Birmingham have made the shortlist for 2013 City of Culture along with Norwich, Derry/Londonderry and Sheffield. Which is a shame cos I had a tenner on Durham*.
Fingers crossed though, overall I think this would be a good thing.
I’ve still no idea what went into the bid, other than some blandness in the DCMS statement that says:
the panel was influenced by the expected step change each city was asked to envisage, if they gained the title and subsequent media spotlight.
“It was a hard choice but also heartening that all bidders had recognised the power of culture to bring people together; to work collectively within existing resources for a common goal and bring into being networks that may not have existed before.
So, a step change. Cool.
I’m not sure what sort of profile the campaign’s been having in the city – I know canvasbirmingham.com has been seeing some good action and saw some flyers the others day (at the council house – I wonder if they found it hard finding places to put them around town). A vid from the launch night came out the other week too:
City of Culture Bid Launch from Big City Blank Canvas on Vimeo.
*No, of course I didn’t.
The Queensbridge school year 7 did a massively long doodle poster all about what the city of Birmingham means to them, which I’m sure was the deciding factor when it came to which cities were shortlisted!
Its good to see some positive PR about the City…
Whats a little worrying is that they need the Birmingham people like you and me to support the city yet the bid hasn’t really been broadcast. First I found about about this was on this blog!
And Birmingham does have a river …… It’s call the River Rea and it runs through Digbeth!