There is a noticeable lack of smaller artist-led art galleries in Birmingham, compared to cities such as Sheffield or Liverpool, which means many artists leave the area due to lack of support. These kind of spaces are vital to develop emerging artists and feed the cultural life of a city. They might not be high-profile, but would draw interest from artists and audiences looking for events outside of the mainstream, and may even bring artists to live in the city.
nikki pugh
· 11 months ago
There seems to me to have been a focus on gallery spaces in Birmingham over the last few years (only comparatively speaking - as Ana said there are still noticeable deficiencies). How about some affordable, secure, appropriate production spaces (studios, workshops, hacklabs and the like) so that Birmingham-based artists/creative people can make some work to go into the galleries?
Yes, I agree, also how about affordable 'creative offices' in the same space as studios, so non-makers can interact with other artists without having to pay for space they wouldn't use
Benjaminbrum
· 11 months ago
Birmingham needs to support the celebration of literature in a similar way to other counties around the country. The Birmingham Book festival is wonderful but needs far more support and funding.
Benjaminbrum
· 11 months ago
I think Birmingham lacks enough theatre venues that create their own work rather than just taking in large scale touring companies. There seems to be a disconnect between the kinds of theatre/performing arts etc that goes to the Warwick Arts Centre and that goes to somewhere like the Hippodrome or the Alex.
The thinking in the programming seems to be that if we've "done the WAC" we don't need to swing by Birmingham. We're missing out on so much good theatre being accessible to the wider population. Warwick arts centre is great but that's mainly made up of students. And the WAC is hardly seen as a performing arts venue for the region let alone Coventry.
Emily Quinton
· 11 months ago
For children there should be an arts space where they can come and do creative stuff on a drop-in basis. Like an art cafe with space for painting, drawing, sticking, gluing etc. without parents having to worry about making a mess at home. For older children this could be extended to pottery, sculpture, photography, textiles...etc. etc.
Parents could either join in or grab a coffee in the cafe area.
I know that the MAC (when it reopens) offers stuff like this but there should also be a space that is open on a drop-in and see what's happening basis without the need for having to sign up for a 10 week course, which isn't always financially possible or it may be difficult to find 10 Saturdays in a row to attend a course. Children would also have the freedom to try different things and experiment.
Having a space like this in the centre of the city would be fantastic. "Lets do some shopping, have some lunch and then go and paint!"
There are spaces like this in the USA. I will have to try and find a link!
dave harte
· 11 months ago
Nice ideas here Emily, although it was when we had child number two that we realised that home would forever be a mess - you'll have to face that too now.
Having spaces in the city centre for children would be really great. Sometimes when we go in to town we treat Early Learning Centre and The Entertainer as kid-friendly run-around spaces rather than shops. When we go for a coffee somewhere it's more likely that we have to contain/distract the children with cake to stop them spilling out into other people's spaces.
That line about shopping/lunch/painting is spot on. Too often we do the latter back at home instead of staying in the city (and therefore spending a few more quid). Although I have to say that my kids often eschew the creative for the 'running into each other and generally going bonkers' kind of fun.
Steph
· 11 months ago
I don't think you need extra facilities, I just think you need to be more inclusive of surrounding areas!
There is more to the midlands culturally than just Birmingham!!
I work at Light House in Wolverhampton, we have a dedicated photography art gallery ( 3 exhibition spaces), we have an independent cinema, and I feel like we struggle to find funding and visitors as were not in B'ham city centre.
You should look around at what you have near by before throwing money at another project. Look at what's happening with the Public still draining finances and not even fully open yet.
Maybe we should have a combined push on culture throughout the region not just locally
This what I know already exists:
If you want activities with children Walsall Art Gallery 1st Sunday of every month they have the art trolley out, Wolverhampton Art Gallery have regular craft events, on a drop in basis. And Stafford Shirehall Gallery ( I know technically not mids but close enough) has a sensory room that you can visit by appointment FREE and Bilston Craft Galleries are always putting on drop in events.
If you are looking for art spaces with out children every local town has an art gallery and/or museum to wonder around.
Theatres, in Wolverhampton alone there is the Arena theatre and the Newhampton Arts Centre putting on locally produced productions.
I bet with a bit of research I could find more!
May we should all open our eyes and look around!
dave harte
· 11 months ago
Well said Steph. Actually most Brummies make use of Wolverhampton's cultural spaces as you have a great music venue in the Civic/Wulfrun. Lots of bands bypass Birmingham because we lack that size of venue.
Also, we'd kill to have Light House on our doorstep and many of us do visit it. The Electric is the closest we have in cinema terms but you also have a cool cafe, big courtyard, media library, gallery, training facilities. All in the centre of your city.
the Big city Plan is just about brum though so inevitably we're going to be asking for stuff on our doorstep; that doesn;t mean we don't value you or spend our money with you.
Annette
· 11 months ago
The Bluecoat Arts Centre in Liverpool is a good example of an art space in a city centre. It doesn't exactly have a dedicated space for kids but is very family friendly. The best place 'art' space I have been to for kids in the Zentry Paul Klee just outside Bern - fantastic large space with many activities: drop in, classes, exhibitions etc. With v small kids Bilston's Craft Gallery has a fantastic space as mentioned before. It is a great resource and I dont know if it is fully exploited. Also, as Dave said this is about Brum.
alexhughes
· 11 months ago
Hows about a cartoon gallery? OK, I'm kinda biased on this one, but why not? The Cartoon Museum in London has been a huge sucess, and there are other galleries around the country that have cartoon exhibitions, not to mention the rest of the world). The London museum has a permanent exhibtion of historic cartoons and other regular exhibits (currently on Giles I believe), along with discussions and workshops for kids and the like.
Just this week I discovered that Birmingham City University has a collection of cartoons by Larry (the late Terence Parks - http://www.biad.uce.ac.uk/research/archives/pag... - and a native Brummie to boot) at Margaret Street. It's a crying shame that these aren't on permanent display somewhere in the city.
Nick Booth
· 11 months ago
Cartoon gallery - surely we can project cartoons onto the streets? A daily giggle to prove that brummies are not miserable.
D'log
· 11 months ago
0. Much better arts events marketing and publicity.
1. A monthly BBC radio programme dedicated to the strong local scene in innovative sound art and electroacoustic music. Could be inter-woven with archival material from BBC Radio vaults and the Midlands film archives, and simple contemporary field recordings around the city centre.
2. A dedicated contemporary photography gallery. Perhaps also a curated regional website with a rolling series of photo-essays + audio clips?
3. A significant paper fanzine (and PDF-zines) subculture, promoted by workshops in design, printing, binding, writing, photography, etc. After a year, the zines scanned and placed in an online archive. Integrate these with the StripSearch comics talent-seedbed scheme.
4. A dedicated and well-distributed paper magazine for new creative writers in the region. The arts council no longer funds one.
5. A complete "freedom of the city" pledge to amateur photographers. No more harrassement of photographers in the city centre, even in private shopping centres.
6. An online/for-download "walkable on my monitor" videogame-like virtual 3D model of the city centre. Or a properly modelled city centre in Google Earth, at the same photo-realistic level as New York currently offers in Google Earth.
7. The whole of the city centre to have an "On the Up!" Open Day, where people could visit the upper floors of otherwise inaccessible city-centre buildings. Could be combined with "audio hauntings" using the city archives as inspiration.
8. An urban "Open Studios" weekend, when a range of creatives' studios and performance back-stages are open to the public.
9. A (hopefully unofficial) curated Birmingham arts/cultural YouTube channel. It would have to be reasonably comprehensive/representative, and regularly-updated with new content.
10. All public cultural/arts/regen/architecture public talks, held in in the city-centre, to be podcast on the web within 24 hours.
11. Gay Pride Parade to be given a promise that it will be held at noon on a Saturday (not closeted away on a Sunday afternoon) in the city centre, and will be properly funded.
12. 3D light-sculptures that morph their shape according to the number and personality-profile of nearby location-aware phones, and are colour-shaded according to feeds from real-time noise-maps of the centre.
13. Twelve small-child -friendly/sized Joseph Cornell-esque "fairy doors" [ http://www.d-log.info/?p=1555 ] around the city centre, perhaps combined with “sound pumps” that pump sound from one "fairy door" to another elsewhere, and/or pump in combined sound feeds coming from microphones in local aviaries and the babble of local rivers.
14. Simple communicative electronic "dreaming walls" to which people can send short text messages for public display, the messages fading after a few minutes to be replaced by others. All Orwellian "giant TV news screens" in the city-centre should be consigned to the dustbin of history.
15. An annual playful city-centre wide ARG game.
16. An annual city-centre wide "silent week", where all the muzak gets turned off for a week. Combined with a programme of "real-music" played in public by real people.
17. A more streamlined walkable link between the new New St. and the new BIAD buildings at Curzon St. At the moment, for a first-time visitor to Birmingham to walk from the New St. pedestrian ramp (or the main taxi rank) to Curzon St. must feel a bit like solving a Rubik’s Cube ('up, down, over, around, over again...'). What about an 'Avenue of Art' for that route? And it doesn’t have to be just bland sculptures and uncomfortable anti-dosser designer-benches. What if the city used the latest technology to rationalise the light and audio pollution along the route, and then used (non graffiti-able, non-smashable) projected light washes, subtle overhead digital projections and discreet audio sources (e.g: bird calls), for instance, to mark such a route at night?
18. Icknield Port site - the one with the West Coast Main line and canal running alongside the currently cleared site, with trains slowing down to enter/leave the New St. tunnel just ahead - turned into a space for the 2009 West Midlands Meadow Gallery? Perhaps followed by another Festival of Xtreme Building? And possibly a "surrealist gardens festival" on the site, combined with light-art.
19. Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery uses the Gas/Water Halls for major international "blockbuster" touring exhibitions, as was originally envisaged.
20. Demolish the Central Library.
21. Abolish the Arts Council.
And it's not cultural, but...
* Birmingham taxi drivers being automatically fined if a GPS satnav device in the cab finds them "going the longest way around" to get to a location in the city centre.
* Walking in the city should be easy and streamlined. The current thinking in urban design in favour of "making walking difficult and stressful" should be ignored.
* A pledge to all buyers of new-build city-centre flats that their broadband will be connected and operational no more than 7 days after they move in.
* A new off-road cycle route along the canals (mostly) running from the site of the new BIAD to the Custard Factory area.
* A huge clean up of the "final mile" on all railway approaches to the city centre. Use the unemployed to do it. This could open up opportunities for locating light-art along the approaches, in places where it wouldn't distract car drivers or be prey to vandalism.
Anoneemouse
· 11 months ago
'21. Abolish the Arts Council.'
Please don't. Reform, yes. But abolish? To be replaced with what? Direct government control of which cultural organisations are funded? Really!?
tgaandy
· 11 months ago
I think Birmingham suffers from a lack of independence. It seems that most of the shops, restaurants and bars are chains, I can't actually think of a good independent cafe in the city centre. There are a few good independent bars and restaurants but nowhere near enough, if you contrast this with to other city's it actually quite embarrassing.
I think that the culture and feel of a city comes from the people and their take on what a shop, cafe, restaurant or bar should be, not what Cafe Rouge, All Bar One or Eat happen to think. When you're in Birmingham it feels like you could be anywhere, because every city has the same shops etc, but other places offer individuality alongside them, which in my view makes them much more appealing place to live and visit.
I suppose all the council can do is provide ares of cheap rent, but not places that are out on a limb, such as the Custard Factory, but right in the middle amongst the big boys!
PLEASE UN-CHAIN BIRMINGHAM
Julia Gilbert
· 11 months ago
I agree we need less chains and more independant shops. The new cafe at St Martin's church is great, by the way if you didn't know about it.
urban_dweller
· 11 months ago
Ikon cafe doesn't feel like a chain cafe... and neither does Gusto in Mailbox when you get to know the manager (Lia).... Costa Coffee in Brindley Place is cool too.
tgaandy
· 11 months ago
Hi urban-dweller,
Two of the three cafe's you mention are chain cafe/restaurants and i could visit them in at least 9 other cities, (costa must have hundreds of sites, all decorated and served in similar manners), and both lack individuality, to be honest they feel the same and serve the same menu in each city. The icon cafe does have it's own feel but it would be nice to have some in the main shopping areas, that are independent and not necessarily attached to an art gallery.
urban_dweller
· 11 months ago
Hi tgaandy,
you are right that 2 of the cafe's I mentioned are chains, and there are 100's of them around. Perhaps I should explain a little more - I think that in these days of brand awareness and franchising it is much easier for an entrepreneur to franchise a store or cafe than develop a new one from scratch - i.e. its more cost effective and profitable from the outset which usually isn't true when setting up a completely new business. As a result of this, I think that setting and service/management provided by the owner are important in developing the "feel" of a place. Costa in Brindley Place is great from the setting perspective, and Gusto in Mailbox has a really great friendly and efficient team - try to get to know them and when you do you'll keep going back because they are really great!
So whilst yes you can visit Costa and/or Gusto in many cities - these two are unique to Birmingham for me.
Hope this was useful.
jamiebullock
· 11 months ago
I disagree with the pretext of the question. Asking 'What extra cultural and arts facilities (such as theatres, art galleries and so on) might we need?' presupposes that having 'extra cultural and arts facilities' will make Birmingham 'more cultural' and 'more arty'. I don't think it really works like that.
To make a city that is vibrant with culture and exciting is about creating urban flow and a sense of exploration. When I'm in the city centre, which is almost every week day, I just want to get to my planned destination as quickly as possible. Nothing ever distracts me from this.
Going to one of the 'great' European cities: London; Paris; Venice; Rome, the opposite is true -- I want to explore and am distracted by the buildings, streets, galleries, restaurants and parks around me.
If we want Birmingham to be a city that buzzes with culture, we need to stop thinking about the city as a collection of services, and start joining things up -- introducing flow and the enjoyment of exploration in the city. This doesn't mean building new galleries, it means creating space around what we already have, and making pleasing routes between galleries, cafés, squares, gardens, canals, theatres, restaurants so people can 'enjoy an evening' in Birmingham and not just 'visit a gallery'.
P.S. I agree with tgaandy: PLEASE UN-CHAIN BIRMINGHAM!
urban_dweller
· 11 months ago
I think jamie made a very valid observation that what we want as a tourist is different from what we want as a resident...
Navigating across the city for work is one thing, but enjoying it as a tourist allows one to go off the beaten track and explore, find those places that take time - I have lived right in the heart of the city for two years now, go everywhere on foot, and still find new places every day!
emdeefos
· 10 months ago
I commuted into London from Surrey for over 20 years. It wasn't until *after* I had visited the city as a visitor that I started to notice what was around me. Before then I wasn't interested in 'exploration' - just in getting to my destination. So . . whether a city centre is an appealing visitor location is at least as much to do with the visitor's frame of mind as its actual environment and facilities. I conclude, therefore, that the image a city generates will determine whether or not it 'buzzes with culture.
domster83
· 11 months ago
Despite BT's claim that they blanket central Birmingham with Wifi, I've found it to be sketchy at best. I'd like to see better wifi, perhaps even free if someone will step in and subsidize it, across the Birmingham area, from 5days to the far end of Corporation Street.
I would also like to see more family friendly open spaces. Brindley Place is a nice place to take the kids and go for a stroll on a sunny day, but its rather far from the centre. A more modernized pedestrian area, with more seating would be welcome.
Jon Bounds
· 11 months ago
I wish that some one would come up with something like a FON (http://www.fon.com/en/info/whatsFon) network for Brum businesses - wifi routers that have separate internal (secure as you need) and external free to all sections.
Isn't BT a partner with FON in the UK? A push from Digital Birmingham (another BT partner I think) to encourage city centre (or wide) businesses or homes to participate in such a scheme (perhaps with even free-er access).
tgaandy
· 11 months ago
In response to Jamie Bullock
That is a really interesting point and i think it ties into what i was saying, independence will create points of interest and intrigue throughout the city. But i think you're right it's not just about adding services!
Further to the wifi comments, I certainly do not see how adding wifi to the city centre would make Birmingham a better cultural experience, or even just a better experience! Surely the experience of a city lies beyond the web!
We also need proper exhibition space and storage for special collections and archives which meets national standards (with space for expansion.) Birmingham Archives and Heritage Service has a vast collection of photographic and archival material which is an outstanding asset to the city and has huge potential for teaching, learning, publicity, and leisure if staffing levels and facilities would allow us to promote it. (see http://tinyurl.com/co3fke)
abbycorfan
· 11 months ago
I don't really think it is about additional arts and cultural facilities- I think what we need is commitment and investment in existing organisations and people. Culture is not just about big shiny buildings- you need innovative, creative and inspired people to make those buildings and institutions impact on the city.
Invest in ArtsFest properly- it is fantastic that it's the biggest free UK festival, but it needs more support and investment to really make a difference. A free city wide festival should be a reason for people throughout the country to flock to Birmingham in September, but it also needs to become THE date in every Brummies' diary.
I definitely agree with other comments about unchaining the city. If we had independent cafes and bars we could create a real European feeling cafe culture throughout the city. I love the German Xmas market because it's always rammed with people, it's a lovely atmosphere and it makes use of an impressive space. Why can't something like that happen all year round? And for anyone who says it's too cold in the UK for cafe culture; cafes in Europe are open all year round- they just hand out rugs.
Fill the streets with art- on sides of buildings, down New St, in stations, in squares and on the BBC Big Screen. More exciting sculpture, street art, graffiti- the overall impression of the centre of the city at the moment is greyness. Why can't we introduce some colour?
Make it easier/cheaper for arts organisations to book outdoor city spaces for performances. As anyone who saw IDFB's Watch This Space, there is nothing so magical as a thousand passers by pausing to witness some dance or a musical performance. Imagine if this happened once a month? These things are expensive to create- BCC could assist with these costs in order to make use of public spaces.
If more cultural/artistic things happened in unexpected places in Birmingham, all year round, arts organisations would have an opportunity to gather new audiences and bring people inside to the theatres, galleries, museums. It would enhance the fantastic work they are all doing- and for those without a venue, give them the chance to show the city what they can do.
Basically, there is some fantastic creative stuff happening in Birmingham already, I don't believe it needs to added to necessarily- but enhanced, supported and promoted properly.
taximezzo
· 11 months ago
I agree with points about Artsfest, and would add to this.I've said this before, and I'm gonna carry on til someone listens. It disgusts me that some performers are paid for their time and expertise, while most are not. Right now Birmingham is not a good place to sustain a living as a musician due to an ingrained culture of expecting musicians (and other artists I'm sure) to work for nothing a lot of the time. I feel that that is disrespectful and exploitative. Artsfest brings in people and money to the city centre, the venues are always packed and no one (as far as I know) thinks of sharing some of those profits with the performers. Time and again I hear the old chestnut of "good exposure" but that doesn't pay the bills, indeed I know good performers who perform at artsfest year in year out and have never had a paying gig off the back of it.
It needs to be appreciated that investing in the infrastucture and developing business models for creative people to make a sutainable living is essential to retain this industry in the city. People in the creative industries often support one another from the bottom up. Musicians for example spend their money in music shops, on cd duplication, artwork, recording studios, rehearsal studios etc etc and could do so much more effectively if more paid opportunities existed.
If BCC wants creatives to live and work here, it needs to lead the way by example and stop exploiting them. They pay many of the non performers (stagehands, security etc) who work on Artsfest, and artists needs to be treated as businesses too. As the previous poster said, the wheel doesn't need to be reinvented, but the creative element needs proper support.
Anoneemouse
· 11 months ago
Some really interesting comments and lots of issues I feel passionate about being raised...
- Lack of independents in the city - this is a huge issue for me. The city centre is so corporate that it suffers from lack of personality for visitors. Unfortunately, as I understand it, much of the core city property is owned by private landlords, so the council's ability to change this is limited. Maybe a more independent area (like the Northern Quarter in Manchester, the Lanes in Brighton etc) is needed. There are some obvious contenders for this (Digbeth, Jewellery Quarter) but, whilst they're no further from the city centre than other similar independent areas in other cities, they do suffer from the lack of connectivity of the city centre. Sort the pedestrian routes, signage and integration of the 'inbetween' areas and you're halfway there.
- Artsfest - The city needs to get over it's obsession with having the 'biggest free arts festival in the UK'. Just have a really good arts festival. No-one gets paid (other than some very rare exceptions who are generally paid by promoters out of their own pockets to ensure their contribution to Artsfest isn't embarassing, or because they are obliged to take part in Artsfest because they have received funding from the city) so there is no incentive to showcase the best your organisation or group can showcase. Gems get lost in the mass of events and it's incredibly hard to navigate. The city's themed festivals are it's real gems (Fierce, Supersonic, Birmingham Jazz Festival, International Dance Festival Birmingham) and better funded versions of these, along with one big destination event each year (like Sultan's Elephant in London, the Spider thing in Liverpool etc) would be much more inspiring for the city.
- New cultural facilities - I'm not actually convinced we need more cultural facilities. Our existing ones could use a bit more audience I'm sure. I agree that more council support for public space events, particularly in the city centre, would be fantastic, and easier access to unused buildings for temporary events or installations would also be great. In my opinion this would have a huge impact on the visibility of creativity in the city, and far more than new buildings.
Lastly, and perhaps slightly contenciously, I'd like to see more bravery in people's cultural consumption. We can all be a bit inward looking and only go to our friends cultural events or things that we always go to. We're also, as some comments here testify to, a bit sniffy about our major cultural institutions. Lots of cities don't have the great cultural things we have here so we need to put our money where our mouths are and support them or they will dissapear, we'll be worse off and BCC will have less incentive to support the arts. Stan's Cafe, Birmingham Rep, CBSO, Fierce, Ikon, DanceXchange, BMAG, BCMG, Birmingham Jazz, Birmingham Opera Company etc all put on internationally important events and all struggle for audience on occasion. So go once in a while. Equally, to all the people who only frequent the institutions above; get out more. Visit CiB or one of the many other great web resources out there and find out what's going on beyond these institutions.
Peter Bacon
· 11 months ago
This doesn't quite answer the question you set but, hey, rules are there to be broken. This is not about a space but about all space. Wouldn't it send out a great message to the world and to everyone who lives here if really high quality busking was encouraged. The streets of Birmingham should be filled with the exceptional musicians who live here playing their own music, preferably acoustically, because that is not only more egalitarian - simple, cheap instruments and the accent on the musician's expertise and not on the technology - also more user friendly for the listener because it's quieter and there is too much noise in the world. Which brings me on to the one most important cultural act this city could do for itself and the population - rip down that huge television screen at the back of the Town Hall and never, ever again, allow this kind of sound and video polution on our streets.
Fiona Handscomb
· 11 months ago
Wow! A lot of really interesting points here .. I agree with Abby that more investment should go into existing arts/entertainment/cultural organisations/ activities/ people rather than creating more. There's a lot of creative stuff going on in Brum, but there's a sense of it being 'hidden away' - not exactly the kind of thing you would necessarily stumble across - which is part of what makes a city great. Perhaps we can be more inventive with how these things are presented: more stuff in the streets and public places - I like the idea of projected cartoons, buskers etc: one of the reasons I love Barcelona is because you don't have to specifically go anywhere to witness stuff. I remember walking down one road and sitting in a cafe and by the time I'd done each I'd seen a guy playing the piano, a guitar duet, 2 dancers doing Argentinian tango and some kind of improv drama group doing something - this was all just happening around me - I didn't have to go digging for it. I guess climate helps; but there's ideas there?
mattmurtagh
· 10 months ago
Birmingham Photospace (www.birminghamphotospace.co.uk/) formed in 2008 with the aim of establishing a world class space for photography in the city. While its members are all either photography enthusiasts or photographers we have established the group for much more than realising a pet project.
In answer to question CUL1 we believe that a dedicated photography gallery for both digital and print photography is needed in Birmingham to promote its national and global image because it would be a:
• popular visitor attraction – as evidenced by the recentexpansion of London’s Photographers’ Gallery (which relocated to a larger, central London space earlier this year) and increasing visitor numbers to Birmingham’s existing museums and galleries. Prior to its move, the Photographers’ Gallery attracted circa 450k visitors a year in a side street location indicating photography’s commercial appeal and the financial viability of such a project.
Moreover Professor Michael Parkinson identified a shortage of cultural facilities and spaces in the city in his recent visioning study. A number of Birmingham’s cultural leaders have highlighted the lack of a dedicated photography gallery in the city as a major facility gap. Nationally there is currently no dedicated facility that can accommodate major international photography exhibitions. A Birmingham Photospace could be that facility working in partnership with the National Exhibition Centre, International Convention Centre and others to continue to expand the city’s extensive exhibition business and expertise.
• focal point for the city’s creative industries - one of the key sectors to further contribute to the Birmingham's continued growth and economic success, as well as to enrich the wide diversity of talent that we have to offer
• means of supporting city learning goals – both for young people and lifelong learning – whether through education outreach work or adding value to existing visual arts learning
• a key aspect of Birmingham’s plans to be a digital city - not least a centre for displaying Birmingham’s extensive but largely hidden photo archive in a new way. It could also be the ideal venture for a national museum looking to establish a regional base. For example the Victoria and Albert museum is one of the few national museums not to have expanded out of London and it has a huge photography collection. Such a collection alongside Birmingham’s collected works would support a major and connected but distinct history of photography museum.
• means of ensuring that new iconic images of Birmingham continue to be generated beyond the Rotunda and Selfridges
Our aspiration is for a world class photography venue. This need not be an expensive or complicated project to realise; it could make use of one of Birmingham’s many dis-used buildings close to the city centre.
RichBatsford
· 10 months ago
once again - more independent venues need to be encouraged - this in turn will encourage most local musicians, comedians and other artists to put on events in function rooms everywhere and stimulate the creatvity of the city.
All Comments
Some notes from Self Service's pub(lic) conversation about studio spaces are here: http://www.npugh.co.uk/blog/birmingham_studios/
The thinking in the programming seems to be that if we've "done the WAC" we don't need to swing by Birmingham. We're missing out on so much good theatre being accessible to the wider population. Warwick arts centre is great but that's mainly made up of students. And the WAC is hardly seen as a performing arts venue for the region let alone Coventry.
Parents could either join in or grab a coffee in the cafe area.
I know that the MAC (when it reopens) offers stuff like this but there should also be a space that is open on a drop-in and see what's happening basis without the need for having to sign up for a 10 week course, which isn't always financially possible or it may be difficult to find 10 Saturdays in a row to attend a course. Children would also have the freedom to try different things and experiment.
Having a space like this in the centre of the city would be fantastic. "Lets do some shopping, have some lunch and then go and paint!"
There are spaces like this in the USA. I will have to try and find a link!
Having spaces in the city centre for children would be really great. Sometimes when we go in to town we treat Early Learning Centre and The Entertainer as kid-friendly run-around spaces rather than shops. When we go for a coffee somewhere it's more likely that we have to contain/distract the children with cake to stop them spilling out into other people's spaces.
That line about shopping/lunch/painting is spot on. Too often we do the latter back at home instead of staying in the city (and therefore spending a few more quid). Although I have to say that my kids often eschew the creative for the 'running into each other and generally going bonkers' kind of fun.
There is more to the midlands culturally than just Birmingham!!
I work at Light House in Wolverhampton, we have a dedicated photography art gallery ( 3 exhibition spaces), we have an independent cinema, and I feel like we struggle to find funding and visitors as were not in B'ham city centre.
You should look around at what you have near by before throwing money at another project. Look at what's happening with the Public still draining finances and not even fully open yet.
Maybe we should have a combined push on culture throughout the region not just locally
This what I know already exists:
If you want activities with children Walsall Art Gallery 1st Sunday of every month they have the art trolley out, Wolverhampton Art Gallery have regular craft events, on a drop in basis. And Stafford Shirehall Gallery ( I know technically not mids but close enough)
has a sensory room that you can visit by appointment FREE and Bilston Craft Galleries are always putting on drop in events.
If you are looking for art spaces with out children every local town has an art gallery and/or museum to wonder around.
Theatres, in Wolverhampton alone there is the Arena theatre and the Newhampton Arts Centre putting on locally produced productions.
I bet with a bit of research I could find more!
May we should all open our eyes and look around!
Also, we'd kill to have Light House on our doorstep and many of us do visit it. The Electric is the closest we have in cinema terms but you also have a cool cafe, big courtyard, media library, gallery, training facilities. All in the centre of your city.
the Big city Plan is just about brum though so inevitably we're going to be asking for stuff on our doorstep; that doesn;t mean we don't value you or spend our money with you.
The best place 'art' space I have been to for kids in the Zentry Paul Klee just outside Bern - fantastic large space with many activities: drop in, classes, exhibitions etc.
With v small kids Bilston's Craft Gallery has a fantastic space as mentioned before. It is a great resource and I dont know if it is fully exploited. Also, as Dave said this is about Brum.
Just this week I discovered that Birmingham City University has a collection of cartoons by Larry (the late Terence Parks - http://www.biad.uce.ac.uk/research/archives/pag... - and a native Brummie to boot) at Margaret Street. It's a crying shame that these aren't on permanent display somewhere in the city.
1. A monthly BBC radio programme dedicated to the strong local scene in innovative sound art and electroacoustic music. Could be inter-woven with archival material from BBC Radio vaults and the Midlands film archives, and simple contemporary field recordings around the city centre.
2. A dedicated contemporary photography gallery. Perhaps also a curated regional website with a rolling series of photo-essays + audio clips?
3. A significant paper fanzine (and PDF-zines) subculture, promoted by workshops in design, printing, binding, writing, photography, etc. After a year, the zines scanned and placed in an online archive. Integrate these with the StripSearch comics talent-seedbed scheme.
4. A dedicated and well-distributed paper magazine for new creative writers in the region. The arts council no longer funds one.
5. A complete "freedom of the city" pledge to amateur photographers. No more harrassement of photographers in the city centre, even in private shopping centres.
6. An online/for-download "walkable on my monitor" videogame-like virtual 3D model of the city centre. Or a properly modelled city centre in Google Earth, at the same photo-realistic level as New York currently offers in Google Earth.
7. The whole of the city centre to have an "On the Up!" Open Day, where people could visit the upper floors of otherwise inaccessible city-centre buildings. Could be combined with "audio hauntings" using the city archives as inspiration.
8. An urban "Open Studios" weekend, when a range of creatives' studios and performance back-stages are open to the public.
9. A (hopefully unofficial) curated Birmingham arts/cultural YouTube channel. It would have to be reasonably comprehensive/representative, and regularly-updated with new content.
10. All public cultural/arts/regen/architecture public talks, held in in the city-centre, to be podcast on the web within 24 hours.
11. Gay Pride Parade to be given a promise that it will be held at noon on a Saturday (not closeted away on a Sunday afternoon) in the city centre, and will be properly funded.
12. 3D light-sculptures that morph their shape according to the number and personality-profile of nearby location-aware phones, and are colour-shaded according to feeds from real-time noise-maps of the centre.
13. Twelve small-child -friendly/sized Joseph Cornell-esque "fairy doors" [ http://www.d-log.info/?p=1555 ] around the city centre, perhaps combined with “sound pumps” that pump sound from one "fairy door" to another elsewhere, and/or pump in combined sound feeds coming from microphones in local aviaries and the babble of local rivers.
14. Simple communicative electronic "dreaming walls" to which people can send short text messages for public display, the messages fading after a few minutes to be replaced by others. All Orwellian "giant TV news screens" in the city-centre should be consigned to the dustbin of history.
15. An annual playful city-centre wide ARG game.
16. An annual city-centre wide "silent week", where all the muzak gets turned off for a week. Combined with a programme of "real-music" played in public by real people.
17. A more streamlined walkable link between the new New St. and the new BIAD buildings at Curzon St. At the moment, for a first-time visitor to Birmingham to walk from the New St. pedestrian ramp (or the main taxi rank) to Curzon St. must feel a bit like solving a Rubik’s Cube ('up, down, over, around, over again...'). What about an 'Avenue of Art' for that route? And it doesn’t have to be just bland sculptures and uncomfortable anti-dosser designer-benches. What if the city used the latest technology to rationalise the light and audio pollution along the route, and then used (non graffiti-able, non-smashable) projected light washes, subtle overhead digital projections and discreet audio sources (e.g: bird calls), for instance, to mark such a route at night?
18. Icknield Port site - the one with the West Coast Main line and canal running alongside the currently cleared site, with trains slowing down to enter/leave the New St. tunnel just ahead - turned into a space for the 2009 West Midlands Meadow Gallery? Perhaps followed by another Festival of Xtreme Building? And possibly a "surrealist gardens festival" on the site, combined with light-art.
19. Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery uses the Gas/Water Halls for major international "blockbuster" touring exhibitions, as was originally envisaged.
20. Demolish the Central Library.
21. Abolish the Arts Council.
And it's not cultural, but...
* Birmingham taxi drivers being automatically fined if a GPS satnav device in the cab finds them "going the longest way around" to get to a location in the city centre.
* Walking in the city should be easy and streamlined. The current thinking in urban design in favour of "making walking difficult and stressful" should be ignored.
* A pledge to all buyers of new-build city-centre flats that their broadband will be connected and operational no more than 7 days after they move in.
* A new off-road cycle route along the canals (mostly) running from the site of the new BIAD to the Custard Factory area.
* A huge clean up of the "final mile" on all railway approaches to the city centre. Use the unemployed to do it. This could open up opportunities for locating light-art along the approaches, in places where it wouldn't distract car drivers or be prey to vandalism.
Please don't. Reform, yes. But abolish? To be replaced with what? Direct government control of which cultural organisations are funded? Really!?
I think that the culture and feel of a city comes from the people and their take on what a shop, cafe, restaurant or bar should be, not what Cafe Rouge, All Bar One or Eat happen to think. When you're in Birmingham it feels like you could be anywhere, because every city has the same shops etc, but other places offer individuality alongside them, which in my view makes them much more appealing place to live and visit.
I suppose all the council can do is provide ares of cheap rent, but not places that are out on a limb, such as the Custard Factory, but right in the middle amongst the big boys!
PLEASE UN-CHAIN BIRMINGHAM
Two of the three cafe's you mention are chain cafe/restaurants and i could visit them in at least 9 other cities, (costa must have hundreds of sites, all decorated and served in similar manners), and both lack individuality, to be honest they feel the same and serve the same menu in each city. The icon cafe does have it's own feel but it would be nice to have some in the main shopping areas, that are independent and not necessarily attached to an art gallery.
you are right that 2 of the cafe's I mentioned are chains, and there are 100's of them around. Perhaps I should explain a little more - I think that in these days of brand awareness and franchising it is much easier for an entrepreneur to franchise a store or cafe than develop a new one from scratch - i.e. its more cost effective and profitable from the outset which usually isn't true when setting up a completely new business. As a result of this, I think that setting and service/management provided by the owner are important in developing the "feel" of a place. Costa in Brindley Place is great from the setting perspective, and Gusto in Mailbox has a really great friendly and efficient team - try to get to know them and when you do you'll keep going back because they are really great!
So whilst yes you can visit Costa and/or Gusto in many cities - these two are unique to Birmingham for me.
Hope this was useful.
To make a city that is vibrant with culture and exciting is about creating urban flow and a sense of exploration. When I'm in the city centre, which is almost every week day, I just want to get to my planned destination as quickly as possible. Nothing ever distracts me from this.
Going to one of the 'great' European cities: London; Paris; Venice; Rome, the opposite is true -- I want to explore and am distracted by the buildings, streets, galleries, restaurants and parks around me.
If we want Birmingham to be a city that buzzes with culture, we need to stop thinking about the city as a collection of services, and start joining things up -- introducing flow and the enjoyment of exploration in the city. This doesn't mean building new galleries, it means creating space around what we already have, and making pleasing routes between galleries, cafés, squares, gardens, canals, theatres, restaurants so people can 'enjoy an evening' in Birmingham and not just 'visit a gallery'.
P.S. I agree with tgaandy: PLEASE UN-CHAIN BIRMINGHAM!
Navigating across the city for work is one thing, but enjoying it as a tourist allows one to go off the beaten track and explore, find those places that take time - I have lived right in the heart of the city for two years now, go everywhere on foot, and still find new places every day!
So . . whether a city centre is an appealing visitor location is at least as much to do with the visitor's frame of mind as its actual environment and facilities. I conclude, therefore, that the image a city generates will determine whether or not it 'buzzes with culture.
I would also like to see more family friendly open spaces. Brindley Place is a nice place to take the kids and go for a stroll on a sunny day, but its rather far from the centre. A more modernized pedestrian area, with more seating would be welcome.
Isn't BT a partner with FON in the UK? A push from Digital Birmingham (another BT partner I think) to encourage city centre (or wide) businesses or homes to participate in such a scheme (perhaps with even free-er access).
That is a really interesting point and i think it ties into what i was saying, independence will create points of interest and intrigue throughout the city. But i think you're right it's not just about adding services!
Further to the wifi comments, I certainly do not see how adding wifi to the city centre would make Birmingham a better cultural experience, or even just a better experience! Surely the experience of a city lies beyond the web!
We also need proper exhibition space and storage for special collections and archives which meets national standards (with space for expansion.) Birmingham Archives and Heritage Service has a vast collection of photographic and archival material which is an outstanding asset to the city and has huge potential for teaching, learning, publicity, and leisure if staffing levels and facilities would allow us to promote it. (see http://tinyurl.com/co3fke)
Invest in ArtsFest properly- it is fantastic that it's the biggest free UK festival, but it needs more support and investment to really make a difference. A free city wide festival should be a reason for people throughout the country to flock to Birmingham in September, but it also needs to become THE date in every Brummies' diary.
I definitely agree with other comments about unchaining the city. If we had independent cafes and bars we could create a real European feeling cafe culture throughout the city. I love the German Xmas market because it's always rammed with people, it's a lovely atmosphere and it makes use of an impressive space. Why can't something like that happen all year round? And for anyone who says it's too cold in the UK for cafe culture; cafes in Europe are open all year round- they just hand out rugs.
Fill the streets with art- on sides of buildings, down New St, in stations, in squares and on the BBC Big Screen. More exciting sculpture, street art, graffiti- the overall impression of the centre of the city at the moment is greyness. Why can't we introduce some colour?
Make it easier/cheaper for arts organisations to book outdoor city spaces for performances. As anyone who saw IDFB's Watch This Space, there is nothing so magical as a thousand passers by pausing to witness some dance or a musical performance. Imagine if this happened once a month? These things are expensive to create- BCC could assist with these costs in order to make use of public spaces.
If more cultural/artistic things happened in unexpected places in Birmingham, all year round, arts organisations would have an opportunity to gather new audiences and bring people inside to the theatres, galleries, museums. It would enhance the fantastic work they are all doing- and for those without a venue, give them the chance to show the city what they can do.
Basically, there is some fantastic creative stuff happening in Birmingham already, I don't believe it needs to added to necessarily- but enhanced, supported and promoted properly.
It needs to be appreciated that investing in the infrastucture and developing business models for creative people to make a sutainable living is essential to retain this industry in the city. People in the creative industries often support one another from the bottom up. Musicians for example spend their money in music shops, on cd duplication, artwork, recording studios, rehearsal studios etc etc and could do so much more effectively if more paid opportunities existed.
If BCC wants creatives to live and work here, it needs to lead the way by example and stop exploiting them. They pay many of the non performers (stagehands, security etc) who work on Artsfest, and artists needs to be treated as businesses too. As the previous poster said, the wheel doesn't need to be reinvented, but the creative element needs proper support.
- Lack of independents in the city - this is a huge issue for me. The city centre is so corporate that it suffers from lack of personality for visitors. Unfortunately, as I understand it, much of the core city property is owned by private landlords, so the council's ability to change this is limited. Maybe a more independent area (like the Northern Quarter in Manchester, the Lanes in Brighton etc) is needed. There are some obvious contenders for this (Digbeth, Jewellery Quarter) but, whilst they're no further from the city centre than other similar independent areas in other cities, they do suffer from the lack of connectivity of the city centre. Sort the pedestrian routes, signage and integration of the 'inbetween' areas and you're halfway there.
- Artsfest - The city needs to get over it's obsession with having the 'biggest free arts festival in the UK'. Just have a really good arts festival. No-one gets paid (other than some very rare exceptions who are generally paid by promoters out of their own pockets to ensure their contribution to Artsfest isn't embarassing, or because they are obliged to take part in Artsfest because they have received funding from the city) so there is no incentive to showcase the best your organisation or group can showcase. Gems get lost in the mass of events and it's incredibly hard to navigate. The city's themed festivals are it's real gems (Fierce, Supersonic, Birmingham Jazz Festival, International Dance Festival Birmingham) and better funded versions of these, along with one big destination event each year (like Sultan's Elephant in London, the Spider thing in Liverpool etc) would be much more inspiring for the city.
- New cultural facilities - I'm not actually convinced we need more cultural facilities. Our existing ones could use a bit more audience I'm sure. I agree that more council support for public space events, particularly in the city centre, would be fantastic, and easier access to unused buildings for temporary events or installations would also be great. In my opinion this would have a huge impact on the visibility of creativity in the city, and far more than new buildings.
Lastly, and perhaps slightly contenciously, I'd like to see more bravery in people's cultural consumption. We can all be a bit inward looking and only go to our friends cultural events or things that we always go to. We're also, as some comments here testify to, a bit sniffy about our major cultural institutions. Lots of cities don't have the great cultural things we have here so we need to put our money where our mouths are and support them or they will dissapear, we'll be worse off and BCC will have less incentive to support the arts. Stan's Cafe, Birmingham Rep, CBSO, Fierce, Ikon, DanceXchange, BMAG, BCMG, Birmingham Jazz, Birmingham Opera Company etc all put on internationally important events and all struggle for audience on occasion. So go once in a while. Equally, to all the people who only frequent the institutions above; get out more. Visit CiB or one of the many other great web resources out there and find out what's going on beyond these institutions.
world class space for photography in the city. While its members are all either photography enthusiasts or photographers we have established the group for much more than realising a pet project.
In answer to question CUL1 we believe that a dedicated photography gallery for both digital and print photography is needed in Birmingham to promote its national and global image because it would be a:
• popular visitor attraction – as evidenced by the recentexpansion of London’s Photographers’ Gallery (which relocated to a
larger, central London space earlier this year) and increasing visitor numbers to Birmingham’s existing museums and galleries. Prior to its move, the Photographers’ Gallery attracted circa 450k visitors a year in a side street location indicating photography’s commercial appeal and the financial viability of such a project.
Moreover Professor Michael Parkinson identified a shortage of cultural facilities and spaces in the city in his recent visioning study. A number of Birmingham’s cultural leaders have highlighted the lack of a dedicated photography gallery in the city as a major facility gap. Nationally there is currently no dedicated facility that can accommodate major international photography exhibitions. A Birmingham Photospace could be that facility working in partnership with the National Exhibition Centre, International Convention Centre and others to continue to expand the city’s extensive exhibition business and expertise.
• focal point for the city’s creative industries - one of the key sectors to further contribute to the Birmingham's continued growth and economic success, as well as to enrich the wide diversity of talent that we have to offer
• means of supporting city learning goals – both for young people and lifelong learning – whether through education outreach work or adding value to existing visual arts learning
• a key aspect of Birmingham’s plans to be a digital city - not least a centre for displaying Birmingham’s extensive but largely hidden photo archive in a new way. It could also be the ideal venture for a national museum looking to establish a regional base. For example the Victoria and Albert museum is one of the few national museums not to have expanded out of London and it has a huge photography collection. Such a collection alongside Birmingham’s collected works would support a major and connected but distinct history of photography museum.
• means of ensuring that new iconic images of Birmingham continue to be generated beyond the Rotunda and Selfridges
Our aspiration is for a world class photography venue. This need not be an expensive or complicated project to realise; it could make use of one of Birmingham’s many dis-used buildings close to the city centre.
also encourage busking.