Creative

Yarningham – Birmingham’s new yarn festival

Annabel Clarke — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 08:30:16 +0000

Yarningham is a new yarn festival produced by Stitches and Hos, Brum’s motley crew of enthusiasts for all things knitted, crocheted and stitched. Taking place over the weekend of 16 and 17 July at Stirchley Baths, it will feature stalls from independent yarn producers from across the UK…and two live alpacas (called Cookies and Cream).

To compliment the marketplace, Yarningham will also include a programme of workshops for visitors. Learn how to knit socks, or even how to spin your own yarn. It will also feature demonstrations from the Weavers, Spinners and Dyers Guild.

Yarningham will be open from 11am-5pm with day tickets available for £5 (+ booking fee) in advance or £7 on the door.

More information on Yarningham can be found here.

Longbridge Public Art Project Summer School

Annabel Clarke — Fri, 03 Jun 2016 08:30:43 +0000

Longbridge Public Art Project (LPAP) is offering recent graduates in art, design or media related subjects (such as Art & Design, Fine Art, Performance, Music, Visual Communication and Architecture) the opportunity to further their artistic practice and career.

During a two month long Summer School, participants will have opportunities to learn new skills, attend talks by LPAP artists-in-residence, national & international artists, develop site specific work that responds to Longbridge independently or collaboratively, support the LPAP programme of activities, manage the project space and work closely with the WERK team.

The LPAP Summer School will start week beginning 20 June and run until the end of August 2016 with activities scheduled to take place on a weekly basis, with some evenings and weekends.

More information can be found here.

Deadline: 5pm, Friday 10 June 2016.

City Camp

Annabel Clarke — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 08:30:56 +0000

Running until Saturday 18 June, City Camp is a festival exploring the theme of city futures and the future of Birmingham. It is an open festival – anyone can pitch an idea to be part of the programme, thus recognising that we all have a role to play in feeding into the city’s dialogue and unleashing positive solutions.

Events include:

Build your own film night, a masterclass from Flatpack Assemble.
Ministry of Data – Rave with some dodgy data. Over dancing, drinks and DJs, consider today’s Big Question: To Brexit or to Bremain?
Art Against the Grain – an evening of spoken word, discussion and debate exploring Diversity and Decolonisation.

The full programme can be found here and also includes workshops & hack days, talks & panels, masterclasses, learning circles, art & performance and themed dinners.

RE:Present Masterclass Series

Annabel Clarke — Mon, 09 May 2016 12:06:09 +0000

The RE:Present programme is an initiative delivered by Lara Ratnaraja and Creative Shift aimed at developing leadership in emergent and established cultural producers and artists from diverse backgrounds who are currently under-represented in Birmingham.

As part of the initiative there are a series of master classes open to the public, part of an active programme to build a community and network of people with an interest in leadership in general and in particular cultural leadership.

The next sessions:

Ariane Koek

Tuesday 10 May 2016. 6-8pm, Aston Business School. Free.

Ariane Koek is an international strategic consultant curator and writer in arts science technology and arts residences. She created and initiated the first arts policy at CERN, the world’s largest particle physics laboratory. This is now embodied as the highly regarded Arts@CERN programme.

As the cradle of the World Wide Web and home of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), CERN is an eminent centre of science and technology with great relevance in the culture of today. As an international centre of excellence in these fields, CERN is an inspirational place for artists, designers and creators of any kind to explore and extend their research in the fascinating world of particle physics.

Prior to CERN, Ariane was Director of the Arvon Foundation for Creative Writing, and had an award-winning career as a BBC producer and director in both radio and television, working across arts, science and politics. In 2009 she was selected to be a Fellow on the prestigious Clore Fellowship, a highly regarded leadership programme in the cultural sector.

Book here.

Francesca Martinez

Wednesday 8 June 2016, Aston Business School. Free.

Martinez is a comedian, writer and actress. Born with cerebral palsy, she refuses to accept the label of her condition, preferring to describe herself as ‘wobbly’. She was 14 when she got her first acting part playing Rachel Burns in Grange Hill, making her the first disabled person to get a major part in a children’s television series. Her no-holds-barred approach to disability has seen her celebrated on the comedy circuit for her biting brand of stand-up.

Booking opens soon.

BOM Summer Camp for 7-12 & 12-16 year olds

Kerry — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 14:32:09 +0000

Summer 2016 sees the return of BOM’s awesome week of creativity, electronics and making new friends! Perfect for budding inventors and restless minds.

7-12 year olds: Space Cadets

22–26 August 2016, 10am-3.30pm*, £125 for 5 days

This year’s Summer Camp for 7-12 year olds is space-inspired, and we’re working with artists and creative technologists to design and build rockets! BOM staff will support kids to create amazing space-inspired bots, creatures and environments for an astronomical adventure. Working in groups, learn new skills in design, craft, programming, electronics and coding.

12-16 year olds: Hacking Birmingham

11, 12, 15, 16 & 17 August 2016, 11am-4pm*, £125 for 5 days

Design, make and test experiments for Birmingham City centre to make our city a better place, AND more fun! Working with a team of artists and technologists, research and design anything – from bins that sing, to embarrassing burglar alarms for market stalls. With on-hand technical support, build your ideas and put them into action! Perfect for the curious, the inventors, the socially aware. This workshop is for the young people of Birmingham looking for something different to do this Summer. No experience needed.

12 year olds are welcome on both camps, it is up to you which is the most suitable. Co-working space is available for parents and guardians.

*breakfast club and post-camp cool-down is available, please enquire for more information: education@bom.org.uk

BOOK ONLINE VIA: 7-12 year olds — and — 12-16 year olds

Get messy, and help revive an ancient British tradition

Kerry — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 09:30:56 +0000

In June artist Tereza Buskova will revive a 16th Century English tradition at a Church in Erdington; and she needs your help.

Clipping the Church took place once a year when young apprentices and women in service were allowed to visit their families and their ‘mother’ church. Derived from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘clyp-pan’ meaning ‘embrace’ or ‘clasp’, the ceremony is often associated with Mothering Sunday. Church-goers would join hands and move around the outside of the church in an unbroken ring, often singing a traditional hymn. Although there is evidence that the ceremonies took place in Birmingham, it is unknown where.

In her take on the Clipping the Church ceremony, Tereza will explore the tradition in a new performance and video work exploring motherhood, the meaning of rituals, family ties and relationships with the local community. As part of the ceremony baked goods will be paraded. She is asking people to make salt dough decorations for the performance at workshops in the run up to the event. Try your hand at making beautiful traditional Eastern European plaited doughs, or express what motherhood means to you by using only flour, water and salt – and see them in the final performance and film.

Workshops take place on the following dates:

Saturday 19 March 2016, 11am-1.30pm – Kingstanding Food Community.

Saturday 30 April 2016, 11am-1pm – Loaf Bakery and Cookery School, Stirchley.

Saturday 14 May 2016, 2.30pm (then a gathering with the artist, films screening + food and drink from 5pm).- St Barnabas’ Church, High Street, Birmingham. B23 6SY

Happy 10th birthday Flatpack!

Kerry — Fri, 04 Mar 2016 09:30:26 +0000

It’s hard to believe that Flatpack Film Festival is ten. Spawned from short film nights at the Rainbow in Digbeth, the festival now takes over the city with screenings, performances, installations and happenings every year.

This year’s festival kicks off slightly later than usual (19-24 April) and is a little shorter than previous editions. However, it will feature the same cinematic fun and games that is known and loved for.

A couple of this year’s highlights:

Vampyr – One of cinema’s landmarks, Carl Theodor Dreyer’s mesmerising horror Vampyr (1932), accompanied live by four-piece multi-instrumentalists Minima and film pianist Stephen Horne.

Oh Dear Diary – Brace yourself for an evening of angst-ridden, cringe-inducing, revealing and often unintentionally hysterical real life stories, as a group of volunteers read aloud from their teenage diaries.

Pierre Bastien – Textured looping soundscapes made from Meccano parts, motors, fans, and rattles + trumpet.A treat for the eyes and ears.

Sound and Vision – A mesmerising live AV triple-bill using lamps, lenses, modified record players, looping records and found objects. Those taking an analogue approach to their craft on the night include Amsterdam-based duo Optical Machines, sound artist Graham Dunning and Berlin-based artist collective Transforma with musician/composer PC NAKT.

The full programme will be online in the next few weeks.

The 21 Pirates

Annabel Clarke — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 09:30:30 +0000

The 21 Pirates is an artistic collective that gives creative talent a platform to showcase their work. This edition’s brief was ‘Film and Game’. Each of this year’s chosen artists have created a piece of work that forms a ‘crossover’ between film and game. The exhibition includes the work of Swoomptheeng, Eva Holder and Known as Unknown amongst many others.

The exhibition will be held at mac birmingham from 6-9pm Friday 19 February.

Come grab a drink, some cake and see some original artwork from talented people.

Live R&D Exhibition at BOM

Kerry — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 13:01:06 +0000

Co-work, collaborate, create

Today BOM open their new exhibition which includes a co-working space:

All are welcome! We have co-working desks, WiFi and our Artist Fellows experimenting with their own research and development.

Come & hold a meeting, teach a class or just get started with that project you’ve been trying to get off the ground.

The co-working space is a part of our ‘Live R&D’ exhibition. We are showing the work of our 16 Artist Fellows.

One minute’s walk from New Street Station’s Southside exit. Open Tues – Sat, 10:30am – 5:00pm. For more events and info see www.bom.org.uk

To book a group/team/class email louise@bom.org.uk (bookings required for groups of 5+)

Birmingham Production Space: An Update

Annabel Clarke — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 09:30:43 +0000

Last year the Birmingham Production Space proposal was launched at a public meeting at Eastside Projects.

Since then, Workshop Birmingham have been working with the Enterprise, Innovation and Business team at Birmingham City University to move the proposal forward, a process which has resulted in a number of funding bids which, if successful, will see the Production Space workshops and flexible making space piloted as part of the first phase of STEAMhouse, a new facility in Digbeth which has been designed to fuse learning, knowledge, practice and production.

On Thursday 18 February there will be an event at Eastside Projects to hear more about, and feedback on, the ambitious vision for STEAMhouse phase 2.

This event is free, but booking is advised. Book here.