This Thursday take an after-hours cultural excursion on the Art Bus. Visiting seven Birmingham galleries for this edition, (The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Eastside Projects, Ikon Gallery, mac birmingham, The Parkside Gallery (BCU), RBSA Gallery and the Waterhall Gallery at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery) all will be open from 5pm until 9pm. The free bus will be transporting visitors throughout the night.

More information can be found here.

Is it just me or is Birmingham loving, and seems to be bloody good at, knitting?

I think of this threaded enthusiasm comes as a result of the work in the past of Stitches and Hos, who we’ve chatted about lots and lots.

Well those merry chap and chapettes recently did a project called Knit 2 Together commissioned by Kalaboration (a joint celebration of the 2012 Olympic Games and 50th Anniversary of Jamaican independence) to decorate the pillars outside the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. They did not do it on their own though, along with Birmingham’s Craftspace, over 400 individuals form around Birmingham took part in dressing the BMAG.

On Thursday 13th September there will be a chance to find out everything you wanted to know about this project by attending a conversation between Stitches and Hos Sara Fowles and Craftspace‘s Director Deirdre Figueiredo, which will be at the school of Art in Birmingham starting at 6pm.

Find out more here.

Very interesting it was too – fashion shoots, roof works (with views across the city) and the conservation studio. Here’s the slideshow:

Around these parts there’s:

• Culture Vulture Family Weekend at BMAG
• sampad arts mela at MAC
• Come On, Vogue at Hippodrome
• Walking As One at Centenary Square
• Mind Out at The Patrick Centre
• Artswalk 2010 in Handsworth
• Open Weekend at NAGW
• Open Weekend at Wolverhampton Art Gallery

and various other things besides.

Here’s what the project’s website has to say about it all:

The project aims to create a unique, safe space for people to meet and ask questions with each other, of each other; particularly about faith, religion and spirituality.

There is a clear need for ordinary people to discuss, express and enquire about aspects of daily Muslim and religious life in response to the climate of polarised media reporting.

Visitors will be invited to interact with the installation that consists of a series of freestanding sculptures, photographs and projections.  The exhibition contents were generated from community workshops and invites audiences to ask and explore.

For more information on the project, which runs from 10th July to 22nd August, check out the Heard and Not Seen website here.