Digbeth Public Art Project | Created in Birmingham – CiB feature the EC-Arts Digbeth Public Art Project that’s part of the redevelopment of Digbeth coach station. Three new permanent commissions that are Boundary (a pretty fence around the Coach Station), Irish Quarter Visual Art (‘creating a landmark for the Irish Quarter and the City’) and a Short Film that ‘will document the public art process’ will be launched this December.
Concept has been the subject of controversy after Birmingham City Council did not require the firm to carry out a noise report when it applied for planning permission to build the Abacus Building.
The decision sparked the anger of nearby venues who have subsequently been dealt noise abatement orders following complaints about music from their venues being audible in the flats – with the most recent being The Rainbow.
Old House Holdings is the umbrella firm above a number of construction companies including Digbeth Coach Station developer Ashford Construction which was forced to cease trading last month amid crippling debts, halting progress on the £15 million flagship project.
This is not good news for Digbeth – affecting the development of Digbeth Coach Station and putting a question mark over the upkeep of Abacus Apartments, at least in the minds of prospective buyers.
YouTube – Digbeth Coach Station Before the Rebuild 24 April 2006 – A video by Horsencart, which he’s loathe to let you forget by having his name annoyingly in the middle of the screen throughout the video. Anyway, a film of the Digbeth Coach station of yesteryear complete with tinny radio, which should let you re-live some not-so-good memories. You have to follow the link because Horsencart has bizarrely disabled embedding his shaky video of a bus station.
YouTube – ramdomness453’s LooTube Channel – I have RSS feeds that send me pretty much anything tagged with Digbeth, which can sometimes turn up some surprises. This is by far the best of them yet – James’ visit to the Digbeth Coach Station gents led me to his LooTube channel. ‘Well, I love toilets. The flushes, sounds, bowl design etc. Old ones with high cisterns giving a loud powerful flush would be the best in my opinion.’
Best UK Blog – The 2008 Weblog Awards – You have until 5pm tomorrow afternoon to vote for Created in Birmingham, which you can do again if the last time you voted was more than 24 hours ago. Get to it.
way out west: Remade Fashion Fair - ‘KrisskrossdoneFreedom Clothing are organising a fair for remade and recycled clothes etc. on the 21st Feb at the Custard factory Birmingham… find out what’s going on in the world of recycled and ethical fashion, support small ethical business initiatives, buy cool stuff…’
‘… in the desire to reinvent and reposition Birmingham in an international league table, it is necessary to understand and respect the history and the nature of the city. At a superficial (but still important) level, this means continuing to use historic place names, and not seeking to replace them by bland invented marketing terms such as “Eastside” and “Westside”. More fundamentally, it means appreciating what is characteristic in the nature of Birmingham’s urban fabric. The city’s publicity campaigns continually stress the big, the exceptional, the upmarket, the glamorous elements of the fabric. They have little to say about, and even dismiss, as does the Big City Plan in a number of instances, the ordinary and the utilitarian, as exemplified in inner city districts such as Digbeth, Highgate, Hockley, and Aston Newtown. These districts are not only economically important to Birmingham, but in their fine grain and their diversity, they are particular to Birmingham; they are a large part of what makes Birmingham special. The Big City Plan should respect and value them.’
The First Gigbeth Fringe – A while back Gigbeth hit the headlines with claims to being bigger than the Edinburgh Fringe. Well now it’s so big it’s got its very own fringe, announced by Claire Burgess. ‘It’s a free event on Friday 7th November at The Rainbow in Digbeth. The line up is a mixture of everything from Gypsy Punk to a live looper.’
WIN: Tickets to Gigbeth festival 2008 – 4 Talent Magazine give you not one, but two chances to win tickets for the Gigbeth Festival, which kicks off this week.
Digbeth coach station plan on track – ‘Work began today on a £15 million world-class coach station in Digbeth’ says the Birmingham Mail. You hear that? WORLD CLASS. We’re a lucky bunch.
Lost in S.P.A.C.E. video – If you missed the exhibition ‘Bryn has produced a short film showcasing the art on display during the Lost In S.P.A.C.E. group show from artists based at the Custard Factory that ran in the Gallery at the end of October.’
Digbeth Coach Station the Progress so Far in 2008 – A YouTube video by R Deloyde of what looks like a dank and desolate building site with the soundtrack of a car alarm. This feast for the eyes unfortunately can’t be embedded – is the filmmaker worried every site will want one?
Not long til Gigbeth – So Created in Birmingham’s done a useful Gigbeth links post, which features an interview with organiser Clare Edwards. Today’s the last day to get hold of those early bird tickets, so hurry. Meanwhile Big Cat Kenny posts about the new headliners announced for Gigbeth Fabio and Kano.
CABE slams Eastside Locks masterplan – “In the absence of a concept, the design lacks rigour and is a weak response to [the] valuable assets of the canal and the park…Overall, the masterplan misses many vital opportunities to make this a meaningful place and requires a fundamental rethink.” Oo-er.
Hello World – Big Cat Kenny posts about the conference running alongside the Hello Digital festival, and also Film Dash this weekend.
