free mailing list, which is free and worth making use of. I imagine it goes to quite a lot of people nationwide and it’d be great to have plenty of Birmingham (and other West Mids) stuff on it.
The Flip Animation Festival (6-8 November at Light House, Wolverhampton) has been assembling a rather tasty line-up over the past little while, as documented on their nicely informative blog.
Highlights include:
A retrospective of work from Osbert Parker, best know for his cut out animation style mixed with live action; BAFTA & Screen WM Presents: Ninja Theory, the game developers behind the stunning Heavenly Sword and Kung Fu Chaos; Sita Sings the Blues, a screening of this modern classic and Indian epic; a day of Doctor Who animation treats and a real Dalek fleet will invade Light House!
The line-up is up on the Flip Festival website and tickets are available at very reasonable prices.
It’s competition time!
However, if you’d rather swipe a ticket for free then here’s your chance. There are two available, to be given separately (ie not as a pair) so there’ll be two winners.
All you have to do is leave a comment claiming your ticket, first two claimants will win. Rules are as before (except for the first one) and please use a proper email address so I can get in touch.
Gallery Of Owls is a new artist-led space coming to 27 Woodbridge Road, Moseley and opening on Thursday 23 October. I’ve not found any more info about the place itself, but the opening show is Black Leviathan.
There’s a preview of the show from 6-8pm on 23 October. It will then be open 1-5pm on Saturdays and Sundays until 6 November. Here’s the show’s blurb:
Owls delve into the memory and the subconscious to create BLACK LEVIATHAN a homage to the polyethylitic dream, for the opening show of Gallery of Owls.
BLACK LEVIATHAN is a channel created by Owls as a place of reflection and meditation that has manifested itself in physical form within the confines of the Gallery of Owls.
BLACK LEVIATHAN is a portal, Owls are unsure as of where to, but are encouraged to reinforce the mental route the other place.
The only online presence for this that I’ve found so far is this Facebook event. If you know what ‘polyethylitic’ means (many and alcohol induced?) then feel free to enlighten me.
She is currently crafting her photojournalism skills with the Birmingham Post & Mail newspapers where she has had some of her work published. She also specialises in portrait and documentary photography.
Karen’s work has recently been exhibited at Birmingham Museum Collection Centre, and at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham
4Talent Central Film Weekender
As part of the Hello Digital festival the local 4Talent folk have put together some film events at the Electric Cinema. On Friday there are 5 films from the annual Horrorfest competition. Saturday sees Pixar’s Michal Makarewicz introducing WALL-E (in high def). Sunday returns to horror with 28 Days Later, followed by a debate on the future of digital film
Punch – News – MOBO 2008 nomination for Punch!!!
Ammo from Punch was nominated for a BeMOBO award which honours an individual or organisation making a difference in the community. He was pipped to the post by Ricky McCalla in the end but a round of applause is due nonetheless
Animation Forum WM – Eight Eyed Sea Bass in Profile
Interesting interview with Paul and Dom from Eight Eyed Sea Bass. Covering topics like the London/regions divide, funding/support for animators and current/future projects. Having seen it, I can also confirm that they have a “bloody nice studio”
Although I’ve only dipped into have a look occasionally, Capsule’s Home of Metal project seems to be picking up pace nicely.
This blog is going to be used to keep people going until the archive is launched at the end of the month and will then be used for info around related events, contributions from volunteers, news and all that sort of good stuff.
The next event is an open day (with special guests) at Wolverhampton Art Gallery from 10am to 4.30pm. Entry and refreshments will both be free. It’s part of the Hello Digital thing and I’ll definitely be popping over for a look around at some point.
After a failed career as Britain’s second-favourite celebrity fitness coach, Max Fitness turns to German morning television for a final shot at cellulite-busting stardom.
showcases the work of local, national and international designer makers through a full programme of exhibitions, workshops and special events. All exhibitions are free of charge and the festival promises to be a fascinating insight into jewellery-making today
will take place at a variety of venues across the city and region from 28th November 2008 – 21st December 2008.
Incidentally, is there anyone regularly blogging (or reporting in any way) about jewellery in Birmingham? I’ve not spotted anyone on my wanderings and would love to know if I’ve missed someone.
What I wrote the other day about Fluid Design flying slightly above my radar probably applies just as much to First Light Movies who do some fantastic work, but often on a national, rather than local scale.
They describe themselves thusly:
First Light Movies funds and inspires film projects with five to 19-year-olds throughout the UK.
Since launching in 2001, we have enabled over 12,000 budding young filmmakers to write, act, shoot, light, direct and produce over 800 films. Working with filmmakers and organisations, First Light Movies films cover a diverse range of topics and genres, and make use of accessible digital film technology.
With all the good stuff they’re doing, I was pleased to see that they’ve started a First Light Movies blog. Perhaps that’ll help me keep up with them.
I had a chat with Gary from First Light at the Birmingham Social Media Surgery last night and he seems keen to experiment with the format in their work and see how best to use it – perhaps showcasing the work they do, promoting their own (and, just as importantly, others) events/projects and all sorts of other things to boot. Good to see.
James Griffin is a 22 year old graphic designer working out of this fair city. He’s running a great blog called CMYKern picking up on bits of design that catch his eye, just the sort of blog I have a large soft spot for (they’re great for adding colour to your RSS reader).
The scope of his posts aren’t limited geographically but he does seem to profile some local things every now and again, including this post on Jibbering Art’s recent Shambala exhibition where he makes an excellent point:
Being the second largest city in Britain we need to make the most of this type of event and embrace the cities creativity. I didn’t realize how much stuff there was going on in Birmingham until I moved back here after my studies. Birmingham doesn’t lack creativity, or public space, as is apparent by this exhibition, what it does lack is a medium in which to reach out to people. A medium to let people know what is going on. I stumbled across this exhibition by chance and it saddens me to think that I might not have caught up with this exhibition had it not been for a chance encounter.
Yes! Excellently said. As much as I’d like to trumpet CiB’s efforts in this area, I spend much more time meeting people who don’t read this blog than people who do. There’s much more to be done in making people aware of what’s going on.
Debut magazine
Due to launch in 2009, debut magazine proposes to “provide a platform from which creative people, whether artists, musicians, designers or performers to showcase their talents to a wider audience”. They’re after some of those ‘creative individuals’ to be part of the first edition
Robert Lane
Robert is a musician and on his blog he documents the trials and tribulations of working the West Mids gig circuit. It’s well worth a read. He’s also a member of a comedy troupe called the new Raving Loonies Stole My Heart. Their new show, The Terrifying Tour of Terrible Terror calls at the Arena in Wolverhampton on the 30th of October. Swearing and scariness is promised
Flatpack Festival // 11-15 March 2009 -
The newly designed Flatpack Festival site has launched. There’s a call for submissions on there but because it’s one of those slightly infuriating websites that don’t have distinct pages to link to I can’t point that out to you. It’s easy enough to spot though Amateur that I am, I didn’t spot the permanent links – here’s the submissions one (ta Ian!)
PHOTOBIRMINGHAM
“A blog dedicated to creating a photospace in Birmingham and a place to celebrate photography”. Good to see this up and running. I for one will be watching developments with interest
Download Copter’s album for free
Local band Copter have made their 3rd LP free to download. It’s “12 cuts of all new, dynamite soul”. Pass the link on to anyone you reckon might like a copy
Eye of the Storm is a digital project that has started off in Birmingham with involvement from Sandra Hall from Friction Arts. Voila le blurb:
What do a human statue, a divorce lawyer, a buddhist and a recovering drug addict have in common? The invisible connections between very different Birmingham lives are laid bare in a new online and real-world project that explores how people find peace within the noise of 21st century living.
There are two parts, with the website showcasing the stories, with an outdoor digital art installation due to appear in the city centre at some point.
