The Creative Alliance apprentices are holding an exhibition, Some Utopia, at the Custard Factory from 30 September – 8 October.
The apprentices were given the opportunity to transform a unit in Zellig into a space that expresses their own ideas and interpretations of utopia. With artists all from different creative backgrounds, the exhibition will feature fine art, photography and visual arts.
This is a unique opportunity to see the talents of emerging artists from the work done by Creative Alliance. Opening times for the exhibition are as follows;
30 September: 11am – 3pm
1 October: 8.30am – 2pm
4 – 8 October: 11am – 3pm
Just a quick round up of everything going on this weekend, there’s a lot and we wouldn’t want you to forget and miss out on anything!
Cum Clubbing – Hosted by VIVID, this art party does not look like something to be missed (although it’s happening now, so get down quick). From 8pm – late, VIVID’s project space will be taken over by live music, DJs and visual artists who’ll conspire to create an excitingly strange evening of camp disco. Tickets are £5.
To save time I’m going to be both lazy and efficient, and link you to everyone else who’s been talking about this. Take a look at Digbeth is Good, More Canals than Venice, brianduffyhasabigbrain, and Birmingham: It’s Not Shit.
Zine Festival - Not put off by the scale of Artsfest, this niche festival has a weekend full of events for you to get involved in.
- Starting this evening at The Edge is a screening of ‘$100 & A T-Shirt‘, Joe Biel’s documentary on zine culture. Entry is a £1, which also gets you a bag of popcorn, along with a talk from Pete Ashton and Rob Horrocks on the emergence of the small press comics scene and music zine influence in the 80s.
- The Victoria is host to the Zine Fair on Saturday from 12 – 6pm, along with a workshop from 2 – 2.30pm with Peter Lally, as he runs through the history of Alternative Press and curates a Q&A session on running your own zine events.
- At 5 – 6.30pm Island Bar are inviting zine fans to ‘Drop in + Draw’, offering a pencil and paper to unwind with, before the party starts with the Atta Girl Zine Party, 8pm – 2am.
- From 6.30 – 8.30pm, Get A Grip will be guiding guests through the process of making your very own totally unique t-shirt. T-shirt, equipment, inks, images and expertise supplied for £20 per person. If you fancy it, book in advance, more details here.
- Sunday will be a chilled out picnic in Cannon Hill Park at 1 – 4pm. With nothing for sale and free to attend, the party will be meeting at mac.
Artsfest – As already mentioned, the weekend of free arts events kicks off this evening and will continue to entertain through to Sunday night. With live performances coming from Centenary Square and Chamberlain Square, along with short films and animations screened at the Crescent, plus various performances and workshops held at theaters and bars across the city, don’t let the miserable weather deter you from leaving the house!
There’s not much info floating around about Emerging apart from a couple of flyers, but it looks mighty interesting all the same. It’s a photography exhibition featuring Niall Patterson, Paul Watt, and Hannah-Beth Todd amongst others, and you can see it at the Custard Factory between 1-8 June, 10am-7pm.
Meanwhile, in related news, Custard Factory have a shiny new website here, and Zellig, the brand new development at Devonshire House, also has a new website here.
RoguePlay took over the theatre space in the Custard Factory at the end of last year but are on the move already. This from their blog:
trying to run a theatre which aims to embrace and nurture young talent has been made almost impossible when clashing with raves and road closures. We appreciate the long standing reputation of the Custard Factory as one of Birmingham’s biggest party places but the knock on effect this has had on our customers and facilities has become too much
So off they travel.
They’re looking for interesting places to use and have looked at:
Railway Stations as well as arches, Churches, Post Offices, discussed Shop Fronts, pubs and even an old car forecourt and will be re-opening the Mixing Bowl Theatre in one of these unique performance spaces
They’re still looking too, so if you know of an interesting, disused site (or if you’ve got a good space) then contact them via their blog.
Punch are doing another one of their pop-up shops – the Swifty one was great and this next one looks pretty ace too. For those that don’t know:
His work has become synonymous with new music and club culture, working alongside the most prominent musicians of the last decade, includingChase & Status, Amp Fiddler, Bugz in the Attic, Nitin Sawhney, Ziggy Marley, Howie B and many others.
In addition, Mitch has worked on many special projects, live paints and collaborations with other artists: 55 Roots for 55 DSL (live paint and group art show with Dragon and Shibuya from Japan), Bacardi brand development (with Mode 2) and Blak Twang/We Love You album projects with Banksy.
It’ll be at the Sauce Gallery at the Custard Factory from 10 April 2010.
The rumours of the past few months have been confirmed, with news that the Factory Club will be shutting up shop appearing on the Eclectricity Facebook group:
Unfortunately, the rumours are true…The Factory Club (formerly known as Medicine Bar) at the Custard Factory is closing down….. The new decade heralds a different direction for the Custard Factory and that is the development of the site as a more of an office based environment. As a result, the dark underground club space set around the charismatic lake in the courtyard of the Custard Factory will be winding down as potential investors look at the space along the lines of restaurants/studios etc…
Lakeside Marquee events will still happen for one off special events but these will be fewer and far between…. but it’s not all bad news…. Music events will still take place in Space 2 (the Custard Factory Warehouse) which has had a new overhaul and the development of the railway arches….. This is an exciting prospect in itself and no doubt will be the location for many good times ahead! However, the days of the Factory Club space (The former Medicine Bar) and Kitchen being the regular host to your hedonistic night out are unfortunately numbered!
Not everyone’s happy about this. Those on the Drum & Bass Forum certainly aren’t. Elsewhere, decisive action has already been taken, not just with a Facebook group, but with a page too. Head there for more than your daily recommended limit of badly spelled expletives, CAPITAL LETTERS and exclamation marks!!1eleven!! Actually, the description of the Custard Factory’s residents as ‘suits’ made me chuckle.
I know there are plenty of long-suffering (rent paying) suits in the Custard Factory who’ll be jumping for joy at the news, no longer having to turn up to a building that smells of urine each Monday morning.
On the other hand, the city is going to have one less decent music venue – events staged at the Custard Factory pulled in thousands and did a lot to promote the good name of the city.
Check the Eclectricity Facebook group for details of who’ll be playing the Eclectricity End of an Era Weekender, 2-4 April.
(Nod to DiG who spotted this before me UPDATE – now also featuring incisive comments on the distinction between ‘Custard Factory’ and ‘Factory Club’ and the possible effect on visitor footfall)
Craftspace are holding a Craft Collective event aimed at encouraging young people from inner-city Birmingham to develop their interest in craft. It’s taking place on Saturday 23rd January, 12-6pm, at the Vaad Gallery in the Custard Factory. Craftspace explain more:
The project will focus on ideas of guerrilla craft, DIY Craft and Craftivism – with a view to developing a young people led craft collective which will then organise a series of interventions throughout the city.
We will recruit a series of makers to engage with young people We want young people to develop a shared interest in making, to have a voice/express opinions and to explore theirs’ and other’s creativity.
Young people that attend will then be invited to apply to be part of the collective where they will work along side makers over a period of months to plan and deliver the city interventions. Craftspace are also hoping to secure a regular base at the custard factory.
For more information, there’s a Facebook event page, the Craftspace website, and the e-flyer below.
Lago de Mamori: An Aural Environment by Annie Mahtani is described thusly:
Following her recent participation in the Mamori Sound Project (directed by Francisco Lopez), Annie will present field recordings from the Brazilian Amazon in the form of a 16-channel sound installation. She will also speak about her experience in residence at Mamori Art Lab and engage the audience in an open discussion around the recordings and possibilities for future development of this work-in-progress.
This is part of Modulate‘s Sonic Culture Salons and will be at The Gallery in the Custard Factory on Saturday 9 January from 1-5pm. The work lasts an hour, so turn up on the hour to hear the whole thing through. Entry’s free.
Also, it’s nice to see that Annie Mahtani has jumped on Soundcloud where she’s putting full, high-quality versions of her work.
The theatre space in the Custard Factory has been re-named The Mixing Bowl Theatre and a company-in-residence, RoguePlay Theatre, has been installed to look after it.
Here are details about hire of the space.
The Winter Show at the Vaad Gallery is an exhibition of Walsall College’s finest up-and-coming artistic talent, running from 27 Jan to 2 Feb.
(Via the Custard Factory blog)
