The changes that the Balsall Heath neighbourhood have gone through are being explored by the local community and researchers from the University of Birmingham and Birmingham City University. Their Cultural Intermediation project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council as part of its 2012 – 2016 Connected Communities programme.

On Wednesday 4th June, the group is inviting Balsall Heath residents to take part in the heritage project designed to promote local ownership of arts and culture.

The meeting will also host a long-lost gem from the BBC archives called ‘A Touch of Eastern Promise’. This is a 30-minute drama first broadcast in 1973 and produced at Pebble Mill studios. The light-hearted drama is about a young man (Dev Sagoo) who dreams about a Bollywood film star (Jamila Massey) who he tries to meet when she pays a visit to Birmingham.

It was entirely shot in Balsall Heath amongst the local Asian community. Most of the actors were hired from the local area as well. You can read more about the film here.

This will be a really interesting event getting people involved in their local history. The first meeting takes place at Hillac Restaurant, 568-570 Moseley Road, Balsall Heath – on Wednesday at 6-8pm.

Other Balsall Heath things of note:

• Mahtab Hussain’s photographic exploration of inner-city Muslim identities is currently on show at The MAC as part of the ‘50 Years On: The Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies‘ exhibit. His intimate portrayals are a testament to heady mix of cultural/religious constraints and the evolution of a distinct urban culture
• Mohammed ‘Aerosol Arabic’ Ali has been using Balsall Heath’s urban landscape as his template for years. His Soul City Arts Hubb provides local people with access to empowering arts and culture
• Last year artists and Balsall Heath residents Elizabeth Rowe and Chris Poolman coordinated the Balsall Heath Biennale
• Ort Cafe at The Old Print Works continue to put on great exhibitions, gigs and workshops (see What’s On in June here)

Birmingham has seen a massive turn around in fortunes since its post-industrial nadir of the 1980 / 90s. Design is becoming a massive feature of the way in which the city is trying to shake off its grimy image and become a 21st century metropolis.

Mohammed Ali (not the boxer!) has been a major proponent of street art as a tool of transformation. He is a born-and-bred Brummy who has his own brand of ‘Aerosol Arabic‘ to add a dash of colour to the greys of Birmingham’s landscape. His politicised murals have caused controversy over recent years, but have undoubtedly left their impression on the communities that accommodate them.

He has also gained international acclaim following his TEDx Talk in the Vatican City State and installations in New York Melbourne, Casablanca and Dubai.

His talk is at Brainbox in the Library of Birmingham on Thursday at 5.30pm. He will present his work and ideas about how he believes bringing an alternative visual landscape to the cities we live in, is the way to deal with social ills and celebrating multi-cultural Britain.

He will also be talking about his work with the Library, access to resources and to Library’s expertise in the development of cultural engagement programmes, projects and activities.

Tickets for this event are £5 and are available via The Box.

On Thursday a selection of Birmingham’s most popular art galleries will once again be throwing their doors open until late in the evening to showcase new exhibitions. This is part of the Museums At Night scheme – a nationwide festival of inspiring after hours cultural events at museums, galleries and heritage sites curated by Culture 24.

To make it even easier for you to sample the best of Brum’s cultural institutions, there is a free Art Bus that will cart you between the Ikon Gallery, Barber Institute of Fine Arts, RBSA Gallery, MAC Birmingham and Eastside Projects.

Click HERE for details of the route and follow the links above for information about the free exhibitions available on the night.

The CiB team have been really excited about new exhibitions in Birmingham. Check our review of Bill Drummond’s pieces at Eastside Projects HERE.

You never need many excuses to see a film at The Electric Cinema. This is the oldest working cinema in the UK, it has the comfiest sofas you’ll ever sit in – and you can text the bar to bring you drinks and popcorn if you fancy paying for the privilege.

On Friday 25th April they will be screening We Are The Freaks, an ode to teen coming-of-age movies, the fall of Margaret Thatcher and mad nights out in 1990s Birmingham. The ensemble cast includes the stars of This is England, Kill List, Skins and Fresh Meat.

The film premiered at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival and received some excellent reviews. Birmingham-born director Justin Edgar has filled it with energetic and irreverent humour. It does contain many piece-to-camera sequences and references to films of similar genres, but manages not to take itself too seriously.

The film will be followed by an open Q&A session with cast and crew. Click HERE for tickets and more information.

Get down to Digbeth this weekend for the sale and exhibition of thousands of vintage sneaks and fresh apparel brands all under one roof.

The Sneaks and Peaks event runs from 12pm – 7pm at Boxxed – an amazing venue at the heart of Birmingham’s creative quarter.

There will be street food from the best of Brum’s providers, an exclusive street art exhibit, and a roster of local DJs to set the tone.

As a special treat, Boxxed are hosting the final of the Birmingham series of Secret Walls. Check it out to see the best of Birmingham’s street artists go head to head for the crown.

What do you get when you mix a polemic topic, a misunderstood community, two of Britain’s best poetic voices and the artistic directors at Birmingham REP? The answer is Refugee Boy – a heartbreaking and hilarious production brimming with hope, humanity and love.

This is an adaption of Benjamin Zepheniah’s novel of the same title. It runs from Tuesday 8th – Saturday 12th April so order your ticket here before they get snapped up. It tells the story of Alem, a fourteen year old boy fleeing civil war with his family. After being smuggled into the UK, his Ethiopian father and Eritrean mother make the heartbreaking to decision to leave him in London whilst they return to their country.

Alem’s new life in London brings a host of challenges – he is shoved from pillar to post – between court hearings, children’s homes, and foster families. He decides to take control and become the master of his own destiny. He transcends his label and comes of age in circumstances too difficult for most of us to contemplate.

In this production, Gail McIntrye, Playhouse Associate Director, brings together the work of Lemn Sissay and Brum’s favourite dub-poet, Benjamin Zephaniah.

The play has received rave reviews. Many of them focus on the production’s seamless transitions between stages of Alem’s life and the poignant presentation of such a tough young life. The creative team behind it were supported by a local charity working with refugees, City of Sanctuary.

There will be a free curtain-raiser performance before the evening performance of Refugee Boy on 10th April

“A Place Called Home” by Bethan Marlow and directed by Erin Gilley tells the powerful, moving, and inspirational stories collected from a diverse group of refugees and asylum seekers who are all in the process of making Birmingham their home.

This is one not to be missed. The best of Brum’s creative talent coming together and raising awareness of a serious issue.

Frame Creatives are a Birmingham-based collective encouraging, supporting and promoting the local photographic community.  They are quickly building a strong community of interest by carving out a forum where creatives can share ideas, voice their concerns and support each other.

They are holding the FRAME 14 Conference at The Custard Factory on Saturday 12th April. The event is open to professionals, artists, students, retailers – and anyone else who wants to get involved in the arts and culture scene. The FRAME 14 Exhibition follows on from this conference, with the gallery opening to the public with a private view at 6pm.

Submissions are closed but this is still an amazing opportunity for people who want to dip their toes in the water and find out about all the creativity bubbling beneath the surface. There will be judges from The Royal Photographic Society, The Association of Photographers, SIGMA and City & Guilds displaying the best of all the submitted artwork.

Tickets for the conference in the daytime are £20 for students and £25 for everyone else.

Find out more about FRAME here.

This Friday 21st March marks World Storytelling Day, a global celebration of oral storytelling on the Spring Equinox. This is the one day in the year where people are encouraged to tell and listen to as many stories in as many languages at as many places as possible. It is significant for its ability to forge links between creative communities and draw public attention to the role of storytelling as an art form.

The Word Factory event is a chance to explore how the way we use words impacts the way our view of the world. It will include a stellar line-up of female guest speakers:

– Amerah Saleh aka Soul Poet (she has been doing BIG things in this year with the indomitable Beatfreeks collective and TEDxBrum)

– Lauren Williams, Birmingham’s Young Poet Laureate, who at 15, is already making big waves on the local arts and culture scene

– Steff Thompson, CEO of Rooftop Entertainment and Poetic Essence, carving out her own creative landscape for Birmingham.

The evening is run by Little Miss Creative, a network of creatives uniting and empowering women in the West Midlands. Unfortunately for the lads, this is a ladies-only event – but for anyone keen on media, illustrating, photography, poetry, storytelling and events – this is one to follow for a taste of how Brum’s arts and culture scene will develop this year.

Join the tribe HERE.

Flyer:

‘The Event‘ at The ThinkTank at Millennium Point is an opportunity for young and youngish people to debate and decide the future of local art, heritage and culture. On Saturday 15th March, people from across the West Midlands are coming together for this free creative consultation event that empowers young people to take leadership roles.

There are loads of reasons to get involved with this. Birmingham is becoming a hub of creative collisions and this is just one example of of programmes promoting youth culture.

It is organised by Priority 5, a youth-led organisation under the Arts Connect West Midlands umbrella. The objective is to mobilise young people into getting involved in our vibrant arts and culture scene.

The day includes a Market Place hosted by the BBC, Creative Alliance, Fixers, The MAC, Live Unltd, Ikon and Arts Connect among others.

There will be a photography workshop supported by Ming De Nasty. Not-so-discreet roving camermen and photographers will be filming and producing live media content . You can release your creative juices by creating a cut-out version of the West Midlands using cardboard. And of course, representatives from cultural superpower Beatfreeks will be in attendance.

Tickets are FREE and can be found HERE.

Full flyer:

A group of socially active young people from award-winning youth empowerment charity, Envision, are partnering with Unchosen to Break The Chain of Human Trafficking in Birmingham.

This will be an evening of powerful short-films from independent film makers – shining a light on a practice that thrives in the shadows. The event begins at 7pm on Wednesday 19th March at The MAC in Edgbaston.

All of the films screened are based on real life case studies.

It will be a fantastic exposition of how film can tackle social issues and protect vulnerable people.

Screenings of short-films Nicu, The Trip, Let’s Talk About Sex and Safina will be followed by expert-led panel debates to raise awareness of different aspects of Modern Day Slavery. See below for more information about the panel.

• James Behan, Head of Operations, UK Human Trafficking Centre
• Alison Cook, SAFE Project (Birmingham NHS project for sex workers)
• Mark Heath, Gangmasters Licensing Authority
• Detective Superintendent Tim Bacon, West Midlands Police
• Kerry Scarlett, Adavu Project / Regional Anti-Trafficking Network.

The night will also include spoken word pieces and live music with local artists specially commissioned to perform.

Contact The MAC box office to book your tickets.