Our creative and cultural industries – media, arts, online, music – are collectively bigger than construction in this city (that’s a great fact we used in the bid team and final pitch).
Incredibly, there is no-one to speak for us on the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) – almost as incredible as the lack of female members but we warned you about this male, pale and stale phase creeping up on ya me old hearties.
A lucrative and dynamic sector that is developing in markets across the world will remain uncharted waters as far as local strategic development is concerned.
Beyond the nautical references, Ammo Talwar from Punch has a serious point to make in his Birmingham Post column.
Next week in Birmingham a chaotic memorial to British manufacturing will be unveiled. It isn’t easy to know how to describe it. JW Evans’s old silverware factory can hardly be called a museum – there are no labels next to the objects, no demonstration models, no gift shop. It has neither been restored to how it would have looked in its heyday nor has it found a new use – another “cultural centre” or “fabulous exhibition space”. A freshly opened tomb might be nearer the mark, or an inland version of the Mary Celeste.
From The Guardian.
It looks like this might be opening today (pre-booked guided tours only) and is just round the corner from where I’m now working. In fact, thanks to the time-travelling magic of Google Street View, here’s the place while the scaffolding was up:
And here’s the nicely renovated factory this morning:
I thought the rays of sunlight were a nice touch.
On Saturday Electric Carnival is taking over half of Digbeth – the HMV Institute, Custard Factory, Air, Heath Mill Lane car park and the Rainbow venues – and they’ve got space for 9,000 people (1,500 more than last year). That’s kinda big.
Via Digbeth is Good, who also have a map of road closures for the more logistically minded.
The Guardian have been doing a series of summer city guides and they asked us to write about some of the stuff happening in Birmingham over the next few months. Ian and I duly obliged.
If things have been a little quieter here recently, it’s because I’ve just started working for Made Media after they bought my company. You know what it’s like when you start a new job. Anyway, there’s a blog post about that here and normal service is being resumed.
Made Media are the folks that built the websites for The Rep, Sampad, International Dance Festival Birmingham, Town Hall Symphony Hall, Warwick Arts Centre, BCMG, Tindal Street Press and many more (and that’s just the West Mids stuff – they work nationally).
I’m posting this here for a few reasons – partly for reasons of transparency and partly because I’m really quite chuffed with the move. There’s also the fact that I’ll inevitably spend work time running CiB, so it’s only fair to give Made a nod on that score.
It’s also meant a move from Digbeth over to the Jewellery Quarter. We’ll have to see if that has an effect on the stuff I write about.
While I’m at it…
The days when CiB existed solely on this site are long gone. If you don’t already, you can also keep up with us on:
Those are the main places, at least. I’ve been enjoying having the CiB Tumblr and have been treating it a bit like the flyer wall that we had back in the CiB Shop. If you have a look at the archive view you’ll see what I mean.
BE Festival are crowdfunding the last bit of cash needed for the festival which is due to take place 4-10 July:
We have secured an enormous amount of support-in-kind from the major Birmingham arts organisations but we are facing a £2000 cash shortfall to be able to fully realise the 2011 edition in its current form. Your help will give the next generation of UK and European performing artists a platform to show, explore and develop their work
Go chip in a bit of cash if you can.
A couple of things if you’re in the business of making things other people might like to read.
Kindle Camp – A Kindle Publishing Workshop
Digital Birmingham, The New Optimists and Birmingham City Council Web Services Team have joined together to put on a workshop to go through the process of publishing your text to the Kindle.
This looks useful and pretty thorough. It’s free and it’s on 1 June. Only four tickets left.
Comics Launch Pad
Comics Launch Pad is a new and exciting event brought to you by International Comic Shows, the organisation behind the long-running British International Comics Show.
A one-day conference aimed at professionals, aspiring professionals and those with a serious interest in the business of making comics, Launch Pad promises to be an enlightening and fascinating experience.
D’log spotted this one. It’s on 18 June and here’s their website.
We Are Birmingham have announced that they’ll:
cease trading as a retail operation and are now investigating ways to move the organisation towards a new model, offering valuable exhibition space and meeting rooms at it’s city centre location, whilst still working to support the local creative community
So it’s not closing yet, it’s just not going to be a shop anymore. No doubt there’ll be more to come on what the new model will look like but in the meantime I’d like to congratulate everyone involved for what they’ve managed to pull off over the past eight months and wish them all the best for the next phase.
Avon Calling!
‘Avon Calling’ being the name of a new show from The Other Way Works. I say ‘show’, but it is in fact “a new theatre event made for your living room”:
Invite some friends around and wait for the Avon Lady to ring on your front door and create an Avon party with a twist right in your home.
For £120 you get a bit of theatre for ten people in your living room, which isn’t half bad. I saw on Twitter yesterday that the show’s already 50% sold out, which is pretty good going, so get in there sooner rather than later if you fancy it.
(Photo by Chris Keenan)
AE Harris will host a two day Open Space conference on 23rd and 24th June, under the title “What more can we do to create a better future for theatre in the West Midlands?”
The event is open to anyone working in the broad area of Theatre within the West Midlands. Open Space is a fun and highly efficient means of addressing issues of concern to individuals within a community. Back in November 2009 the original version of this event galvanized a lot of discussion and even significant ACTION. It is anticipated this sequel will be at least as good
There’s a letter here (PDF) which explains more and has details for signing up.
The last event, mentioned in the blurb, is pretty thoroughly documented on this website.
The first game of lawn tennis was played in 1859 by Major Harry Gem and his friend, Jean Batista Augurio Perera, on a court at the latter’s home, 8 Ampton Road, Edgbaston. This unique show at the Barber – less than half a mile away – is the first ever to explore the subject of tennis in art
So says the Barber Institute’s website. They’ve got an exhibition of tennis-related art (the first ever, apparently) running from 27 May – 18 September.
Dirty secret time – despite going to Birmingham University and walking past the place practically every other day I’ve still never been to the Barber Institute.
FAKE is a brand new independent publication launching this Summer. We will be showcasing young creatives primarily in the field of fashion; but also including design, photography and illustration, along with many other interesting projects. FAKE aim to promote local talent and independent businesses.
FAKE isn’t what fake is.
There’s lots of good stuff on their website which is well worth an explore.
And, since I first drafted this post, I’ve seen they’re having a launch event at 6/8 Kafé on Friday 27 May. Here’s the flyer for that:
Jill Evans and Ken Harrison are the first photographers to be profiled on a new site called Birmingham Loves Photographers.
I’m not sure who’s behind this, but they’re doing it in conjunction with 6/8 Kafé, in fact it might well just be them – they’re pretty good at featuring photographers and such on their blog. These people are also threatening to run photography events around the West Mids too. If you’d like to be profiled then they say:
We’re looking for amateurs and pros to feature in the blog. The two requirements are:
- You are looking to further yourself as a photographer and use this avenue to promote yourself and others; both creatively and, hopefully, gain some financial return to develop your career.
- That you are being based in Birmingham.
If you are interested you can contact us by Asking Us on this page, onTwitter or Facebook
So get to it.
