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.

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.

Reclaim Photography West Midlands 2016

Reclaim is a photography project coming to Birmingham for the first time in 2016.

Reclaim Photography West Midlands will take place on Saturday 16 April 2016, taking over public spaces with displayed photography pieces.

Entries now open! Deadline 26th February 4pm. 

Reclaim Photography started in Sweden during 2011 and is now here in the West Midlands. This first international project aims to:

• offer complete inclusivity, free of competition, for all participants;

• show the very best of art photography from regional and international photographers;

• take photography back to our streets and public spaces at:

• Grand Central, Birmingham;
• Black Country Living Museum, Dudley;
• Light House Media Centre, Mander Centre and University of Wolverhampton Arts Faculty Library, Wolverhampton;

• raise funds for our regional charity Ladies Fighting Breast Cancer.

The events will co-incide with the University of Wolverhampton Arts Festival and the next major Reclaim Photography event in Sweden.

Prints from the events and additional gallery exhibition will be offered to the public in the form of a donation via lottery draw and theatre auction.

For more details on how to participate please view the Reclaim West Midlands web page, follow them on Twitter and join them on Facebook.

To find out more about the University of Wolverhampton 2016 Arts Festival follow them: @wlv_arts/WLV_Arts#wlvartsfestwlv.ac.uk/artsfest.

The first Digbeth First Friday of the year is upon us. Events to look forward to include:

• The launch of the Precarity Centre at Grand Union featuring durational audio-visual performance, tarot card readings, stop frame animation and foam installation.
• Sovinec, an exhibition by Jindrich Štreit one of the most important Czech Documentary photographers at Centrala + late night AV shindig.
• The launch of AV Silk Road at VIVID Projects, with the opportunity to bring your own projections on the night – Bring Your Own Beamer style!
• Late opening at Eastside Projects with an AV performance from C100 exploring the intersection between art, architecture and urbanism.
• The opening of Bourn at Stryx
• The closing party for Liskbot’s exhibition at Millennium Point.

Next week the largest exhibition to date of photographs by American academic and documentary filmmaker Janet Mendelsohn opens at Ikon Gallery.

Part of a photo-essay Mendelsohn made as a student at the University of Birmingham during 1967–69, the photographs depict everyday life in the Balsall Heath area of Birmingham. They are a wonderful snapshot of the streets and bomb-sites of Balsall Heath and Highgate on the brink of great change.

The Social Eye of Janet Mendelsohn – On Saturday 30 January join a panel of leading artists, academics and professionals at the Library of Birmingham to explore the value of art that works with communities to tell real stories; as well as issues around gender, representation and social/political narratives in art.

Janet Mendelsohn: Varna Road runs from 27 January – 3 April 2016 at Ikon.

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.

The Hubb was a pioneering arts centre which was open from 2010-2013 in Sparkbrook. It hosted artists, academics and community activists from around the world, and provided a space for local communities to come together and be inspired by art and culture.

The Hubb closed its doors in the summer of 2013 as a result of a compulsory purchase order on the building. However, the team behind the centre have been working behind the scenes ever since to find a new building in the locality. Premises have been found, but they need help in order to renovate the space. They are currently crowdfunding in order to undertake the first phases of development which includes new flooring and lighting; repairing walls and ceilings; correcting pipework and electrics; plastering and painting.

Donations can be made here.

With 1 million visits each year to mac alone, we know that art and culture is hugely important to the people of Birmingham. We believe art transforms lives. It helps us share and express thoughts, experiences, feelings and ideas. The rich diversity of arts and culture is part of what makes this city such an inspiring and incredible place to live.

Birmingham City Council is facing huge challenges with less money to spend on its services. This is a time of change and the council wants to hear your voice. If you value the cultural offer in this city you may like to go along to one of the consultations being held in each constituency, a list of which can be found [below]:

5 November 13:30 – 15:00 Ward End Library
6 November 13:30 – 15:00 South Yardley Library
9 November 13:30 – 15:00 Kings Heath Community Centre
9 November 18:30 – 20:00 Alexander Stadium
11 November 13.30 – 15:00 Sutton Coldfield Town Hall
11 November 18:30 – 20:00 St Barnabas Church
12 November 13:30 – 15:00 Northfield Library
12 November 18:30 – 20:00 Stirchley Baths

If you can’t imagine Birmingham in 2020 without libraries, museums, galleries, festivals, music, theatre… please join us in speaking up for culture.

On behalf of the city’s vibrant cultural and creative industries, thank you.

Last week a new exhibition launched at Library of Birmingham:

The Library of Birmingham and GRAIN are proud to present an exhibition of new work by artist Mat Collishaw supported by the Arts Council of England. The exhibition is presented in parallel with a major survey of Collishaw’s work being shown at The New Art Gallery Walsall (25 September 2015 – 10 January 2016).

In Camera is an installation created around a series of 12 crime scene negatives made Birmingham City Police Force during the 1930s and 1940s. Collishaw discovered these uncatalogued images, made to provide evidence in alleged and actual crimes committed in the city, hidden amongst an archive of orphaned police negatives whilst exploring the Library’s internationally renowned photography collections during 2014.

Intermittent flash bulbs will expose the images printed in phosphorescent ink and incarcerated in translucent vitrines.

Swish! 18 September 2015 – 10 January 2016 at Library of Birmingham. More information on the Grain website here.

Last year, during the 50th anniversary celebrations for Birmingham University’s cultural studies department, the amazing photographs of Janet Mendelsohn were unearthed. Taken between 1967 and 1968, they are a snapshot of the streets and bomb-sites of Balsall Heath and Highgate on the brink of great change.

In advance of an exhibition at Ikon in 2016, for one weekend, the Old Printworks are showing a selection of Mendelsohn’s images alongside other documentation of the area.

The exhibition takes place from 11am-6pm, Friday 10 July – Sunday 12 July 2015 at the Old Printworks, Moseley Road. B12 9AH. The exhibition opening is from 6-9pm on Thursday 9 July.

Full information (including details of free associated talks and film screenings on Saturday 11th) can be found here.