Created in Birmingham

The Birmingham Post’s Jon Walker spotted the above advert at Westminster tube station and this morning the paper (well, website) is reporting ‘MPs sign Commons motion to back Birmingham City of Culture bid‘. So how’s the bid going?

It’s difficult to gauge this. Thing is, we (as in, the people of Birmingham) aren’t going to be the target of much of the promotional stuff because we’re not doing the judging. You’d assume/hope the effort is being spent outside the city (like the poster above).

Btw, I should make it clear that I’m supportive of Birmingham’s City of Culture bid and think it’d be great to get the award.

So far, around Birmingham, I’ve seen a stack of flyers (at the Council House), a few adverts in various brochures and… well that’s been about it. On the plus side, I’ve not seen much of the usual trick of tacking a logo on to anything vaguely within grasp.

It would be interesting to see how the city is being sold to others, though. Which of the city’s strengths are being pushed forward? Bearing in mind the branding looks like it’s been recycled from a luxury watch marketing campaign, I’m guessing the Jewellery Quarter (and by association, the city’s industrial heritage) features in some way. What else?

Most visible from our perspective is the online stuff. Here’s what the various cities are doing:

• Birmingham – website, Facebook, Twitter
• Derry/Londonderry – website (congrats on the cheeky URL), Facebook, Twitter
• Norwich – website, Facebook, Twitter
• Sheffield – website, Facebook, Twitter

The good news there is that Birmingham’s website is as bland, information-free and predictable as all the others. The Facebook/Twitter stuff is being done just as poorly as everyone else’s too. Sad to see the previously quite popular canvasbirmingham.com site was killed off though (with credits for the local folks who developed it removed).

I’ve not seen so much discussion (there’s this on the Stirrer) so has anyone got any thoughts on all of this? Feel free to comment anonymously if you must.

Birmingham Word Cloud | As part of ‘plug in’ – the opening exhibition at the new mac gallery space in Birmingham – we are generating a city word cloud, entirely constructed from words submitted by the general public and associates. You can contribute your keywords (up to 5 please) by emailing Neil.Holland@macarts.co.uk or via twitter using the hashtag #brumwords

You can tell who’s been contributing so far.

The eagle-eyed shoppers among you may have noticed ballet shoes and tutus, like the one pictured above found in the Created in Birmingham shop, popping up all over Bullring recently.

Add this to questions like “What is Urban Ballet?” on the shopping centre’s Life Feels Better twitter stream, and this Urban Ballet website, and it looks like there will be a surprise in store for Bullring visitors tomorrow. Perhaps a little something like this:

If you want to find out what Urban Ballet is, it looks like it will be kicking off between 11am and 2pm, so get practising those pirouettes and get down to Bullring.

First up, Fluid‘s Jonny Costello points out that The Rainbow does have a website – it’s at therainbowvenues.co.uk.

Dave Harte pointed out the Aston Triangle Cinema Club, with the website proclaiming:

The Aston Triangle Cinema Club has been created in order to put on high quality and interesting films from around the world for the benefit of Aston staff, students and the public

Screening programme here. Facebook group here.

Dom (from Tak) says of Home of Metal:

Maybe you could feature the new website which has now gone live & ask your audience to dig out any memorabilia they might have – photos, videos or just stories.

Which sounds fair enough. We’ve mentioned this one a few times already, but it’s a good project so what the heck. Go here and get involved:

If you’re interested in making a music video – be you musician/band or filmmaker – then keep an eye on the 2Weeks 2Make It website and/or if you’re on Twitter then watch @2weeksbrum like the proverbial hawk.

Some good copy from Kent Davis at The Rainbow on their upcoming plans:

May 2010 sees the start our most ambitious period of metamorphosis yet.  How do you get more underground than The Rainbow? – only one way – turn the cellar into a venue. The Cellar Door (opening May 28 2010) – is under the very floorboards of the The Rainbow itself.  The original Rainbow now consists of Bar, Courtyard and Cellar each delivering a specific flavour to the overall taste of this unique venue.

July 2010 heralds the arrival of The Mezzanine.

The Rainbow Warehouse has hosted some legendary nights and provided the springboard for some maverick and massively successful brands.  Anyone who promotes here has relished the sense of decadence that comes with partying under the arches or the frisson of danger provided by the imposing industrial ironwork throughout the interior.  There is only one place left to go UP.  Launching in July 2010 The Mezzanine will ensure Summer Daytime parties will be going to new levels as The Rainbow Warehouse installs  an innovative take on The Zoo Project and DC10, and allows for open air partying on tiered levels.

The Arena (opening October 2010) is at the Opposite end of Adderley Street.  Bringing massed ranks of more Victorian railway arches under the over-reaching  curve of The Rainbow’s embrace – The Arena is set to witness musical mayhem and battles reminiscent  of The Coliseum – whose  amphitheatre architecture it mimics.  This massive site alone can cater for a capacity of 5000.

The Rainbow Complex now contains 9 separate venues on the same street that can be utilised for events of 200-5000 in isolation, or combined via a road closures to create a unique self contained Urban complex for 10,000 – licensed until 6am.  This is unprecedented anywhere else in the UK.

Any chance of a proper website or something so we can find out what events are happening down there?

I saw Mother India: 21st Century Remix in 2008 and it was honestly one of the best things I saw that year. It’s been off on tour since but will be back in Birmingham on Sunday (11 April) to crown Mother India weekend – a bunch of events happening at the Town Hall and Symphony Hall.

This version of Mother India is:

A reinterpretation of the 1957 Indian cinema classic as a 45 minute silent movie with new musical score will be performed live by DJ Tigerstyle, drummer David Shaw and cellist Matt Constantine with Josh Ford as visual editor.

MI21 is a compact, powerful and sensual take on Mehboob Khan’s Hindi masterpiece – a hugely important film in South Asian cinema, known for its iconic imagery and powerful storyline: the common shorthand is to reference it as India’s ‘Gone with the wind’.

Definitely go and see it. Here – here’s the link to get tickets.

Other things happening as part of the weekend:

• Fri 9 April Arun Ghosh Sextet (Symphony Hall foyer bars)
• Fri 9 April – Pandit Shivkumar Sharma (Mother India Weekend) (Town Hall)
• Sat 10 April – Mid-day Mantra – Sanchita Pal (Symphony Hall foyer bars)
• Sat 10 April – Amaan & Ayaan Ali Khan (Mother India Weekend) (Town Hall)

The first is in association with Birmingham Jazz, the others with sampad and, in some cases, The Drum.

The Mid-day Mantra thing sounds quite good – a variant on the Rush Hour Blues series, I guess. That’ll be happening once a month from now on and will be a freebie.

The other day Chris did a brief update on some of the events coming up at the Created in Birmingham shop in the Bullring. That just scratched the surface. Here’s the rundown of what’s currently booked for the rest of month (with apologies to RussL)

Matt Moore will be building Art Detectors in our strange little room for a few weeks and using the space to display that which his machines say is worthy. Here’s a rather silly video which took me by surprise as he seemed so serious when describing it to me.

Matt’s residency (for it is a residency, in that he’ll be resident) will begin with him moving his workshop from his shed to the shop and end with a viewing of the “Gallery of Good Art” submitted by you, yes you, the public. Or it might be something else.

Around the same time we’re hoping to have an exhibition of Birmingham Royal Ballet props and costumes in our upstairs windows. They’re currently haunting the stock room before being used elsewhere so it makes sense to show them off.

Stitches and Hos are in this weekend. Here’s the poster:

The plan, I believe, is to stitch the phrase “Created in Birmingham” in foot-high letters which will be hung along a 10 metre stretch of the shop. To participate simply grab some wool and stitch a stretch which will be subsumed into the whole. DJs for the weekend include Commercially Inviable Records, Fox, Catweasel, Kings Heath Radiophonic Workshop and Heat and Light DJ’s. But it’s not just DJs and cake…

Shady Bard are doing an acoustic set on Saturday 10th from 3-5pm. Here’s them playing Supersonic in 2007:

If you’re a fan of Teh Bard we have the random detritus of their cupboards on sale – badges, CDs, tour flyers and a t-shirt. Yup, just the one.

On Saturday 17th Dave Springer from Inkwell will be running a screenprinting workshop from 11am-5pm. This will involve hands-on screen printing onto t-shirts and you can bring your own shirts. None of your vinyl or heat-transfer malarkey – this will be the real thing.

Immediately after that Rich Batsford will be playing piano for a couple of hours to see us out, specifically tracks from his album Valentine Court which, naturally, is on sale in the shop. Should be the perfect end to a busy Saturday in retail. Here’s Rich doing his thing:

On Sunday 18th Friends of the Earth are running a Swap Shop. I’m not sure exactly how this will work but I guess the idea is you bring stuff you don’t need and take stuff you do. If anyone brings shop fittings, tables and other stuff we need I’m sure the shop will donate some goodies to the pot. (Cheaper than going to IKEA, that’s for sure). More info on this as we get it but here’s a post on the FOE site to keep you going.

Tuesday 20th at 6.30 sees the first meeting of Project Brutal which aims “to create a series of events … that celebrates and captures Birmingham’s Brutal Central Library before it potentially becomes a pile of rubble.”

As we move towards the end of the month it’s getting a little sketchy. I have Blue Whale Studios organising acoustic gigs on Saturday 24th, which I’m guessing will mean people singing with guitars during the day. And then there’s Meet the Artists on Sunday 25th which is something Aaron Andrews (who works Monday – Thursday) is organising on the condition I don’t have anything to do with it. I’ll let him write something about it in his own time.

And that’s about it so far. Remember, the space is there to be used by interesting people doing interesting things. None of the above people have paid for the space. We just ask that they keep the volume reasonable, don’t get in the way of the customers and potentially bring new people into the shop. If you’d like to use the space for something, be it a meet-up or a gig, pop in and have a chat.

An article on the Guardian’s film blog has asked:

Can Birmingham’s eclectic lucky dip of a festival help rejuvenate its Digbeth base?

That festival being Flatpack. Now, I was always told that if the title of a newspaper article asks a question then the answer is most likely ‘no’. In this case, the answer given is revealed to be more like ‘well, first of all Digbeth needs a cash machine, some residents, public transport, a post office and some street lighting’. Which is fair enough.

Hanging the cultural hopes of  an entire area on one annual festival (no matter how good) was a bit of a reach anyway.

On another matter, two parts of the article jumped out:

Amazingly, points out George Clark, a curator who put together Flatpack’s Build Them in the Mind programme of short films, Birmingham still lacks a proper arthouse cinema. This in England’s second-largest city.

Which is true but needs tallying against Ian Francis saying:

“I hate it when people say Birmingham is apathetic” about film and culture, he says. “The interest is there”

Which is also true.

That there’s only one independent cinema in Birmingham is a bit of a shocker, but mac reopens soon and don’t forget the Light House is only just up the road.

Even better, there are quite a few people getting off their backsides to put films on away from the multiplexes. Film nights are rife – off the top of my head there’s Moving Pictures, Juniper Cinema, Kino Concrete, Filmrats, Popcorn, the Animation Forum events, BIFS, Screen Sunday at The Plough and occasional things at The Sunflower Lounge. Those are just the ones I can remember, too. Pretty much all of those are in pubs, which isn’t always going to be ideal and they’re unlikely to show the latest releases, but I think Ian’s right about apathy not being the problem.

• Kino Concrète: Two Thousand Maniacs! « More Canals than Venice
  Basement Bar (top of New St in the city centre) have a free film night. Noted.
• INTERVIEW: A Conversation with Dave Juste
  Scene Not Heard have a natter with Dave Juste from Subculture
• Midlands Media Awards launched
  This is aimed mainly at journos. Deadline for entries is 16 April.
• The Major Arcana « More Canals than Venice
  “The project included over 35 models, a team of make-up artists and prop/costume creation by BCU students”. Coming soon to the Works Gallery. Soon as in 12-16 April
• thisisfeed: jon burgerman at FEED
  “Jon Burgerman will be giving a FEED seminar on May19th”
• James Langdon shortlisted for Grafik Design Awards « We Are Eastside | Birmingham
  “James Langdon, designer of the We Are Eastside identity has been shortlisted for the Grafik Design Awards 2010″. Congrats, James!
• This Is Tomorrow
  This Is Tomorrow do club nights, have consistently good posters (by Lewes Herriot) and have a new website with mixes and such thereupon
• Ikon Eastside announces 2010 programme « We Are Eastside
  “Ikon Eastside has announced its programme of exhibitions for 2010, opening on Thursday 27th May with an installation from German sound artist Florian Hecker”
• Rediscovering Birmingham’s movie meccas | Film | guardian.co.uk
  “The Flatpack film festival’s Odeon bus tour unspooled the story of the rise and fall of Oscar Deutsch’s 1930s art deco picture palaces”
• Scene Not Heard Birmingham – Bands, Promoters and Local Music Portal: Scene Not Heard presents…THE SATURDAY MATINÉES
  This is an Interesting Idea. Having had a look at the problems with getting folks to go to gigs, these have decided to put bands on at Island Bar on Saturday afternoons

International Dance Festival Birmingham kicks off on 19 April and runs through to 15 May.

At this point I should chuck in a disclaimer that I’ve been working with the festival’s organisers for a year or so on how they approach things online. However, that does mean that I’ve got a bit of a clue about what the line-up includes. Which is nice, because there are any number of ways of slicing and dicing a festival’s programme – this is my attempt to group it up a bit.

There’s more going on than I’ll mention here so see the IDFB website’s What’s On and Taking Part pages for the whole caboodle.

Local stuff

• Rosie Kay Dance Company – 5 SOLDIERS The Body is the Frontline - Rosie’s based in Birmingham and this is a new commission which will explore the physical toll taken by war
• Colin Dunne – Out of Time – Colin was born in Birmingham, was nine times world Irish step dance champion and also principal dancer in Riverdance. This is his first full-length solo work
• DX Productions & Two’s Company – Funny Bones – something for the kids: a brand new in-the-round double bill of contemporary dance for over 5′s.

Big ticket items

• Akram Khan Company – Gnosis. See pic above.
• Mark Morris Dance Group – L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato. This has had more 5 star reviews than I’ve had hot dinners.
• Ballet Nacional de Cuba – Magia de la Danza and Giselle.
• Outspoken Weekend. Something you won’t see anywhere else – a season dedicated to new performances from Arab artists, 8 shows in all (see the What’s On page for the lot)

Something a bit different

• Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui/Sadler’s Wells London – Sutra. 17 Shaolin monks. A set designed by Antony Gormley. Sharp suits. Nuff said.
• C!RCA – Circa. Described as ‘a thoroughly new circus’. This was a big hit at last the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
• Chris Haring – Running Sushi. I don’t know much about this other than that it’ll be at Ikon Eastside and the order of the 12 performances will be chosen by audience members who picking sushi off a plate

Free stuff

For IDFB 2008, Victoria Square was taken over by two stages, gantries, firecracker-stuffed cars and three dance companies. It was so good I went twice. This year we’re told that:

contemporary dancers will form a brand new dance company collective alongside Russian, Spanish, Indian and African folk dance groups, all moving to the turbo-folk Gypsy and Balkan beats of Birmingham’s very own band The Destroyers

The event’s called UTOPIA and will be performed a few times over the Bank Holiday weekend of 1-3 May. In the words of the choreographer:

There’ll be bits of furniture all over the place and basically it’ll look like 40 people, plus the band, have attacked the square

Which sounds pretty good. As does Waves, which is right up my street. Wander past the Hippodrome between 8-11pm from 22 April to 5 May to see/play with that.

Put Your Foot Down is the final showpiece on 15 May – an afternoon of free performances and dance demos, with a mass synchronised hip hop/street dance routine lead by Salah, a hugely popular hip hop artist from France, in St Martin’s Square, Bullring.

Taking part

There’s also a whole bunch of workshops and classes you can get involved in.

Late-ish notice on this one, but there’ll be some beading workshops in the CiB shop this week, starting tomorrow (Monday 6 April). Here’s the info:

Who is it suitable for?

This is a beginners beading workshop for all ages! There really is no limit on who can attend although a small amount of dexterity with your fingers would be desired as you will have to handle small beads and thread them onto a thin wire. If you have never attempted to make the kind of simple beaded jewellery that you see in the shops and fancy having a go then come along and join in the fun!

What will you make?

You will have the opportunity to design and construct a beaded necklace, earrings or bracelet. All materials will be provided and when when the workshop is complete you may take your crafted jewellery home with you. At the end of the session there is an opportunity to purchase other small jewellery items from the shop.

The Facts!

• Cost: one hour – £5
• Level – Beginners
• Duration of class – 1 hour
• Maximum of 10 people per session
• Workshop Leader: Emelia Wells

Times and dates will be:

• Monday 5 April – 12pm and 1.30pm
• Tuesday 6 April – 1pm and 2.30pm
• Thursday 8 April – 4pm and 5.30pm

On 1 May 2010, mac will open its doors again and there’s a bunch of stuff going on to mark the occasion.

There’s a celebratory gig featuring Misty’s Big Adventure, Vijay Kishore, and Kevin Dempsey and Joe Broughton, there’s Motionhouse’s outdoor dance spectacular Cascade, The City Sings, featuring the new anthem for the mac by Helen Ottaway, and a host of other things to take part in.

But the fun stuff doesn’t stop there. Once mac is open, there’ll be a steady stream of events and interesting goings on to keep you going back to Cannon Hill Park for more.

On the performance side of things, there’s Motionhouse’s multimedia dance Scattered, comedian Daniel Kitson’s 66a Church Road,  “return” by spoken-word artist Polarbear. In the visual arts and events spectrum there’s a discussion on the invention of the balti, an exhibition charting the history of sampad, and a debate on social media and globalisation.

And don’t forget there’s a programme of events for families, learning opportunities and the cinema.

For full listings and updates, be sure to check the mac website here.

This is very recommended. I’d feel bad for not posting it here but I’m a bit wary in case it’s too popular and I can’t get in on the night.

Polarbear, Dreadlock Alien, Belinda Zhawi, Eva Lazarus, Boat to Row and Jodi Ann Bickley are the names on the flyer for an evening of spoken word and acoustic music.

8 April at the Hare & Hounds. Free entry. Info on the H&H website.

While we’re on the subject, Polarbear will be back on 19 and 20 May at the mac to perform his new one ‘Return. I’m looking forward to that one.