Created in Birmingham

In January this year we introduced and thanked the first few CiB Supporters.

Congratulations were given to Raphael Selbourne for winning the 2009 Costa First Novel Award and we came across The Music Quarter, a new music blog.

Hustle made the move to the Midlands, we had a giggle with Kipple and the Emerging Festivals Fund was announced, with some of the fruits of that being revealed towards the middle part of the year. Leftfoot started their 10th birthday celebrations and our most popular post of the year was published.

Ian joined the CiB team, we got the first glimpse of WeVee and plans were announced for the CiB shop

We also waved hello to Jane Anderson, Mark Wilkinson, Lucy Pryor, Phill Blake, Helen Flanagan, Sarah Lynch, Jade Sukiya, Jodi Ann Bickley, Leon Sparkes and Luke Halliley.

We also said farewell to Neil Farrington.

We’re taking a bit of a break here but CiB will return in the new year. In the meantime, I’ll be posting a few ‘year in review’ things to remind you that 2010 was alright really, and that all the talk of (and worrying over) money over recent months shouldn’t detract from some great art, work and artworks.

Meanwhile, just to show how 2010 looked on Created in Birmingham, we published 649 blog posts and attracted 578 comments, garnering 222,264 pageviews from 81,937 unique (like snowflakes) visitors. There was also 1 shop that took £45,000, with most of that money going to the artists themselves.

Over the past 12 months we’ve also had 40 CiB supporters and a handful of advertisers – a big thank you goes out to them for helping us to keep the site going.

These were the 10 most popular posts published this year:

1. Apache Indian has his own bar
2. Recommended BCC arts cuts (possibly)
3. CiB Shop – The End Game
4. Coming (very) soon – the CiB Shop
5. CiB Shop – here’s how you can get involved
6. CiB Shop – an invitation
7. Birmingham arts and arts grant budgets for 2011/12
8. Factory Club closing down
9. The HMV Institute
10. The Radar Magazine

I’m not really one for doing ‘best of’s but (off the top of my head) it was good to see the MAC reopening, I liked the Steve McCurry retrospective at BMAG and Len Lye at Ikon (which is still on), Birmingham European Theatre Festival was fun and I enjoyed a load of things at International Dance Festival Birmingham.

Odd but great moments included ‘sleeping’ on stage during Stan’s Cafe‘s Tuning Out with Radio Z (which I’ve written about here) and, of course, That Shop.

There was plenty more besides and far too many things I wish I’d seen but didn’t. I suppose I’ll just have to try to see more next year.

Merry Christmas from one and all at Created in Birmingham!

To be honest, I’d be surprised if anyone is reading this (and to be even more honest, I wrote this a few days back anyway) but, in case it’s timely, here are a few things on TV that you might be interested in today:

• Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Cinderella, BBC2 at 3pm
• Best of European Opera 2010 (ft Birmingham Opera Company’s Othello), BBC4 at 7pm

Screen WM have done a round-up of the festive stuff they’ve been involved in, including The Brothers McLeod’s The Moon Bird (Christmas Day, 12.40am on Channel 4 – oh, bit late for that, sorry), the new series of Upstairs Downstairs (Boxing Day, 9pm on BBC 1), Toast (30 December, 9pm on BBC 1) and, later on in January, the return of Hustle.

If you’ve got some vouchers burning a hole in your pocket then Soulboy and Nativity are out on DVD.

On the radio side of things, Robin Valk’s Handsworth Evolution will be played on 30 December on BBC WM.

Still don’t have an outfit lined up for New Year? Don’t panic yet! A team of MA Fashion Media students at BIAD have been busy in the run up to Christmas and New Year, coming up with an all you need to know guide to party outfits for the festive season.

Collaborating with local models and photographers, stylists Elca Jeffers, Caroline Ropper and Laura Beany have put together a shoot featuring their key looks.

Here’s a few of their suggestions:

Sequins and Metallics are a firm favourite during Christmas and New Year…

For a hint of shine and sparkle this festive season pull out that little sequin skirt, jacket or the full on metallic dress, pair with thick black tights and chunky heels and a fur jacket, coat or shrug. If that’s too much for you accessorise a plain dress with some shiny jewellery even mix and match gold and silver for that metallic effect.

Faux Fur

Faux fur collars, shrugs jackets and coats are a stylish way to keep warm and feel luxurious; they can dress up a casual smart outfit or give you the full glamorous look on top of your perfect evening outfit.

Tailored for the Lady

Funk up your old work jacket by rolling up the sleeves and placing a broach on your collar, then throw it over your favourite party dress, and there you have the most classic look of the season and future seasons to come.

The Little Black Dress “LBD”

Make a statement with your LBD and add oversized jewellery or go for that sophisticated look with dainty diamante pieces or even try the gothic look and team with black jewels, lace tights and bright red lips.

Curvy Corsets

Corsets can be reworked each season and look great with a nice pair of jeans for that casual smart look or with a pencil or puffball skirt which can create a unique party dress effect.

Hunting for haberdashery is also on their radar, listing tassels, diamantes, thinestones, lace, studs, ribbons and sequins as things to look out for.

They also suggest raiding your mum and grandma’s wardrobe to dig out vintage accessories, building your own look from the 1920′s to 1980′s, “these days even the 90’s are classed as old school”.

Photographs shot by Miles Thomas and Ryan Wicks, featuring models Jas Kaur and Tatyana Advani.

Not Charlie Windsor, although he was meant to be in Birmingham today to unveil a statue (snow stopped play).

This is the Prince of Wales pub in Moseley, which I’ve just discovered has a blog. The owners use it to talk about upcoming events but also to rail against what they see as the negative effect or regeneration/gentrification in the area.

The latest cause for concern apparently came up at an acoustic folk night on Tuesday evening:

a few weeks ago Crosby Lend Lease, the developer of the proposed flats next door, came to the Tuesday night folk session. One of their employees pretended to want to record some of the folk session for radio, so the musicans and my staff agreed. This person then used noise level recording equipment to record the sound levels in the pub. This information can now be used against us.

Read the blog post for more info.

And when I say a minute, I mean a minute. It’s mainly checkboxes.

I’m interested in finding out which websites/online services people use to find out about what’s going on around Birmingham. Which listings websites people use and how they keep up to date with what’s going on – that sort of thing.

Here’s the link to the form.

Thanks very much. I’ll share the results afterwards.

On 14 Janurary, John Parman will be holding a free workshop for arts non-profits, community groups and social enterprises, offering skills in fundraising.

The workshop will take place at 2:00 – 4:30 pm, in Birmingham City University’s Baker Building, room 210, City North Campus, Perry Barr.

This workshop is a seminar in techniques, skills and games that can build or turnaround an organization’s capacity to do easy, effective wide audience development programs. Participants will learn what organizational fund raising takes and ways to test skills and build morale in a professional environment. The session will not be taped or otherwise recorded.

There will be a question and answer session immediately following the training.

John Parman first became involved in fundraising in 2003 as a grants writer and talent researcher at GlobalVision, a documentary film company in New York. He has documented success in group, online and face-to-face stewardship and cultivation. He is studying at Birmingham City University for his Master of Arts degree.

If you’d like to go, register your place at http://newgiving.eventbrite.com

Self Service and This is Tomorrow have launched a new pilot mentoring scheme for new writers in the West Midlands, offering an opportunity for an emerging writer to develop skills in critical writing for publication.

I’m just going to copy and paste the information:

The scheme intends to encourage writing practice within the West Midlands, giving a platform for new writers to gain public exposure, experience and professional development, whilst simultaneously promoting arts activity in the region to a wider audience.

The writer will receive 3 half-day mentoring sessions from the This is Tomorrow team:

• James Smith (focus on research, planning and editorial).
• Lorena Munoz-Alonso (focus on artists interviews / features).
• Josephine Breese (focus on reviews and writing style).

In addition the writer will have two half-day mentoring sessions with Sally O’Reilly which will focus on writing practice.

The writer will be expected to produce three pieces of critical writing (as detailed below), which will be published on www.thisistomorrow.info and www.weareeastside.com

• A review of Flatpack or Fierce Festival (500words), March 2011
• An interview/feature on a West Midlands based practitioner or artist-led organisation (1000 words), June 2011
• A review of all, or a part of The Event 2011 (1000 words),  October 2011

Application process

Applicants should send:

• A short letter of application stating why you have applied for this opportunity and what you hope to gain from it.
• Two examples of critical writing (around 500 words each).
• An up to date CV

To: jamessmith.lon@googlemail.com

Deadline: Friday 14th January 2011

2011 will be welcoming Polish artists to Birmingham as they collaborate with British artists on Post-Industrial Revolution, a residency exchange project between industrial districts in Birmingham and Gdansk, Poland.

The project is in collaboration with the Lombard Method (Digbeth) and Wyspa Institute of Art (Gdansk, Poland), where the artist residencies and exhibitions will take place.

An exhibition from Polish artists, Kamila Szejnoch and MASH/HER/DIP, will take place at the Lombard Method from 18 February. The exhibition will showcase new work directly responding to the district of Digbeth, its historical and social context, produced during their month long residency from 15 January.

The comparisons between Digbeth and the Gdansk Shipyard as post industrial sites are of significance, each city has at some stage been deeply affected by the demise of industry, its movement abroad, and more recently the development of cultural and leisure industries in these former industrial areas.

The call for British artists will be announced in the new year, so keep an eye on their website and blog for more information and updates.

There’s a few interesting novelty things floating around courtesy of Birmingham’s finest creative minds, all in the festive spirit of course.

Boxer‘s Christmas video ‘Guess who’s coming to dinner‘ is definitely worthy of a mention. As well as being highly entertaining, it also comes with the challenge of a movie quiz.

383 Project have made Jumpify, which you can use with Facebook. Because of course everyone does love a cosy Christmas jumper.

Fullrange have made this amusing video for FleetMilne Residential.

Made Media have made brought the nativity to Twitter. Warning, highly distracting, if like me, you’re going to want to switch all the people around to make sure it features your favorite followers.

Supercool‘s Christmas card was a compelling read when it arrived on the CiB desk. They’ve redesigned the classic 12 days of Christmas.

Birmingham Royal Ballet have put together this bunch of Christmas wishes.

Are there anymore Christmas creations out there that we’ve missed and deserve a mention?

I’ve never witnessed a Twitpanto before, so I’m quite intrigued/ excited to see what goes down. This year’s production is ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’.

The star studded cast features plenty of familiar Brum tweeters, including a cameo from CiB’s Chris Unitt, who’ll be appearing as a member of ‘The Riot Police’.

The fun starts at 2pm this afternoon, and you can watch the whole thing online from the comfort of your home/ bed/ office. Perfect.

The last KINO 10 event of 2010 takes place on 21 December at the Bull’s Head, Moseley, with a touch of festive flavour.

Expect an eclectic mix of old and new short films, some music videos, various animations and a few Christmas treats.

The evening starts at 7.30pm, with films from 8pm. Entry is £3.

Digbeth is Good linked to this publication, Uncertain Eastside by Nikki Pugh, the first issue of which is now out, offering a ‘critical questioning of the branding of a version of Eastside as the Cultural Quarter and of her relationship to it (or not) as an artist.’

This is the first document in a series of unknown length recording the shifting landscape of the ‘Eastside’ areas of Birmingham. Including intersecting regeneration projects and plans for leisure, learning and transport developments, these are places with varying characters, histories and aspirations that are very much in flux.

Uncertain Eastside: Document One 2009 is available through Magcloud, where you can also have a flick through the digital version.

Animation Forum‘s first event of 2011 welcomes Bob the Builder designer and Frankenstein’s Cat creator, Curtis Jobling, who’ll be offering advice on how to survive as a freelance animator.

The event takes place on 13 January 2011 from 7.00pm at The Studio, Birmingham, and is the first in a series of joint events with BSeen aiming to help student and graduate animators find their way into the industry.

Open to animators of all levels, this event is free and includes refreshments and a Q&A with Curtis Jobling. For more information, take a look at the Facebook event page.

Nicky Getgood’s written a brief but thoughtful piece on Ikon Eastside’s place in Digbeth’s cultural scene and what it might mean if the place were to close as a result of the recently announced funding cuts.

The BPo reported on the possibility of this happening yesterday with a few quotes hinting at the situation at Ex Cathedra and Performances Birmingham from people who work there.