Created in Birmingham

Flatpack and Fierce have barely begun, but I’ve already been taking a sneak peek of a few of the things they’ve got going on, including Symphony of a Missing Room, the Vintage Mobile Cinema and a trip over to the Dirty End.

Yesterday morning I headed over to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, for a visit unlike any other. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Symphony of a Missing Room by Lundahl & Seitl, feeling slightly apprehensive as I was given a pair of wireless headphones, blindfolded and led cautiously around the museum by sounds, voices and a mysterious hand. The whole experience was what I can only describe as dream like, and had me leaving feeling like I’d been awoken from a deep, disorienting sleep.

So far it’s been receiving plenty of rave reviews on Twitter, who all seem to be able to put the experience into words so much better than I can. If you want to check it out for yourself, book via the Fierce website, it’s definitely one to give a go.

Last night also saw the launch of both Flatpack and Fierce, at VIVID, which has been transformed into The Dirty End. Along with live music from Juneau Projects, they had a few tasty treats and cocktails on offer which will apparently be sticking around for most of the festival.

The Vintage Mobile Cinema had it’s first Flatpack outing this afternoon in Victoria Square, where it gathered quite a few admirers. The 22 seater restored mobile cinema, originally toured British factories from 1967, promoting modern production methods. As one of only seven made, this gem is the last standing after being brought back to life to tour the country once again.

With it’s cosy little interior, complete with red cinema seats, it feels rather like a mini Electric. I was also treated to a clip of Buster Keaton’s silent film Sherlock Junior (1924), which is being screening tomorrow night at the Town Hall, accompanied by live organ and piano.

If you fancy hopping aboard, the vintage mobile cinema will be at Handsworth Library on Thursday, Birmingham Markets on Saturday, and Cannon Hill Park on Sunday. Take a look at whats on across the weekend over on the Flatpack site.

I’ll try and update this post with other Flatpack & Fierce adventures, but in the meantime let us know which events you’ve made it to and what should be on our ‘must see’ lists.

It’s festivals a gogo with the Fierce and Flatpack festivals kicking off today with a whole load of interesting stuff coming to Birmingham between now and Sunday.

You’ll no doubt have done the decent thing and booked up a load of tickets for both of these already but, if not, there should still be time. I’ve had a nosey through the programmes and reckon that I’ll be going to the following:

Tuesday:

• Fierce/Flatpack launch at VIVID
• The Irrepressibles at Town Hall

Wednesday:

• Shadow Shows at the Patrick Centre

Thursday:

• Shorts on Walls at VIVID
• Too Much Information at The Electric

Friday

• Nesst 2
• Queerfest to Fierce at VIVID
• Los Angeles Plays Itself at Ikon Eastside

Installations and ongoing things that I’ll try to catch when I can:

• Burningham
• The Commentators
• The Soldiers’ Song
• Prayer

All subject to having to work to do and so on. Plus I’m not around this weekend, which is a shame because there’s some ace stuff happening.

What are you going to be going to?

• We Are Fierce – Open Invite to Flatpack & Fierce Festival Launch, Tues 22nd March
  Don’t forget to RSVP
• YouTube – Motionhouse Machine Dance ‘The highlights’
  A dancing digger. Cool
• Culture – Funding opportunities 2010 | EACEA
  Apparently something on this page says that Birmingham Rep have been given some European cash for ‘Four Cities, Four Stories’
• Swede it! :: Become a star on the big screen at Broadway Plaza
  Re-make a movie lo-fi-style for Broadway Plaza, AMC Cinema and Kerrang. Submissions in by 20 March. Proceeds from the screening go to Birmingham Children’s Hospital. There are prizes too
• Moqapi Selassie
  “a Rastafari dub poet, born and raised in Birmingham”, says the Apples & Snakes newsletter
• GET A GRIP – An open call for illustrators, artists and designers
  “We’re looking for enthusiastic designers, illustrators and artists of all different styles and disciplines, who like our ethics and business, and reckon they’d be up for working with us.”
• Inspired Designs
  “Inspired Designs allows users to search the decorative art collections held by museums services within the Black Country region”
• 16 Days
  “For 16 days from April 1st 2011, Tether will be stationed at The Lombard Method in Birmingham. The Nottingham based collective will work towards creating 16 new works that seek to interfere with the Lombard Method and the way people interact and react within it”
• Love Birmingham
  “I will try my hardest not to moan about the state of things as ‘Love Birmingham’ will exist to be a wholly positive collection concerning Birmingham.” Aw, shame – criticism is so hot right now
• YouTube – Kerrang! Radio: Watville Primary School Sing Iron Maiden – Flight Of Icarus
  Kids at a school in Wolverhampton singing Iron Maiden. From the comments, it seems this vid’s very popular with Brazilian metal fans. Fancy

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.

• 10 Questions for Birmingham’s Independent Music Industry answered by Andy Derrick
• “4. In recent years, there has been a range of initiatives and projects designed to support the development of music in Birmingham. Can you list 5 projects or initiatives that you think have proved beneficial to the “Independent Music Industry?”
  No”
• Ladywood’s Got Talent
  Ladywood’s Got Talent is looking for performers to enter. You don’t have to live in Ladywood (the wider Birmingham area will do) but some sort of talent will stand you in good stead
• Harborne Orchestra
  “Harborne Orchestra is an independent community orchestra based in the Harborne district of Birmingham, England. The players are of all ages and ability. Rehearsals take place weekly during term time in preparation for three concerts a year”
• We Are Fierce» Sneaky Peak at some of the Festival
  Info about March’s Fierce Festival is starting to appear
• Be2Awards 2011 | Built environment blogger of the year
  Simon Felton’s Birmingham Central blog is up for an award and I reckon it’s well worth a vote (no registration needed)
• Petition : Training Space for Birminghams Dancers
  A petition for an urban dance centre in Birmingham, similar to London’s Trocadero Underground. Sign here
• Article19 Feature Article: Don’t Do It!
  I’m thinking of adding this to our Contact page. Here’s what not to do when sending press releases (to bloggers especially)

Throughout the week of 22 – 27 March 2011, Birmingham will be treated to an eclectic programme of film and performance from Flatpack Festival and Fierce Festival, who’ve announced that they’ll be sharing dates next year.

Flatpack’s fifth festival will celebrate and take film to unexpected places; where new film fraternises with silent cinema and archives are re-imagined. Expect live soundtracks, workshops, installations, offbeat family screenings and a vintage mobile cinema which will roam across the city.

Fierce Festival returns after two years and the appointment of new Artistic Directors Laura McDermott and Harun Morrison.  True to tradition, spectacular projects and public interventions will collide with the kind of agenda setting performances and wild parties on which the festival’s ten-year reputation rests.

The full line up for each of the festivals is expected in February 2011, so keep an eye on their websites over the next few months, www.flatpackfestival.org / www.wearefierce.org

That title should perhaps be capitalised, but I’m not sure whether it’s a Proper Thing or just a loose kinda ‘it’s complicated‘ thing*.

Anyway, I’ve had an invite to the launch of a publication celebrating the ‘vitality, innovation and diversity’ of this group that comprises:

• Bass Festival
• Birmingham Book Festival
• Birmingham International Jazz and Blues Festival
• Fierce Festival
• Flatpack Festival
• Rhubarb Rhubarb
• Supersonic Festival

[* not sure what I'm implying here]

**UPDATE**

Ah, it is a Proper Thing, I’ve found a blog post about it and a picture too:

We’ve never had a caption competition on CiB as far as I can remember. Just a thought…

**Another UPDATE**

Ask and you shall receive – this was submitted to the CiB email address:

Splendid.

• Live Art Speed Dates « Stan’s Cafe Theatre Company
  “coming to the West Midlands on 25th September as part of Fierce Festival’s fun and games”
• Artists wanted for smoke-free project
  Suggest an idea. A group of young people may choose to apply for a grant (up to £2000) and commission you to deliver it. Interesting model
• Lots Of Things To See And Do In The West Midlands: September 2010 « Oh. (I know Russ L, and Russ L is no Russ L)
  Lots of things
• Dig out your camera and get snapping for free tickets to The Secret Garden!
  The REP are after pics of your secret gardens
• Screen WM: News
  Not sure what this is about, but I’m putting it out there – “Submissions for BRAIN WASH BRUM are now open, as we have not confirmed a date there is currently no deadline although it is probably wise to get them to us by the middle of October”
• September Brum Notes Out Now « Brum Notes Magazine
  The new edition’s out. The website seems to have been rejigged since I last looked too
• 09/10 Annual Report now online | The Other Way Works
  Annual update from the Birmingham-based theatre company
• Screen WM: News – Full Circle
  “Tucked away in attics, sheds, cupboards and garages are forgotten gems capturing local life and history on film. These are a vital part of the Midlands’ screen heritage. With the help of 60 midlands groups, MACE is looking for these old films and videos to preserve and share them with future generations”
• URGENT: Crew needed for Midlands Feature October/November 2010
  Hit the link for the info
• Facebook | Thatched
  This club night has one of the most horrific posters I’ve ever seen. Congrats, I suppose
• Corporate Development Manager
  The Hippodrome are after a corporate fundraiser with a passion for the arts

• Know Your Place
  “If you are a freelancer, recent graduate or SME then why not come and be inspired at the third Know Your Place event” On 23 August at Zellig. These get good reviews – worth signing up for
• Ben Javens: Time Out Cover Illustration #2
  Nice work by Ben, although Time Out are still in my bad books after one of their writers described Birmingham as ‘scum’
• Funding launched for young am-dram groups – Audiences Central
  “Individual grants of up to £5,000 will be on offer to non-professional theatre groups that are either made up entirely of members under the age of 25, or which have a youth section and are involved in musical theatre productions.”
• Birmingham Museums and Art Gallerys – Your Birmingham event
  “Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is asking the public to help in exploring the history of Birmingham. The first opportunity to do this in person will be at the Museum Collections Centre Open Day on Sunday August 22nd”
• We Are Fierce» Blog Archive » Fierce’s Dirty Cash!!!
  “Help Fierce Festival discover the filthiest way to spend 250 quid”
• Capsule zine no.5 : Capsule Blog
  “this edition has been designed by our brand new intern Tom J Hughes, a mighty fine illustrator who has done us proud”
• View from the top of a crane! « BrumCityCentre.com
  That crane being the one at the site of the new library. It’s quite high up
• New stats on the West Midlands creative workforce « D’log
  “More statistics on the West Midlands creative workforce”
• Fierce Earth finds new home « Fierce Earth
  The differences between Fierce Earth and the Fierce Festival are now that bit more pronounced. The former has an office, the latter has gone all virtual. Fierce Earth will “have a new strategic focus on training and consultancy for the creative sector and developing creative talent”
• The Yellow Door Bindery
  “The Yellow Door Bindery is a Birmingham-based workshop offering a bespoke bookbinding, box-making and portfolio making service”
• Matthew Sefton
  Good stuff from Matthew, blogging about getting into the regional media industry
• Photography in Birmingham: a review of three exhibitions « In Birmingham
  Steve McCurry at BMAG, Harold Edgerton at the Pallasades and Sheldon Nadelman at Trove
• OxjamBrum Speed Dating Event- Top 40 Singles « Area Culture Guide
  “The people behind the OxjamBrum Takeover festival are looking for 20 male and 20 female music lovers, also known as the Top 40 Singles, to come along to their charitable and cheeky new speed dating event on Thursday 26th August 2010″
• Attractions vie for tourism excellence award – Audiences Central
  “The shortlist for the Heart of England Excellence in Tourism awards 2010 has been announced”
• Birmingham Post – £30m plans for new Birmingham Conservatoire
  BCU have some ambitious plans
• meorwithlou
  The blog of Louise Whitmore, a designer who had some work in the CiB Shop and who I bumped into again earlier

Intrepid reporter that I am, I went along to the Fierce Start Party last week to see what Laura and Harun, the new artistic directors, are planning for the next 12 months.

If you’re not familiar with Fierce they’ve been responsible for some of the most weird, wonderful and worrying live art presented in Birmingham over the past… well, ever.

The event was covered by this is tomorrow who’ve collected together audio, video and some photos, including this interview with Laura McDermott:

and this general summation of the whole thing:

Strikingly, the artistic-directors do not know the content of the next festival, due to commence in February 2011. Over the next ten months audiences will be able to follow the development of these projects as they emerge in response to a series of visits to the city. The fruition of these journeys will culminate in the festival.

The Fierce Festival Caravan of Artists 2010-11 (as they’re calling it) includes Eitan Buchalter, Sheila Ghelani, Stan’s Cafe, Plan B, Lundahl&Seitl, Quarantine, Jeanne van Heeswijk, James Webb, Kira O’Reilly, Dominic Johnson, Manu Luksch & Mukul Patel, Denis Tricot and EXZYT.

A nice touch was the loyalty cards they handed out to everyone who attended. Some super sleuthing tells me that dates for forthcoming Fierce events are:

• 24-26 April 2010 – Fierce Interrobang 1: Regeneration
• 24-26 September 2010 – Fierce Interrobang 2
• 11 November 2010 – Fierce Countdown
• 22-27 February 2011 – Fierce Festival

And if you don’t know, now you know.

Typical.  I write a post about the Fierce Earth blog and what happens?  A few hours later Helga Henry, managing director of Fierce Earth, uses that same blog to make a couple of key announcements – the biggest of which is that:

at present I think it’s fair to say that there will not be a Fierce Festival in 2009 but that we will aim to produce 2-3 large scale ambitious public projects throughout ‘09, one of which may be at the festival time. Our partners too, may still want to programme audacious and risky work in May and June, and we will certainly be working with them as usual to promote performances if they do.

We’d like to deliver a bigger, more ambitious programme, and it may take some time to sort that out.

So it’s not all bad and a reflection of their ambitions more than anything.  It’s worth reading the whole post for more about the whys and wherefores but, as Helga says, watch the blog for developments.

There’s also information about Fierce’s Creative Learning work and the announcement that:

We’re considering announcing a call for projects and inviting ideas for innovative and exciting creative learning projects with people who would be willing to partner Fierce Earth

So if that sounds like something you’d be interested in then that’s another reason to watch that space.

Something I only found out about recently is that Fierce have a live art training and mentoring project. As part of this year’s festival six West Mids artists will be presenting works-in-progress at The Edge on Thursday 29 and Friday 30 May.

• Nesting (Katy Acquaye-Tonge). 2pm to 9pm.
• The Place Where I Learnt How To Ride A Bike (Natalia Morris). 2pm to 9pm.
• Too Punk To Pray (Sufi Punk). 7pm.
• Cycle Dialogues (Sima Gonsai). 2pm to 7pm.
• Nocioception II: Narrative To Concept (Sobriety Twist). 8pm.
• Into The Space (Feng Ru Lee). 11pm. Must book in advance on 0121 244 8080 and it’ll be at Crowd6 in Bearwood on Friday 30 May, not at The Edge

By all means investigate what’s going on with each but hopefully there’ll be plenty to just drop in and see, which is what I’ll probably do.

In the video for Amnesty International’s Unsubscribe campaign, Birmingham-based artist Jiva Parthipan ‘played’ the part of a detainee subjected to waterboarding. That is, for a short while he was actually subjected to it with the treatment (judged by the Bush administration not to be torture) filmed in slow motion at 1000 frames per second.

The video has generated a great deal of coverage and no small amount of controversy. You can see it for yourself here:

Jiva is giving a talk at BIAD on 14 May and will be performing a piece called ‘The Terror Of Living‘ at Warwick Arts Centre on 21 May, both as part of the Fierce Festival.

His own website is at www.jivajiva.com.

The line-up for this year’s Fierce! Festival, the international performing arts festival, has been announced and can be seen on the events page of their newly updated website. You may recall that a significant number of acts were chosen via a public vote and these have now been programmed into the wider festival too.

The opening party will be held at The Vaults on 16 May and promises burlesque cabaret from Miss High Leg Kick and Fierce’s favourite DJ Joe Egg. Entry is free but you’ll need to RSVP as capacity is limited.

In the lead up to the festival there are a few events being held on Wednesdays at 2pm at BIAD:

• On 30 April Breathe will be creating “sensory performative experiences in interactive environmments” with The Other Way Works “daring and remarkable theatre that draws the audience into the very heart of the experience.
• On Wednesday 7 May at the same time and place it’s the turn of Harminder Singh Judge and Hancock & Kelly Live.
• Finally, on 14 May it’s the conceptual artist Yara El-Shirbini and trans-disciplinary artist Jiva Parthipan who will take the stage.

I’ll go into the specifics of this year’s festival a little nearer the time but the main programme runs from 21 to 31 May, with a bewildering array of shows and events in that time.