The ‘Headz’ exhibition of ‘The Photographic Art of Pete Williams‘ opens this Friday at the Sauce Gallery in the Custard Factory, and things kick off with a launch event this Friday 16th July 1pm-8pm – with live music from the jazz-tastic Digby Fairweather.
The exhibition remains in the Sauce Gallery until 4th September.
If you have any pictures of some protest posters that caught your eye, upload them to the Facebook group too! The Fight The Power exhibition opens with a private view on the evening of Weds 2nd and is on until 26th JUNE. The new Zellig Gallery is open 10AM – 5PM (Monday to Saturday).
Here’s a short video of artist Raycho Stanev talking to Simon Walker on a Bulgarian mountain about his installation The Great Excursion, an interactive artwork about the shocking mass expulsion of 360,000 Bulgarian Turks from the country in 1989 during the Communist regime. Raycho tells Simon the artwork was partly inspired by a visit to Birmingham, where he was struck by the diversity of out city.
The Great Excursion will be in Friction Arts’ home The Edge, Cheapside 3rd-19th June, and will kick off with a Critical Debate from 6pm this Thurs 3rd June, with a panel that includes Ammo Talwar (Punch), Paul Murphy (The Destroyers), Mukhtar Dar (The Drum) and Paradox (Munchbreak). Friction Arts highlight the relevance and need for discussion around the issues raised by The Great Excursion on We Are Eastside:
In a period of time when the BNP have been talking of repatriation policies, and belts are tightening, these issues are very relevant to us as we look for ways to come together, when external forces seem to be forcing us apart.
Here’s artist Swifty putting the finishing touches to his shop installation at the Sauce Gallery in the Custard Factory earlier today, in time for the big bash launch that’s going on as I type. The Swifty Pop Shop brings to life his childhood memories of the 70′s village corner shop – with bad plastic toys, comic books, Subbuteo pieces and sweets to break your jaw by. Swifty also gives us a pop-art alphabet lesson in our A, B, C.
The Swifty Pop Shop is open until 10th January 2010.
Typographer, sleeve designer and artist Swifty will be setting up The Swifty Pop Shop at the Sauce Gallery in the Custard Factory from Friday 11th December – selling originals, one off prints, T-shirts, skateboards and stickers and the like.
The Pop Shop, which is being brought to Birmingham by Sauce Gallery and Punch Records, will feature Swifty’s Newsagents installation. This life size shop front was partly inspired by Peter Blake’s ‘Toy Shop’ and the artist’s fond memories of a local village newsagent in Lancashire. The Shop will also be home to the A-Z of Swifty Show, including pieces based around everything from Action Man to Zebedee from the Magic Roundabout.
Gigbeth, it’s some gigs, in Digbeth – It is! And I’ll be there with bells on! I can’t wait. Like Jon Bounds, I’m looking forward to seeing the 4Talent line-up and The Destroyers. If you’re a fan of The Destroyers, catch Mama Matrix at The Rainbow tomorrow night, who are in the front bar as part of the Consider It Done Gigbeth Fringe event. I remember seeing them years ago when they were ‘Mama Matrix and The Destroyers’. Not sure why they split into two, but both bands are still of a similar, mental vein.
Another Byte Of Banality: S.A.D Blog Entry – Poor, depressed Midge. Perhaps he’s coming down with this cold that’s working its way around Digbeth. Yes, I like to break the big local news – there’s a cold going around Digbeth. All the dancers at ACE dance and music are coughing away, including my flatmate. This does not bode well for my big Gigbeth weekend and I’m not happy about it!
Custard Factory – Punch announce BASS09 theme: Inspired by Africa and Africans – ‘The aim of this year’s theme is celebrate and explore Africa’s influence on the arts scene. Working with mainstream and grassroots organisations, we will also be encouraging a broad range of audiences to participate in and experience the global impact of African cultural expression.’
