It’s the title I’ve been waiting months to write.
The wait is over. The team at mac and sampad are delighted to announce that the centre will be opening its doors on 1 May 2010. After two years of hard work, and a £15m expansion and refurbishment project the centre will be unveiled over May Bank Holiday Weekend with shows and performances, and plenty of free activities to encourage visitors to explore the dynamic spaces within the new building
Highlights over the opening weekend include the grand finale of The City Sings, a new anthem developed in celebration of mac’s re-opening, performances by Misty’s Big Adventure and Vijay Kashore, whilst sampad present United Colours of Dance as part of International Dance Festival Birmingham. In addition, there will be guided tours around the building, a variety of workshops, audio trails as part of the Amplifying the Map project, DJs and much more.
There are some pics on the Stan’s Cafe blog if you want a look.
“Oh Lord!”
“Once again!”
What a classic..
At last. All the arts stuff is of course great but MAC’s primary function, as any parent will tell you, is a place to get a coffee or a beer on a Sunday afternoon as the kids run riot in the park. Divorced and non-divorced dads of south Birmingham rejoice!
“A new anthem developed in celebration of mac’s re-opening”. Thought makes me shudder a bit. No-one ever believes me but when the Metro tram line opened a song was also commissioned to celebrate that but was quietly shelved in the run up to the opening.
Of course, I’m also eager to find out what its cinema programming policy will be. Great to have a second arts/indie screen back in use.
David Sin at the Independent Cinema Office is doing the programming. They’re London-based, but David used to programme Bham film fest and it will be interesting to see what direction he takes things in.