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.

Constructing The Self is raising funds for Cancer Research UK. Please give what you can on the night.

Dean Melbourne | Between Worlds from Andrew Rutter on Vimeo.

In the lead up to his solo exhibition in London I decided to explore the deeper themes of painter Dean Melbourne in a short documentary.

I’ve known Dean for nearly 10 years, he used to be my art teacher at College and even after I left we somehow managed to keep bumping in to each other. In the more recent years our meetings led to a strong collaborative formation and ultimately inspired me to capture his art through a lens.

Edited & Directed by Andrew Rutter
Cinematography by Dan Hunt & Andrew Rutter
Additional Filming by Simon Heybourne
Model: George Hux-De’Ville
Featured Music by Richard Lacy, Simon Lambros, David O’ Brien, Chris Egan, Alex Arcoleo & Luke Richards

More of his work can be seen here: deanmelbourne.com

My website:
andrewrutter.com • facebook.com/andrewrutterfilms

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

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.

As part of the British Animation Awards, several voting screenings are taking place across the country to decide their Public Choice Award. This is your chance to select your favourite films from some of the best animated short films and music videos made over the past two years.

Three programmes will take place over three evenings from 8-10 February at The Mockingbird Theatre in the Custard Factory. All screenings are free.

More information on the screenings can be found here.

The last Digbeth First Friday of the year is upon us and, of course, this edition has a distinct festive vibe. There’s lots going on – our highlights include:

• Many & Varied: December Salon – Fascinating talks from fascinating people on all kinds of creative ideas and projects. This is final Salon of the current programme – book a space now!

• SIFA Fireside: A Festive Evening of Music and Art – bring a donation to the homeless charity and drop in for mulled wine, a chance to see their murals and be serenaded by their in-house band, the Firesiders.

• Grand Union: Christmas Party! – Expect unique artist-made decorations, boozy roulette, festive cocktails to warm your cockles and an eclectic soundtrack of party classics.

• tArt – The first event by Black Hole Club members Ryan Hughes, Michael Lightborne and Kate Spence, combining music, performance and visual art.

• Boxxed: Tabula Rasa – A multifaceted art show combining high-speed photography, moving image and ethereal soundscapes.

As part of Flatpack’s ongoing ‘Celluloid City’ season, this weekend there will be a programme of talks and screenings at mac birmingham that will explore the changing face of film as we shift from analogue to digital.

Events include a look behind the scenes of the wonderful Steenbeckett installation in the first floor gallery; a talk on the challenges of maintaining celluloid work in a digital world; Phil Fawkes, a projectionist from the late 1930s until only seven years ago reflects on the changes in film and a life in projection, and the University of Warwick’s Film and Television Department will be sharing their three year research project looking at the changing role of the projectionist (from fairground showmen to projection mapping). If you’d like to get a bit more hands on, you will be able to make your own animations by drawing directly onto 16mm film, and there will also be an opportunity to show your own film reels that may have been getting dusty in your loft.