Hi everyone.
It’s occurred to me that, since taking the reins again here, I’ve not really said hello. So, um… ‘hello’.
As the title reveals, this is CiB’s 2000th post, coming just a few weeks shy of the site’s 3rd birthday on 1 December (we’ve got plans for that – stay tuned). I generally prefer to keep the navel-gazing on this site to a minimum but I thought I might as well use this milestone to mention a few things.
It’s good to be back
That’s the first thing to say.
What’s going on at CiB
Yes, so I’ve taken the website over again and will be looking after the blog and everything that goes with it. Send stuff to createdinbirmingham@gmail.com, add us to your mailing list, etc.
Pete Ashton’s lurking in the background and will have a role in some of the other, non-editorial stuff CiB does. He’s written quite a long post about CiB’s history which hints at where the site might be going – hopefully he’ll post it sometime soonish.
How CiB’s going to pay for itself
Because there’s no reason why it shouldn’t, really:
- Advertising – £50 a week is a bargain. Get in touch if you’d like to take advantage.
- Supporters Programme – this is launching on Monday so I’ll leave the info on this until then
- Projects – we’re going to start doing stuff under the CiB name. If there’s a suitable project you think we might be interested in then get in touch
I’ll write a post about this on my personal blog at some point as I’d rather not clog this site up with waffle about how online stuff sustains itself. Kittens and ‘monetisation’ – that’s all the internet is these days (grumble, etc).
More about projects
There are a few good plans in the pipeline, but if there’s anything you think we might enjoy getting involved in please do let us know. We’re thinking workshops on arts blogging, curating festival fringes, acting as a ‘media partner’ at events… have a think and let us know.
Chris Keenan has the above photo showing at Colorado’s Center for Fine Art Photography at the moment, at an exhibition entitled ‘Portraits‘ juried by Mary Ellen Mark.
Tom is the owner of a prefab home in Moseley – once surrounded by many similar ones, his is now one of the few remaining among the redeveloped properties.
Mary Ellen Mark is name that should be recognised by anyone who’s studied photography. To have had work picked out by her (she chose 52 portraits from 2500 submissions) is a great credit to Chris.
Yep, from here on in it’s pretty much inescapable.
The Frankfurt Christmas Market (a celebration of charming curios and glühwein or a tat-strewn bovine/pedestrian magnet depending on your point of view) opened today, which is as good a reason as any to link to Old Dead Eye’s lovely video.
Apparently there’ll be a Solihull one this year too, opening 28 Nov.
On Saturday (14 Nov) the Christmas lights are being switched on with a 5-hour pop-fest at Millenium Point which actually features a pretty impressive line-up. BRMB are putting on The Sugababes, JLS, Calvin Harris, Alexandra Burke, Chipmunk, Pixie Lott, Tinchy Stryder, Little Boots and the Noisettes. Not my kinda thing but I’ve at least heard of all of them.
(Pic by hartlandmartin)
Swimming Without Water is a group exhibition taking place in January 2010 at Moseley Road Bath Centre.
Contemporary artists Flora Gare, Debbie Akam and Tim Skinner will create a site-specific exhibition with the aim of encouraging the local and wider community to rediscover Moseley Road Baths and experience them in a different way. It will also potentially help towards the conservation of a building of historic importance.
The Friends of Moseley Road Baths are currently campaigning to secure the building’s future. You can find out more about that on their website.
Home By Six is a new project from Multistory:
Whatever it is about your journey, if you can tell it in six words we want to hear it.
Stories will be featured in an exhibition called ‘Home by Six’ which will take place at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery in the Community Gallery from 21 November 2009 to 7th February 2010. The Community Gallery is an exciting new space dedicated to exhibitions created in collaboration with communities.
There’s a few ways to get involved in this one:
- Text ‘homebysix’ plus your story, name and town to 60300 (calls charged at your operator’s standard network rate)
- Email: send your story, name and town to yourstory@homebysix.co.uk
- Twitter: use the hashtag #homebysix
- Online: write your story at the Home By Six website
From 12-14 November, Jo Gane will be exhibiting at The Old Science Museum, 144 Newhall Street:
Critically commenting on the traditional British landscape and our continuing search for an authentic and historical representation of it, Coventry based photographer Jo Gane questions the mythologies and values placed upon specific historical sites across Britain. Adopting the traditional wet plate collodion process for her work, the artist goes in search of relics and objects found within the customary British landscape, specifically sighting out those that hold some evidence of historic authenticity
Jo will also be in the gallery on Thursday 12th Nov from 2-6pm creating some of her glass plate negatives.
I’d not come across TROVE before:
TROVE is an arts organisation that uses Birmingham city as its gallery space. Often happening in unused spaces, in the back of vans or in gardens, TROVE brings to Birmingham some of the best emerging art talent from across the world as well as representing some local emerging Birmingham artists
There’s a new open mic spoken word and poetry night called Coffee Shop Poets that’s starting at The Margarett Rose Abri, in Digbeth – a relatively new place that’s billed as being friendly to artists (the cafe, that is).
Actually, on that theme, the flyer insists that there will be no alcohol served, that the audience will be purely there for the poetry and that the surroundings will be safe and appreciative. Which makes me wonder what the heck when down the last time they put an event on.
Anyway, the flyer also says:
If anyone fancies coming along to perform their work (or anyone elses!) or just to listen – they can feel free to come and relax and enjoy a coffee – and will be very welcome.
…admission is free but there will be collection tins for the breast cancer charity ‘Breakthrough’ strategically placed around the joint!
Sounds nice. The next one is on Thurs 12 November and they’ll be running on the first Thurs of the month after that.
The same cafe is also running acoustic sessions on Sunday afternoons and The Espresso Sized Theatre on 27 November
With a cast of three or less, minimal props and each play being between 15-20 mins long
The fizzPOP Howduino event takes place on Saturday 21st November, 10am – 5.30pm:
It’s a free event that will bring together 40 people from different backgrounds to work individually and collaboratively on various projects based around the Arduino platform. (Arduinos are small microcontrollers designed for easy prototyping of things that have electronics/data that respond to things in the physical world and vice versa. In their own words: “It’s intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments.”)
The event will cater for people of all skill levels (we’re running introductory workshops for beginners too) with the main aim being to get people combining components – be they electronic or cardboard – and ideas to produce cool stuff.
The workshop places have all gone now but there are still a few attendee tickets left. If you’re really keen to do a workshop then put your name down here and they might be able to free up some space.
Ta to Nikki Pugh for sending the info.
Some news from Sutton Coldfield! It’s been a while but this is a good one. Phil Hurst emailed to say:
I am currently running an event at the Station Pub in Sutton Coldfield trying to promote and encourage new writing within Birmingham and the surrounding area. The event stages its second night on the 24th November and I would appreciate it if you could promote it in some way on your blog. We are especially looking for actors and actresses who would be prepared to donate their time to reading some of the scripts, although I we also need some more scripts for the upcoming event.
The night is called Semper Station and the next one is billed as celebrating the anticipation of Christmas (rather than the event itself).
If you want more info then hie thee hence to the Semper Writer’s Group website. Submissions are required by 15 November.
One for the font-worriers this (and I know there are a few who read this blog). UKType are organising Typographic Horizons at BIAD on 18 November 2009.
The programme includes a fair amount of local talent (I’m no expert in this area but I recognise the names of David Osbaldestin, Smile, Ben Waddington and the Baskerville Project) with some international flavour added by Henrik Birkvig from the Danish School of Media & Journalism and John D Berry from Microsoft Typography in Seattle.
It’s £25 for most folks, £15 concessions. Here’s the full programme and you can register here.
Speaking of Smile, they went to visit Airside recently and written it all up on their blog. Well worth a read. This quote from Jamie Wieck stood out:
“We’re now a design company competing with advertising companies that have design and digital design subsidiaries. They know how to talk… some call it strategy, others might call it hot air, but either way we have to learn a bit of that now in order to compete.”
Untied Artists. They’ll be at the First Bite Festival on Thursday 12 November showing an extract of ‘Al Bowlly’s Croon Manifesto’.
(Hat tip Nick Booth)
Ammo from Punch Records has been using his Birmingham Post blog to good effect – today he’s announcing a new project called Counter / Culture:
Starting today we’re setting up a project @ Punch HQ called “Counter / Culture” studying those who’ve begun changing the nation from our city’s streets; radicals, chartists, abolitionists, suffragettes, artists, rockers, bhangramuffins, rastas and punks.
If this inspires you, get in touch. Consider this a manifesto
The inspiration for this is the Urban Curators from Providence, Rhodes Island. The aim of their project is to:
engage the public in the celebration of the decaying urban environment, recognizing its inherent aesthetic qualities as well as the important role that it plays within our cultural habitat
Which they do by:
literally hanging gold, gallery-style frames in derelict spaces within the city, framing objects and views that are of aesthetic or cultural value
Their full mission statement is on the very fantastic Wooster Collective blog. As Ammo said, if this inspires you, get in touch.
The latest from Kate Beatty:
I shot a body of work a few years ago which looked at the decline of independent business called ‘Dying Breeds’. The other is a little personal project that I have called ‘Birmingham artists’ but it’s really about Birmingham people.
These boys Steven and Nathan are PolarBear Records, an independent shop on York Road
To parrot the official blurb:
Screen WM’s Festival of Film gives you the chance to enjoy free screenings of sensational films that have been inspired by, produced or filmed in the West Midlands
It runs from 16-29 November at venues around the region. Here’s the main list of films, and here’s what’s playing when and where in Birmingham:
- Tormented – 16 Nov, AMC Broadway Plaza
- Almost Adult – 20 Nov, The Drum
- Faintheart – 21 Nov, AMC Broadway Plaza
- The Children – 23 Nov, Electric Cinema
- Road to Guantanemo – 25 Nov, Electric Cinema
- Confetti – 28 Nov, AMC Broadway Plaza
- Nativity – 29 Nov, AMC Broadway Plaza
The other films showing around the region are Special People, Clubbed, The Mandrake Root, 1 Day and Straightheads.
Snap up tickets here.
