Nearly five years ago, a group of friends and I decided to take some initiative and create for ourselves the kind of organisation and event that we would most want to be a part of. The result is Project X Presents – a Birmingham based creative network producing events once or twice a year which aim to fuse many different strands of creative endeavour into one cohesive whole.
So what is a network anyway? In our case, a free association of individuals bonded by two essential qualities – an interest in creativity and a friendly, open minded attitude. We realised that between ourselves and our immediate friends we have between us a tremendous variety of interests and an urge to be together and be creative. Weekly meetings began and continue still, the network steadily grew. Our fifth event – Xhibition, comes up this Saturday in Moseley.
Ignoring those of you with fancy Macs, I don’t know how many people actually use the preloaded wallpapers on PC’s, but having an image of Birmingham’s most recognisable building next to the likes of the Guggenheim Museum to choose from can’t be bad. Download here. (Hat tip to D’log)
I am extremely pleased to announce that the Created in Birmingham t-shirts and tote bags are now on sale! The items sport a fantastic design – a map of Birmingham’s wards created by Kate Parry. All profits made from the items will be donated to Acorns Children’s Hospice, a charity based in Birmingham that proved popular with you, the readers.
The items have been lovingly hand screenprinted by Kay Stanley at Cut Out Shop, in her WM based studio. She has used waterbased inks which don’t harm the environment printed onto EarthPostive tees and tote bags.
I wanted to take some swish pictures of the items being modeled, but have decided to let you do that for me! When you receive your tee or tote through the post, take a quick snap of you modeling it and pop it up on flickr, tagging it ‘CiBT’. Huge thanks to Kay Stanley and Kate Parry for all the help and support.
Things over on Eastside are really hotting up over the next few weeks. I will be heading down Digbeth way on Friday evening for the opening of SCULPTURE SHOW – an exhibition of work by the following artists showing at Eastside Projects:
I have linked to articles or websites about all of the artists. Have a look around and I’m sure you will agree this is indeed an exciting exhibition of contemporary works.
Just up the road that evening VIVID will hold a late opening from 6-9 pm, to present new work by Ran Huang and Nika Oblak & Primoz Novak. The artists will be in residence at VIVID throughout Spring 2009 as part of the two year European Media Artists in Residence Exchange programme. Mike Stubbs, Director of FACT will be in conversation with Ran Huang at 6pm.
Next door, IKON Eastside will be opening Józef Robakowski’s My Very Own Cinema, a highly subjective body of work produced between 1970 and 2000 by a pioneer of Polish Independant Cinema.
If you have never ventured to this historically industrial area of Birmingham, this will be a great opportunity to experience the type of art you might not find on the tourist trail.
Birmingham Contemporary Music Group is looking to appoint a design services agency to create all publicity material and design work for the 2009/2010 season, looking at the overall brand and design ethos of the organisation and maximising the impact of the communication products.
This initial one year contract will run from July 2009 until June 2010 and if the initial period is deemed a success BCMG will offer a rolling annual contract to the same agency without the need to re-tender.
Birmingham Contemporary Music Group is a very active musical ensemble, performing a year round programme of concerts in Birmingham, touring in the UK, Europe and further a field. BCMG occupies a niche market, commissioning and performing contemporary music by today’s leading composers.
Interested? Find more information here. (Thanks to Dave Harte for the link).
Two days after news of funding cuts the Arts Council have announced they are investing an extra £44.5 million in artists and arts organisations over the next two years to help maintain artistic excellence during the economic downturn.
The initiatives include:
Sustain – a new £40 million open application fund for arts organisations suffering as a result of the recession.
£500,000 support for the Town Centres Initiative to enable more artistic activities to take place in empty retail spaces.
A £4 million increase in the Grants for the arts budget over the next two years
Hundreds of artists across the country are already helping to reinvigorate ailing town centres by taking over empty retail space for creative activities and it is hoped this new fund, which will award grants of £1,000 to £10,000 will enable many more to do so.
One example of this is currently happening in York. York Museums Trust, supported by Visit York, are piloting a digital design programme to which will look to dress empty shop windows with external, high quality vinyls which will feature contemporary digital designs that respond to their setting. More at BoxerCreative. A while back I also wrote about similar ideas from Council leaders in Wolverhampton.
In the past, when each new government spending budget is announced most of us grumble a little about the rise in alcohol and cigarette tax. and quickly forget all about it. But this year’s budget speech attracted more public attention than ever. It is more than obvious to say that the decisions made will directly affect all of us during these grim days of recession, not least those of us reliant on arts funding.
Before Wednesday’s announcement those in the know were predicting the fate of the Department for Culture Media and Sport, and guessing the arts were unlikely to be spared in the predicted £15bn of public spending cuts. The largest chunk of DCMS spending goes on Arts Council England, in which cuts up to £14m were being expected.
The outcome for the Arts Council is a £4 million cut in funding, which they responded with this statement:
It is a shame that the government has found it necessary to cut funding to culture but we will do our best to protect the interests of audiences who deserve the best art there is.
That is why, in implementing these cuts, we will not reduce our planned investment in the arts organisations we fund on a regular basis – many of whom have already planned against expected income in 2010/11. Instead we will reconsider our existing and planned new projects and look to find savings there.
This is a short term solution but not without its implications as these projects are our investment in the development of the arts.
The arts are far more than a luxury add-on – they are quality of life and, with sufficient public investment, they can be central to economic recovery.
NB: The latest £4million cut is in addition to the £6.5million per annum savings in the Arts Council’s running costs announced as part of the original settlement.
The statement is fairly generic, so what this will mean to the West Midlands remains to be seen but it is reassuring to know that currently funded organisations won’t see a reduction in funds.
The Royal Television Society have launched RTS Futures, a programme of events and online forums which aim to nurture up and coming television production talent. So far the events have been London based, but Birmingham will be kicking off the regional activity with an event around pitching, held at The Electric Cinema 23 April at 18:30. Heres the blurb:
Ever wondered how programmes get commissioned?
How hard can it be to pitch your idea to a panel of experts in TV?
How To Pitch will discuss the most toe-curling pitches – from freezing up, to ideas that are just plain ridiculous, and hear the experiences of our panel on the pitfalls of pitching programme ideas. This session will demystify the process of how a programme idea ends up on our screens and provide you with a comprehensive guide of what’s hot and what’s not in TV today. Plus top tips on how to give a successful pitch under pressure.
Chair:
Johannah Dyer: Chief Executive, Hotbed Media
Its coming to that time of year again, where students everywhere are violently thrashing canvases, filming anything that moves and putting final touches to conceptual installations. Art degree show season is upon us; a great time to go out and see some really refreshing work by the UK’s best and brightest, as well as sample some of the cheapest wine available to man, of course.
Degree shows are a great place to invest a relatively small amount of money into the art world, support upcoming artists and to pick up something you’ll enjoy for years to come. I am hoping to take a trip to this year’s shows in galleries, Uni’s and empty shops and bag myself something nice. Over the coming weeks I will keep you informed of those all important private view dates.
Eleven of the hottest new talents in contemporary art emerge this spring with an ambitious debut at the Vaad Gallery. Final year students from Birmingham City University will showcase their work in what will be an eclectic display of multi-disciplinary artworks that promises to show the diversity of practices born from a broad education in the visual arts.
Over the last year Creative Republic have hosted a rich variety of different events, and have been committed to adding value and debate to Birmingham’s creative sector. I am ashamed to say I haven’t made it along to any of their workshops or talks yet, but I planning to attend next Tuesday’s Media Skills Masterclass (6pm – 8pm).
I have been working with media interaction from an arts marketing perspective for some time, but it is such a fast moving beast you need to say on top of your game. I should imagine that this event will offer something for a seasoned marketing person, but also a complete beginner looking to get some press coverage for their creative endeavours. If anything, it is a chance to visit the stunning Fazeley St Studios in Digbeth.
Speakers include:
Ian Taylor, Commercial Director and Kurt Jacobs, Head of PR, Marketing Birmingham
Marverine Cole, Broadcast Journalist Sky News and Austen Duffy, Director FunF Media
The event also incorporates a creative writing workshop led by Clark Baim, Co-Director of Change Point Training to identify, develop and write a piece of news, express your view or highlight a success as relevant to your work.
Strong written content generated from the workshop may, with your permission, then be submitted towards industry and business to business publications by Creative Republic on behalf of you and your organisation. See you there!
Here is a video debrief of the SXSW event – How Bostin was Austin?
Are you involved in the creative or cultural sector of Birmingham? Do you have a story to tell, advice to offer,or an issue to raise to the Created in Birmingham readers? I am looking for individuals to become regular or one-off contributors to CiB.
Even if you have never written a blog post before but you have something interesting to say about Birmingham’s creative sector, I would love for you to get in touch. Contributions could come in the form of a personal experience, your journey into creativity, such as making a film or setting up an exhibition etc.
It could be a review of a cultural experience, a festival, exhibition or event. It would be great if you had a special skill you could share with readers, such as tips on planning an event, finding funding or even sorting out your tax return. It could also be your chance to raise an issue facing the creative industries, giving you a place to start a debate with the thousands of Created in Birmingham readers.
Interested? Email createdinbirmingham[at]gmail.com, giving an overview of your contribution, links to any writing / video examples and a short bio of yourself. Contributions shall be on a voluntary basis and their is no fee. Regular contributors will be featured on the ‘team page’.
I hope you all had a lovely Bank Holiday weekend, and didn’t make the mistake I made of eating Easter eggs for breakfast (not recommended). I’ve had a bit of a break from the laptop screen over the last few days, but me and Kay from Cut Out Shop have been busy Easter bunnies getting the Created in Birmingham T-shirts made.
Kay has done a wonderful job. She has lovingly hand screen printed the T-shirts in her West Midlands based studio, using the winning ‘Birmingham Wards Map’ design by Kate Parry. She has chosen ethically made shirts and has used earth friendly inks which don’t harm the environment. Along with designer Katie, we decided to create the items in classic black and daring gold, which is a bit brave, but also a million miles away from the usual, bland charity t-shirts.
First and foremost, the T-shirts and tote bags have been designed and created with one goal, to raise money and awareness for a Birmingham based charity – Acorns Children’s Hospice. The charity was chosen after reading your suggestions, and it was clearly a popular choice.
The items will be available to buy sometime over the next couple of weeks, in a very limited run of 50 T-shirts and 50 tote bags. Keep ‘em peeled so you don’t miss out.
Stan’s Cafe is one of Britain’s foremost contemporary theatre companies, famous for experimental theatre in unusual locations. If you went to last year’s Arts Fest you may remember their brilliant ‘Of All The People In All The World’ – a performance which used huge piles of rice representing people of the world. Their new production ‘Home of the Wriggler’ will be staged in their brand new venue @ A. E. Harris, in the heart of Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter.
Home of The Wriggler is a lo-fi sci-fi docu-drama: Lo-fi because the lights and sound are all powered by the cast and Sci-fi because the show is set at some indeterminate future time when the Rover brand, the Longbridge plant and cars in general have become the subject of myth and speculation. Docu-drama because the show is founded on interviews, anecdotes, personal experiences and documents about living, working, growing-up, falling in love, making/buying/selling/driving/sitting in cars in Birmingham.
Four actors, dressed down in workwear and parka coats, drive the show on. An exercise bike and twelve speed racer have been customised with dynamos and switches to run seven lights, a kettle and a home-made turntable.
Home of The Wriggler runs 23rd – 25th April, 7.30pm. Tickets: £10 / £7.
You can read the original text – Griff’s Story here. You can read all the bits they ‘cant find a sensible place for on their website’ in the blog.
Birmingham based designer Adam Duffy has won the Make Your Mark Young Brits Entrepreneur Creative Award for his company ‘Looks Can Kill’.
The 26 year old won the award just over a year after setting up his business, which sells customized shoes. Customers can have their own name, photo or slogan printed on a trainer and delivered in a few days.
Adam puts the success of the business down to the creative control the company has, and not having to wait months for new designs to be produced, which is the case in standard footwear production.
The company has received support from both Business Link WM and Creative Launchpad, based in the Custard Factory. They currently employ two staff, frequently use part time staff and are looking to take on a sales manager in the future. Last year their turnover was approx £60,000 which is expected to dramatically increase this year with a concerted sales push as Adam has ambitious growth plans and is currently in talks with a number of large high street retailers.
Make Your Mark Enterprising Young Brits is an annual award set up by British Council that has been running for two years. Winners received a trophy and cheque for £1,000 from Chancellor Alistair Darling at a recent ceremony in London.
A photograph of the Selfridges building (
Birmingham Contemporary Music Group
How To Pitch will discuss the most toe-curling pitches – from freezing up, to ideas that are just plain ridiculous, and hear the experiences of our panel on the pitfalls of pitching programme ideas. This session will demystify the process of how a programme idea ends up on our screens and provide you with a comprehensive guide of what’s hot and what’s not in TV today. Plus top tips on how to give a successful pitch under pressure.
