Written by Nicky Getgood on Sunday, January 31st, 2010 ( Start discussion )
Tags: big city plan, birmingham coach station, Birmingham Post, digital district, Fazeley Studios, shameless self promotion, south birmingham college, The Bond
If you buy a copy of this week’s Birmingham Post you’ll find inside a supplement all about Digbeth: Soul of the City, with articles about that Big City Plan, Digital District things and places like South Birmingham College, The Bond, Fazeley Studios and the new Birmingham Coach Station. You’ll find some spectacular photos from yesteryear on pages 4 and 5 and on page 16 there’s an article by yours truly, all about a few if my favourite Digbeth things. In a newsagent near you until Wednesday.
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Written by Nicky Getgood on Sunday, July 26th, 2009 ( Start discussion )
Tags: hey for lumberland!, Ikon Eastside, raqs media collective, simon bloor, snowshot, The Bond, the ikon, tom bloor, when the scales fall from your eyes
Photo by Snowshot
On Friday evening I went to the launch of The Ikon’s off-site project Hey for Lubberland! at The Bond with local photographer Snowshot, who you’ve to thank for the pretty pictures.
Artists Simon & Tom Bloor decorated a canal boat with ‘design and dazzle’ camouflage, a technique I’m told was used in the First World War to confuse people watching through a periscope with their finger on the trigger. Apparently the blocks of colour and mono stripes made it difficult for enemies to tell which direction the boat they wanted to sink was travelling in.
You learn something new every day. It will be based in Brindleyplace from tomorrow (post Supersonic). If you fancy a ride on the vivid vessel look at the timetable on the Ikon website.
Photo by Snowshot
After taking a look at the boat we went over the road to Ikon Eastside to see the new exhibition from Raqs Media Collective’s exhibition When The Scales Fall From Your Eyes. It’s kind of like walking through a 3D Dali painting – there’s lots of scales that look like heads because they’re attached to clear moulds of torsos, which are sat on everyday objects like beds, photocopiers, tables, etc. Inside each set of scales are a collection little objects which you should NOT TOUCH to see the scales swing (at least that’s what I was told). Pity that, I found it that tempting my fingers were twitching. When The Scales Fall From Your Eyes is on display until 6th Sept.
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Written by Nicky Getgood on Sunday, October 26th, 2008 ( Start discussion )
Tags: bennie gray, Custard Factory, dan burwood, made, rescue geography, The Bond, tony collier
This caught my eye at the launch of the Rescue Geography photography exhibition in MADE* on Friday evening. The exhibition is open daily 12 noon to 2pm until 31st October.
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Written by Nicky Getgood on Sunday, July 27th, 2008 ( Start discussion )
Tags: ACE dance and music, Skin, Solihull Arts Complex, The Arch, The Bond, The Drum
I knew there’d be some perks to working for ACE dance and music. I spent most of today in their studio next door to The Arch on Floodgate Street observing auditions for male dancers. You can catch the successful candidates during the autumn tour of Skin. It’ll be visiting The Drum and Solihull Arts Complex.
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Written by Nicky Getgood on Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 ( 2 responses )
Tags: Angel Stripe, Capsule, Cheapside Show, Chinese Community Centre, Created in Birmingham, Flux-Fest, FluxFeast, Fluxfilms, Fluxfood, He An, Helen Grundy, Ikon Eastside, John Tighe, Maverick, Moat Lane Car Park, SharedTable, Spotted Dog, Strange Ways, Supersonic, Tercerunquinto, The Bond, Vivid
What a lot of arty cultural stuff there is going on in Digbeth this week:
The Ikon’s busy tomorrow on Wednesday
At 11am-12pm artist He An talks in Mandarin Chinese about his current Ikon installation at Moat Lane Carpark in the Chinese Community Centre on Bradford Street.
There’s a private view at the Ikon Eastside later at 7pm of Mexican collective Tercerunquinto’s I Am What I Am, a new work that reacts to the gallery’s shifting surroundings. Stick around until 9pm to catch the Ikon bus to He An’s artwork in the Moat Lane Car Park.
Last Week of Flux-Fest at VIVID
If you’re feeling creatively peckish go to FluxFeast 7.30pm at VIVID tomorrow, a Fluxfood event in seven acts by SharedTable. Tickets are £25, booking essential.
At 2pm on Saturday watch some FLUXFILMS: Anthologies at VIVID, featuring a compilation of 37 films produced 1963 to 1970. SharedTable are serving up again with afternoon tea and ‘subversive’ cakes.
The Flux-Fest art exhibition stays on display in VIVID’s gallery on Heath Mill Lane until Sunday.
Professor Tighe’s Excelsior Music Machine
The weekend starts with post-work drinks and scones at The Spotted Dog from 4.30pm on Friday with landlord John Tighe, who wants you to turn up in 20’s-50’s/burlesque garb. Let’s face it, if you work in The Bond, The Custard Factory or Maverick, it’s not as if you’re going to spend the day looking out of place.
Strange Ways Cheapside Show
On display at The Edge until their Landing Party this Saturday night from 6pm, when Helen Grundy and Angel Stripe’s sugar mice will finally be set free for eating. I went to see the exhibition earlier today and it’s a lovely reaction to the regeneration of Digbeth, reminding new locals like me that the area existed before our luxury flats were built by drawing on its colourful history and culture.
Capsule’s Supersonic Festival at The Custard Factory all weekend
I’ve only just started going to Capsule gigs. They didn’t appeal to me before because I never knew who any of the acts were. Having been to a couple, I now know that that’s the whole bloody point and am kind of kicking myself. So take a leap of faith with the Capsule girls and buy a weekend ticket before they sell out. Your trust in Jenny and Lisa will not be misplaced. Watch Frankie’s interview with them on Created in Birmingham if you need some persuading.
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