Created in Birmingham

I’ve been forwarded the following which has been written by Anita Bhalla, chair of mac’s board of trustees. As it’s an open letter I figure there’s no problem with me reproducing it in full. Excuse me for dispensing with the usual blockquote rigmarole.

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Dear Friends, Colleagues and Supporters,

As you may be aware, Birmingham City Council has recently launched a public consultation process on its budget plans from April 2012 onwards, and we thought it would be of interest to you as a customer and supporter of mac birmingham to hear how the city’s plans are affecting our work.

mac reopened in May 2010 after a £15.2m redevelopment and refurbishment. Birmingham City Council played a major role in the development providing £6.7m of investment and delivering the project under their Partnering Framework with Thomas Vale Construction, one of the region’s award winning construction companies. The rest of the funding came from Arts Council England (£6.2m) and from a highly successful fund-raising appeal with donations from companies, individuals and grant-making trusts (£2.3m). Over 850,000 visits were made to “new” mac in its first year after reopening.

mac’s finances are finely balanced in a mixed economy; in our second year since reopening 26% of our turnover is investment from the City Council. Since our much lauded reopening year our business confidence is established and a growing percentage of our income is earned from box-office, sponsorship and other commercial activities.

As part of its response to the government’s public spending cuts, the City Council has already substantially reduced the amount of funding it gives to all the arts organisations in the city and in April this year mac birmingham’s grant was cut by 14%, a cash reduction of £107,000 per annum.

To cope with this significant reduction in income we have driven further the plans which were developed prior to reopening, maximising efficiency, amending our programming plans and increasing our efforts to maximise all other income streams. Throughout the planning and delivery of the mac/sampad Building Project we sought to maximise future efficiency through, for example, creating a flexible staffing structure, delivering a cost-efficient building with an effective building management system, reducing our carbon footprint and our running costs, increasing recycling, using digital technology to manage our building and our communications. Our shared office space has also allowed us provide improved facilities for our partners sampad and for other artists, arts companies and community agencies who share the mac creative hub.

Whilst we fully recognise that we cannot be exempt from the public spending cuts being imposed at the moment, there are few options available for further reducing costs without severely damaging our services. Whilst we continue to look for greater efficiencies and sharing of services we do fear that any further cuts in BCC funding will lead to a serious “downward spiral” in which the inevitable reductions in artistic activity will lead to lower earned income and funding. Further investment secured from additional sources may well then be withdrawn due to our diminished capacity to deliver our agreed programme.

How you can help

Birmingham’s arts infrastructure and activities have, for so long, been a vital tool in the city’s aim to improve the quality of life for its citizens, its inward investment performance and its status as a true global city. Evidence of the hugely beneficial impact of the creative industries can be found at www.birminghamartspartnership.co.uk

City based cultural organisations contribute £271m to the region’s economy per year. This is generated from almost 2 million attendances, with arts attenders generating £40m in Additional Visitor Spend (AVS). This represents a return on investment of £29 for every £1 that Birmingham City Council spends on funding the arts.

All of the city’s arts organisations believe that we are now at the tipping point where incremental reductions in costs are no longer achievable.

If you share our concerns and would not want to see the City Council reduce its funding to the independent arts organisations any further, I would urge you to make your views known to the City Council before the end of November.

• By filling out an online survey at  www.birmingham.gov.uk/budgetviews
• By emailing to budget_views@birmingham.gov.uk
• By text message to: 07786 200 403
• By writing to Budget Views, Room B119, The Council House, Victoria Square, Birmingham, B1 1BB

You may have received a similar plea from other arts organisations and we would urge you to respond to any one of us. Representation needs to be made before the end of November in order to be effective.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for your continuing support of mac birmingham.

Anita Bhalla
Chair of mac Board of Trustees

144 do films, like this one of Brotherhood of Filth – a three piece dubstep turntablist outfit featuring Malicious DJ, The Doctor and DJ Switch (three times DMC World Champion). It was recorded at the Bulls Head in Moseley.

I just came across this and don’t think I’ve linked to it from here before:

Funded by Arts Council England and jointly conceived by The New Art Gallery Walsall and mac Birmingham, British Summertime 2 is a career development programme for emerging and mid-career visual artists who come from diverse communities. More broadly, the programme aims to increasing knowledge, access, networks, artistic standards, and leadership in order to strengthen and enrich the visual arts scene.

The artists involved were Dan Auluk, Dilwara Begum, José Forrest-Tennant, Karen McLean, Mark Carroll, Pauline Bailey, Saranjit Birdi and Shaheen Ahmed.

There’s information here via New Art Gallery Walsall and there was a British Summertime 2 blog too.

Media Circus 2 (the sequel to last year’s Media Circus)

Media Circus 2 – promo from Karl Binder on Vimeo.

For 2 days this June (Tuesday 7th and Wednesday 8th) we will be exhibiting the very latest in digital screen technology in Fazeley Studios. The 2 day event is to demonstrate the display technology available at the Media Circus. We’re then looking for work to be submitted and ideas to be created by Creative Individuals, agencies and organisations to be shown at the final 2 day exhibition in the autumn. This will be capped off with this year’s Media Circus, where the work, displays, creations and concepts will be voted for on the night and the winners suitably rewarded.

And if you want to get involved then you can do – there’s a get-together on 8 June.

As you may have realised, we haven’t been posting as much recently, leaving it to our guest contributors to fill the pages on CiB. As a result, I wouldn’t want anyone to miss out on what’s going on, so I’m just going to mention a few things that have been coming in through the CiB inbox recently.

SEARCH ENGINE

Starting next Monday is Grand Union‘s six-week open residency programme, which will run from 21 March – 30 April 2011. Three artist groups have been invited to work in the project space for two weeks each, starting with Manu Luksch & Mukul Patel.

MANU LUKSCH & MUKUL PATEL, Kayak Libre <<free thinking, free transport>>

Thursday 24 March, 6-9 pm: Opening
Artists’ talk at Grand Union, 6.30 pm
Screening of shorts by Manu Luksch at VIVID , 9 pm

Thursday 24 Mar – Sunday 27 March:
WATER TAXI available to book from 19 March.
For booking please contact info@grand-union.org.uk

Saturday 2 April, 12-2 pm: Final open workshop

Behna (Sisters)

This unique and intimate theatre production by Kali Theatre will be performed in the kitchens of Punjabi households across the Black Country from 22 March to 15 April.

It’s the day before a wedding, Ladies’ Sangeet Night, in a Punjabi household. The bride is having her henna done and the guests are busy eating, singing and dancing. But in the kitchen, sibling jealousy simmers alongside the samosas.  Fast-paced, funny and moving, Behna takes a look through the keyhole of a family house to reveal the secrets and lies of two generations of sisters.

For more information and to book tickets, visit The Public’s website.

One, Nineteen

One, Nineteen from local ‘Archers’ writer, Tim Stimpson, is on at The Old Joint Stock Theatre on 18 & 19 March.

19th January: Freak storms bring devastating floods to the English coast, but before the rescue effort arrives, the media are already in town spinning their story. A play about the power of the news, the strength of the government, the question of climate change, and of course, and the search for Sam, Jack and little Chloe…

After premiering in London, it was given a 4 star review from Time Out, so it’s probably worth a watch.

For more info and how to book tickets, visit The Old Joint Stock’s website.

LUNÄ Talks

Ikon and the Lunar Society present this series of evening talks revisiting themes discussed by the original 18th century Lunar Society within a contemporary context.

The next talk is happening on Wednesday 23 March, from 7 – 9pm and focuses on Education. The panel of speakers looks a bit like this:

Felicity Allen: Artist, writer, educator. Former Head of Learning, Tate Britain (2003-10). www.felicityallen.co.uk

Nancy Evans: Education Manager Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, freelance musician and trainer working in early years education

Colin Gale: Head of School of Fashion and Textiles and Course Director for MA Textiles, Fashion & Surface Design, Birmingham Institute of Art and Design

Kate Iles: PhD student, University of Birmingham; Constructing the 18th Century woman; The life and education of Sabrina Sidney

For more information on the future talks, entitled ‘Urban design and regeneration’ and ‘Medicine and science’, visit Ikon’s website.

Tickets cost £10 (£8 concessions), to book call Ikon Shop on 0121 248 0711.

RoguePlay members Kim Charnock and Lorna Meehan are bringing the trials and tribulations of working as an actress to the stage, taking ‘Portrait of An Actress…‘ on tour around Birmingham.

Portrait of An Actress As… explores the relentless struggle between artistic integrity and agreeing to underpaid roles just to add to the CV through a shamelessly bitchy collection of comedy sketches.

Along with the three date schedule, they’re also hosting a comedy improvisation workshop in conjunction with the show, with a session of ‘whose line is it anyway’ type games, providing hints and tips for great comic performances.

Follow the links below to book tickets for the following dates and for more information;

• 3 March- Portrait of an Actress As… At The Station.
• 4 March – Portrait of an Actress As… At The Old Joint Stock.
• 4 March – Comedy Improvisation Workshop.
• 12 March – Portrait of an Actress As… At The Lamp Tavern.

Tomorrow, I’ll be at The Public for the showcase event of the DCD Programme. In case you’d not heard of it:

Arts Council England West Midlands’ Digital Content Development (DCD) Programme is a three year programme of investment which aims to catalyse the creation and creative use of digital content platforms for arts organisations across the West Midlands region

The website went up recently and the map on the homepage shows some of the projects, along with how much money they received. Further information is due on the website at some point, but if you look at the page source then you can glean a little more. On the basis that you probably don’t want to ruin your eyes, here’s what I found:

• Birmingham Repertory Theatre – Towards the development of an online multi-user playwriting resource (£27,884)
• Pesky People – Development of a multiplatform approach to venue access information (£25,000)
• Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum – PostCart: creative digital access of art gallery and museum collections (£24,750)
• Library of Birmingham – Development of an Alternate Reality Game for young people (£23,750)
• Talking Birds Theatre Company – Development of The Difference Engine – a multiplatform real time access tool. Some mention of it here (£1,500 + £20,860)
• The Play House – Develop an online resource to match the company’s participatory ethos (£22,349)
• Eastside Projects and Birmingham City University – Piloting a 3D online art gallery (£22,000)
• The MAC – Playground: exploring the use of digital technologies in a new-built art centre (£20,500)
• Royal Shakespeare Company – Creation of a new digital arena for the creativity of the RSC. Pretty sure this was Such Tweet Sorrow (£20,000)
• Audiences Central – To develop a web platform and plug-in for cross regional arts marketing (£18,000)
• B Arts – Development of a new form of arts centre/collaboration (£17,380)
• Rhubarb Rhubarb – To create an online evaluation tool (£17,000)
• Shropshire County Council – Citizen Journalism (£15,612)
• Rideout – To explore the production of creative digital content engaging youth crime statistics (£15,000)
• Radio To Go – A collaboration with the British Library to pilot an online music archive. Called The Pilot Project (£13,750)
• Rosie Kay Dance Company – To create an online version of the touring production, 5 Soldiers (£12,500)
• Indigo Ltd – The development of a pilot online platform exploring new forms of crowd-source fundraising in the arts (launching soon and called Angel Shares) (£11,750)
• Wolverhampton Arts & Museums / Black Country Museums – Research and Development of a collaborative online resource for the Black Country Museums (£10,550)
• Black Country Touring – Exploration of enhancing a site specific, theatrical experience through live streaming (£10,348)
• Multistory – To create a new media platform for celebrating local stories as part of place-making (£10,235)
• Fierce Festival – Towards a Viral Online research game (£8,253)
• Birmingham Opera – Exploring new models of ownership and sales of published works (£6,737)
• Borderlines Film Festival Ltd – Experimenting with mScapes technologies (£5,600)
• Orchestra of the Swan – Research and development towards a strategic plan (£5,000)
• Capsule – To support digitally enhanced new marketing and distribution opportunities (£4,880)
• Welsh National Opera – research and development of phase one of iMaestro. To allow Welsh National Opera to research digital copyright law and the possibility of exploiting full-length opera samples under the Creative Commons license (info about that here) (£4,600)
• Ikon Gallery – Towards the development of a social media project (£3,500)
• The Other Way Works – Professional development around Augmented Reality and Transmedia (£2,575)
• Ex Cathedra – Market development, engaging an online music aggregator (£1,323)
• Dance Consortium – Exploring social media in relation to contemporary dance marketing (£1,000)
• MADE – To explore the use of digital platforms in placing making (£1,000)

As well as these projects, the programme supported a range of other activities including workshops, innovation labs and other events.

I’ve heard of one or two of these projects, but the vast majority are new to me so it’ll be interesting to hear a little more. I should probably also add that I’m involved in the Rosie Kay Dance Company project – that’ll launch next week so I’ll blab a bit more about it then.

On 23 February, Mostly Jazz were set to launch their 2011 Festival at The Rainbow, with a performance from a trio of contemporary Jazz performers; local, world class drummer, Tony Levin (above), saxophonist Paul Dunmall and young bass player Nick Jurd.

Sadly, Tony Levin passed away earlier this month, and so the gig is now set to go ahead in tribute to him, featuring the musicians originally booked to play alongside the legendary drummer.

The first set at 9pm will feature the Nick Jurd Quartet with Rachel Cohen on saxophone, Sam Wooster on trumpet, Nick on bass and Jim Bashford on drums. The second set will feature Paul Dunmall on saxophone, Mark Sanders and Tony’s son, Miles Levin on drums and Nick Jurd who Tony had personally chosen for the original gig.

Tickets for this event are £5, for more information, visit Birmingham Jazz, where they’ve also posted a tribute piece.

All proceeds will be donated to Blue Chairs: Shropshire Blood Trust Fund  http://www.justgiving.com/bluechairs2

Just a quick one to say that BBC 2 are broadcasting a double bill of Birmingham Opera Company this Saturday, 19 Feb. You can catch Verdi: The Director’s Cut at 3.25pm and Othello at 4.25pm – 7pm.

Verdi: The Director’s Cut – Graham Vick prepares his production of Verdi’s Aida for Bregenz Festival on the banks (and sometimes in!) Lake Constance. The film maker, Andy King Dabbs then followed Graham Vick to Birmingham to document the creation of another new Verdi production, Othello, with Birmingham Opera Company in the Argyle Works, a former factory, in Digbeth.

Othello – a broadcast of the Birmingham Opera Company production in its entirety starring Ronald Samm as Othello – the first time in a professional production in the UK the role has been sung by a black tenor. He is joined by Stephanie Corley as Desdemona and Keel Watson as Iago and the Birmingham Opera Company Orchestra & Chorus is conducted by the distinguished UK conductor Stephen Barlow.

Juliette Blightman: A Year With No Head opens with a preview on 23 February at International Project Space from 5-7pm, and is ongoing until 2 April.

Working with film, performance and installation, the exhibition features a newly commissioned installation, which centres on a large-scale drawing, where the artist sketches out remembered images from her previous installations, which she says act as ‘back-drops’ for new works.

…often described as engaging in a form of ‘romantic conceptualism’, her mixed-media installations typically comprise arrangements of familiar domestic objects which invite viewers to spend time with the work and shape their own narratives from these components.

…As in previous work, Blightman is interested in examining the subjectivity of ‘mental space’ and the transformations of information that occur in any process attempting to articulate it.

Blightman will also be producing a small printed publication containing various texts written by the artist over a period of several months, along with a new collection of limited edition work which will be on sale through the gallery website.

International Project Space is open Wednesdays 12 – 7pm & Thursday-Saturday 12– 5pm, and located at BIAD School of Art Bournville.

Kathakbox is coming to Birmingham next week, premiering on 16 February at mac. The new production from Sonia Sabri Dance Company showcases a new dance style developed by Sonia Sabri herself: Urban Kathak.

The innovative production combines Indian Kathak and hip-hop dance, along with Kathak rap and beatboxing, featuring artistic director Sonia Sabri performing with a team of dancers, spoken word, vocal and beatbox artists. As artistic consultant, Hip Hop guru Jonzi D also adds a touch of attitude and guest composer, Zena Edwards weaves her spell of poetry.

Speed, power, grace, rhyme and rhythm, this promises to be an unforgettable evening and artistic highlight of the year.

Catch Kathakbox on 16, 17 & 18 February before it moves on to tour the UAE, Germany and UK. Book online via mac’s website.

This morning I attended a meeting about the BBC Big Screen ‘Live Sites’. The idea was that we’d have an opportunity to discuss with Arts Council and the gathered digital, media and cultural organisations how to use Birmingham’s Big Screen – currently situated in Victoria Square – in the lead up to the 2012 Olympic Games.

The main thrust of conversation was around how the screen can be used to engage people passing by as well as using it as a focal point for streaming live events or supporting live performances.

The first point to note is that the screen won’t simply be used as a big telly. As well as being able to screen video content, the screens are able to be used interactively using custom software and mounted cameras. This interactive content has included games such as cricket and quirkier ideas such as mapping animated masks onto the faces of passers by. Here’s an example:

Hand from Above from Chris O’Shea on Vimeo.

As well as for use locally, content for the screens can be relayed around the other Live Sites in other areas of the country and can even be used for competitive interactive games and events between cities. Several ideas came out of the discussion included:

• highlighting local cultural events with interactive performances
• creating interactive games to be played nationally and internationally
• and making innovative film content to showcase

Of particular note is the focus on dance in this region through the Arts Council’s Cultural Olympiad programme, predominantly the People Dancing strand of activities. This was an area in which creative projects using the screens would be welcomed, and although no direct funding is available from the Live Sites programme, ideas that used them and linked with Cultural Olympiad aims would be of interest.

Other points made included the upcoming dates of note, such as the Olympic torch relays in the region and the possibilities of events occuring during the Cultural Olympiad’s Open Weekend on 22-24 July this year, and how local organisations can get involved and contribute to the events.

So, in general, the big screen will be used for more than just BBC News 24. Let’s hope that our Live Site produces some especially creative content and showcases some of the region’s cultural highlights.

What would you like to see it used it for?

I met Milly from Knitted Online at the Birmingham Social Media Cafe this morning. After a quick browse of their site I’ve already made a mental wishlist from their selection of cosy accessories and homeware.

If like me, you like your homemade, knitted items, but have not yet mastered the art of knitting, the Knitted Online people also give you the opportunity to customise or design your own items, upload them to the site and will then knit them for you.

Plus, if you choose to make your designs public, they’ll give you a 5% commission per item sold. More on that here.

Shadow maps is the third exhibition in the ‘Aedas Presents‘ series, showcasing the work of artist Jo Gane.

For Aedas, Gane has assembled a body of work made with teams of field archaeologists at various dig sites which explores the search for evidence of history and plotting of time within the landscape.  Instead of unearthing finds, the archaeologists spend time chasing shadows and mapping out past events.

Including photographs, archaeological constructions and projections, the installation will make use of shadows to describe the unknown historic events that occurred within these sites.

After opening at a preview event on 10 February, the exhibition will be on display until 18 February. To arrange a visit, email aedaspresents@aedas.com

Trove‘s latest project, initiated by curator Charlie Levine during a summer spent in Paris, features an exchange of postcards between 17 artists across the world.

Inspired by Walter Benjamin’s method of documenting travels via postcards sent home, Levine commissioned 17 artists to instead design a postcard.

These were then printed and packs of the final 16 postcards distributed to all the artists involved with each other’s addresses. During the month of August a postcard exchange project took place. Cards were altered, added to, written upon and cut up and sent around the world.

Contributing artists include; Darren Banks, Ana Benlloch, Tom Butler, Martyn Cross, Vicky Cull, Anna Francis, Jo Gane, Caitlin Griffiths, Gabo Guzzo, Elizabeth Hingley and Tomonaga Tokuyama, Lulu Horsfield, Calum F Kerr, Hayley Lock, Kira O’Reilly, Samantha Voong and Emmett Walsh.

Paris Correspondence School opens at Trove with a preview on 21 Jan at 6-8pm. The exhibition can then be visited until 28 January by appointment.