Created in Birmingham

The Photography Collective and Birmingham Photospace have teamed up in association with Rhubarb Rhubarb, to bring us Contact. From 3-18 September the Rhubarb East Gallery will play host to a collection of seven emerging photographers working in the West Midlands.

Curated by Kathryn Kliszat from Light House, exhibiting artists are gwbenson, Ian & Mark James (Jimmy Photo), Hannah Rumsby, Jo Hallington, Jasroop Grewal, Rita Fletcher and Matt Murtagh.

The variety of styles and formats challenges the viewer to consider how contact is made between objects both animate and inanimate, between the past and present, between analogue and digital and between photographer and subject.

The exhibition will be open Thursday – Sunday, 11.00am – 5.30pm, and there will also be an Artists’ Talk on Thursday 9 September, at 6.30pm, allowing members of the public to meet the photographers and discuss the stories behind these powerful images.

• Birmingham’s People – Eventbrite
  Get yer tickets to the private view to launch Birmingham Photospace’s exhibition at The Drum on 7 Dec
• Playtrain
  “Playtrain’ provide hands-on, arts-based research and consultation specifically aimed at children”
• Issue 8 now available for download « An Endless Supply
  It was launched last night and is now available in all its glory. Deadline for issue 9 is 13 Dec – submit drawing, print, photos, text, collage. proposals, etc to anendlesssupply@gmail.com
• Four new board members appointed by Advantage West Midlands
  A few weeks after being named as chair of AWM’s new digital creative industries group, Maverick TV’s Johnnie Turpie has now been appointed to the board of AWM itself

Birmingham’s People comes from the folks at Birmingham Photospace and is a continuation of the portrait project they carried out over the Artsfest weekend in September.

The website has been featuring the portraits taken, including the latest of ‘Radway’ (below) who, unless I’m mistaken, is none other than Violet Attack from the Birmingham Blitz Derby Dames.

The project will be exhibited at The Drum from 7 December 2009 to 29 January 2010. You can also sign up to attend the (free) private view and artists talk on 9 December.

• Vote for Created in Birmingham (another shameless plea)
  If you’ve not yet voted, please do.
  If you have voted please vote again (you can vote DAILY until Tues 13 Jan)
• Birmingham Photospace: Choose a Photographer
  Birmingham Photospace, the people looking to establish a permanent photo gallery in Birmingham, are asking which photographer you’d like to see exhibiting in the city
• Big Brum Quiz of the Year 2008 – Birmingham: It’s Not Shit
  I got 71%. I’m sure you can do better
• Birmingham Jazz News – Sammy Goulbourne: Barack Obama Mixtape
  In honour of 2009 and of Barack Obama’s Election victory, Birmingham Jazz’s friend Sammy Goulbourne has recorded a mixtape for you to download
• ESRC report on Future Management of the UK’s Creative Industries.
  Nick summarises the report which he also paraphrases as “Whoah – this is all a bit confusing. Can we do some more research please?”

• Cut-Out
  Not quite sure what the deal is with this one. They’ve got a DIY print studio and are looking for people to submit designs for them to use on T-shirts and so on. A physical shop is apparently coming in summer 09, in the meantime they’re up online with a website (coming soon) and this blog
• Birmingham Music
  “The Town Hall and Symphony Hall website have launched a new online booking system for their events… Also, as an introductory offer, you can take advantage of free postage on all bookings up to November 30th”
• Draft Vision for a Birmingham Photospace
  The next meeting about this is on Tues 14 October at 6.30pm in the Library cafe, Birmingham city centre. Seek out the Birmingham Flickr group for how the discussion about this is going; this is a link to the draft vision they’ve prepared
• Flip Blog – Grads On Walls Event
  The Flip Animation folk put out a reminder for the Animation Forum WM’s Grads on Walls event on Monday (good to see people talking up other people’s events – a very smart thing to do, I’d say)
• Birminghams Most Stylish – Style Birmingham
  “The 500 people who have made it through this year’s Style Search will be whittled down to just ten this weekend at a special party at Gatecrasher”. Why am I linking to this? Um… just spreading the joy I guess
• Script screenwriting course
  “Script, in association with Outside Centre, presents an in-depth Introduction to Screenwriting Course” at Wolverhampton’s Light House
• Plus+: Fazeley Studios 2008 Plus Venue
  Is it me or does the text in the link make no sense. Basically, Fazeley Studios has been chosen as the venue for the 2008 Plus Design Festival. Shame on me for not spotting that they had a blog though, and thanks to Nicky at Digbeth is Good for pointing it out
• Facebook group – mid*point
  “mid*point is the network for independent theatre companies in the West Midlands” There doesn’t seem to have been any activity on the website for over a year but they’ve just started a Facebook group so something must be going on under the hood

There’s been a discussion bubbling away in the past few weeks about establishing a dedicated space for photography in Birmingham.  Much of this has been taking place among members of the Birmingham Flickr group.

Now there’s to be a get-together to try and take things further:

A small group of us are getting together on Wednesday 17th September 2008 at 6.30pm in Rooty’s (the Custard Factory) to discuss some of the ideas that have arisen from our Flickr discussion on setting up a group to push for the establishment of a Photospace for Birmingham.

For background info you can see the PhotoBirmingham blog and the original (and still ongoing) discussion on Flickr.