Best Believe ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Merz Party, Eastside Projects, Saturday 12 June, 1-4pm, FREE.

Merz Party is about everyone making collage. With an exciting array of printed material waiting at Eastside Projects to be cut up, and stuck back together, it uses a group dynamic to generate new ideas by swapping, sharing, obliterating and adding to each others’ work. Bring your best scissors and help artist Elizabeth Rowe bring a collage revolution to Birmingham!

Lead by award winning saxophonist and rapper Soweto Kinch and featuring a stellar rostra, The Flyover Show returns to Birmingham with dynamic and challenging performances on the 29th May. Now in its third year the unconventional inner city festival transforms the grey space beneath the Hockley Flyover into an oasis of cultural expression, celebrating generations of black British music and art. For the first time this show explores the specific theme of black female identity.

This year’s Flyover Show is a week on Saturday, in Soweto’s words it is about ‘Jazz and Poetry and Hip Hop’ – well worth going to and free might I add, for more info check here. For the revolution see below…

Bass Festival has come around again this year’s theme is DNA…

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) forms the building blocks of life and controls the development and functioning of all known living organisms. But what does DNA mean to us individually in the 21st century? Identity, test tubes, control, heritage, science, ID cards, family, databases, samples, genomes, protest?
The fifth BASS festival will explore how DNA varies and develops, whether caused by external forces, or by personal development, enabling us to rethink our evolving identities.

There is a full programme of events and exhibitions celebrating black culture and creativity, take a peek at the flyer and website for all the details.

Monday 26 April 2010 6pm – 7.30pm @ Symphony Hall, Birmingham  

 This free seminar discusses the issues that women from an Islamic background face in the urban arts sector. Are they under represented? The speakers will discuss the cultural barriers that have may have prevented them getting involved in the sector, with debate around whether this is changing through a better understanding and shift in attitudes towards contemporary music.

 There is no cost but places are limited and are offered strictly on a first come first served basis. 

 Anyone interested in attending must register for a place by emailing sophie@punch-records.co.uk clearly stating your name, email address, telephone number and the title of the seminar you wish to attend.

For more information please call Punch on 0121 224 7444 or visit our website www.punch-records.co.uk, where details of confirmed speakers will be announced.

Just peeped this over at Ideal Skate Supply, looks like they have secured a screening of the Vans film just out. This is a high coo by any standard. The film will be shown at the shop down at The Custard Factory on 24th April, for all the info peep here.

…Just had Kris Vile in the store and we worked out a date for a Birmingham premiere of the Vans Europe DVD. We are going to hold it in the Cinema space at 5.30pm on Saturday the 24th of April. Tickets will be on sale in the store this weekend and for a measly £2 you will get to see Chris Pfanner, Danny Wainwright, Ross McGouran, Flo Marfaing, Sam Partaix and more in the first video to come out under the Vans banner. And of course you will be able to shake Kris by the hand and congratulate him on his section which, so I have heard, is rather good.

Joint Artistic Directors of Fierce Festival, Laura McDermott and Harun Morrison invite you to Fierce Start Party!!! |||| What’s a Start Party? It’s the beginning of an exciting journey. What will be there? Fierce Festival artists sharing tasters of their work. When’s the next festival? We’ll tell you the shape of Fierce’s next year |||| A.E Harris Building,128 Northwood Street, Birmingham, Jewellery Quarter, B3 1SZ |||| Save the Date!!! |||| Thursday 15^th April |||| visit our new blog at www.wearefierce.org for additional details about the Start Party|||| Doors open from 3pm. Words at 7pm. Party from 9pm.||||

Underneath Eastside’s arches you’ll find a whole host of organisations making and presenting film, music, visual arts, digital media, craft, literature, and photography – and some great pubs and cafes too. We Are Eastside is a guide to some of these hidden treasures.

We are Eastside is made up of;

7 INCH CINEMA – BIRMINGHAM JAZZ – CAPSULE – CRAFTSPACE – THE CUSTARD FACTORY – EASTSIDE PROJECTS – GRAND UNION – IKON EASTSIDE – PROJECT PIGEON (Photo featured above) – PUNCH – RHUBARB RHUBARB – THE EDGE – TINDAL STREET PRESS – THE LOMBARD METHOD – VIVID – VRU

A couple of exciting developments in the We are Eastside camp in Digbeth, Birmingham is the addition of a new photographic gallery space called Rhubarb East Gallery situated in the Rhubarb Building and a performance by Japanese artist Atsuhiro Ito.

Vivid and Capsule are combining forces to present Atsuhiro Ito. Atsuhiro uses a fluorescent light with pick up mics attached, and alters the voltage applied to tubes causing the lights to flicker. Microphones pick up electromagnetic noise perfectly synchronised with the flickering lights in a light/noise/electric eye festival at only a fiver it is well worth a look next week on Wednesday 10th March 2010, more information can be found here.

Calling all Birmingham beat makers – CDR Knowledge – Beat Innervisions Birmingham comes to the Ikon Gallery next week on
Thursday 21st January. Featuring production insights from:
Morgan Zarate (Spacek)
Soundspecies (burntprogress)
And a discussion with Burnt Progress/CDR big man Tony Nwachukwu and the producers on the bill; Spacek’s Morgan Zarate and Soundspecies.
Folks will be able to gain insights into how Logic Pro was used to craft and develop one of their standout tracks. Furthermore have a chance to get to grips with Logic Pro 9 supported by CWPro and CDR community members and observe CDR community members build a track from scratch on the night!

Running Order:
7.00pm   – Working Logic – Production demonstrations / Track productions (until 9.30pm)
8.00pm   – Introduction
8.15pm   – Soundspecies
9.00pm   – Morgan Zarate
9.40pm   – ‘Open CDR’ – Tracks produced during this session played – LOUD!
10.00pm – END

To register peep here.

The project is aimed at diverse young people aged 16 -19 from inner city Birmingham (some of whom are not in education, employment and training) but who have some interest/ability in the arts. The project will focus on ideas of guerrilla craft, DIY Craft and Craftivism – with a view to developing a young people led craft collective which will then organise a series of interventions throughout the city.

More info here.