Created in Birmingham

Is there a term for news that might turn out to be something substantial or might turn out to be optimistic bluster? Schrödinger’s story? Anyway, news is bubbling up today that the council wants to make the Jewellery Quarter a World Heritage Site. B:INS and Adrian have more. [Later: and Tom]

The money quote: “Although the Quarter has two museums – one of the jewellery, the other celebrating the history of the pen, I’m not sure we’ve got enough to keep the tourists here.”

And if it happens, what will it mean? Less rapacious redevelopment, hopefully but other than that? Um…

Here’s a photo from the Brilliantly Birmingham Launch:

More here. I’ve criminally not reported on BrillBrum much so go download the press pack.

The Fused kids were at the Brilliantly Birmingham launch last night and report on some stuff that caught their eyes.

Brilliantly Birmingham, the annual showcase of contemporary jewelery, runs from now until January 13th with numerous events, exhibitions and fairs across the city.

All the information is in this press kit or you can just download the a PDF of the catalogue.

Brilliantly Birmingham, the international jewellery festival, takes place across the region from November 22nd to January 13th attracting attention from across the globe.

Part of the festival is FLUX, a curated exhibition and selling event in the Jewellery Quarter for designer makers. Participation in FLUX is by open submission and panel selection.

Submission details are on the BrilBrum site and have to be in by 21st September. For more details call Prim Currie on 0121 464 1187.

Open Canvas is “an exciting open exhibition of modern and contemporary fine artists from around the UK displaying an eclectic collection of artwork including fine arts, jewellrey and sculpture” which sounds perfectly fine and normal except it takes place at the Merry Hill Shopping Centre.

Now this is either an inspired move to bring art to the masses or it’s something… else. I once worked in the warehouse of a “fine art” company who sold limited edition prints to collectors and was struck by how dull and predictable most of the work was - essentially selling greetings card aesthetics with a high price tag. Nothing wrong with that of course but it showed me how flexible the term fine art is.

But I can’t judge this. For a start I’ve never been to Merry Hill so I’ve no idea what environment this is going to be held in. They promise “an average weekend footfall of 250,000 people” which is pretty impressive assuming they all go past your work and there has been a trend towards holding these sorts of large scale events in shopping centres of late.

The exhibition takes place over the weekend of Feb 9-10th 2008. Exhibition space costs £300 (with a 10% discount if you book before Sep 14th) and they take a 10% discount on sales, which are dealt with completely by them. Sharing space and spreading the cost is also an option. Full details are here along with contact details if you have questions.

The Designer Makers Handbook is a neat publication put together by Designer Maker West Midlands and Craftspace. It contains a few interviews with practitioners and a whole gamut of contact details across the world and specific to the region. Download the 68 page PDF here.

via Creative Wolverhampton.

Saturday 14th July form 10am to 4pm. Click on the above for a map (pdf) of where stuff is at.

Jivan Astfalck’s installation at Moor St Station at first look like hats on stands in a box. Which is what it is. But look closer and each hat has a delicate brooch attached to it the design of which has some connection to the station itself, from the shapes of the beams and windows to a picture of a cat (apparently there’s a community of feral felines living in the disused tracks). And then you notice the cast iron hat stand has the GWR logo on it.

Jivan created the piece by sitting in Moor St watching people move through it. As a German based in London who teaches at BIAD she is not a native Brummie, something she was jokingly apologetic for, but that doesn’t make her reaction to a Birmingham train station any less valid. If anything it makes it more pertinent as the city evolved around travel and trade, from the canals to the motorway network to the airport. People pass through Birmingham as much as they live here.

Jivan was particularly interested in the renovation of the station which attempts to recreate the Victorian style to an almost fanatical degree, from the light fittings to the palm trees, yet cannot help but be fake in places. It also contrasts strongly with the ubiquitous Selfridges building the empty glass cube next to it, like a functional museum exhibit. But above all a building like this is about people and how they use it. Jivan spent time just watching the different types of people, what they looked like and how they behaved as their narratives were framed by the building, which in turn informed her choice of hats and brooch designs.

The exhibition is housed in an wood and glass box in the concourse of the station which, as an original feature, blends into the surroundings until it catches you eye. It’ll be on display until June 29th.

Jivan Astfalck is a Senior Research Fellow at UCE BIAD (this is her staff page) where she directs the Jewellery, Silversmithing and Related Production MA. Her installation is part of the Architectural Jewellery and Conceptual Design strand of New Generation Arts and Architecture Week

Yesterday I popped along to St Chad’s Cathedral, which is a very interesting building so I’d recommend you follow that link. I was there to meet Sian Hindle, a jewellery designer who was taking part in the Architectural Jewellery and Conceptual Design strand of New Generation Arts and Architecture Week. This project, curated by Susan McNally, gets four designer-makers to work with a building of architectural interest in Birmingham. As well as St Chads there’ll be work in the Central Library, Big Peg in the Jewellery Quarter and Moor St Station.

Sian has produced six birds from a sheet of metal which has been acid etched with a dream story about flight. The birds are then suspended in the air at St Chads - you’ll find them in the far right corner.

Sian graduated from BIAD a couple of years ago and now works in the Jewellery Quarter as a jewellery designer. She can be contacted here.

The show officially starts on Monday 18th and runs to the 29th but if you’re passing you can obviously see Sian’s work right now during cathedral opening hours (8am - 5pm). The other installations are going in over the next few days.

And it goes without saying the cathedral is well worth a visit on its own. Be sure and check out the 15th Century Christ.

There’s to be an Arts and Designer Crafts Festival in the Jewellery Quarter on Saturday 14th July (10.30 am - 4.00 pm) where there’ll be markets in St Paul’s Square and by the Jewellery Quarter Clock, Jazz bands, gallery events and open workshops.

Stalls are available for those interested in selling or demonstrating arts and designer crafts at £10 each. Which is quite cheap really.

More details from Anna Gibson on 0121 464 1191 or 07966 981 695 and anna.m.gibson@birmingham.gov.uk.