Bright Space recruiting youth bloggers for new arts and social media project
Bright Space is launching a new and exciting social media project entitled Platform(www.projectplatform.org.uk) for 16-19 years olds living in Birmingham. Platform will be a blog featuring articles, reviews, events listings and much more, written by young people for young people and will represent a unique perspective on arts activity in Birmingham. Bright Space is now looking to recruit 15 young people who are interested in reporting, reviewing and attending the many cultural events in and around the city. This includes theatre, dance, exhibitions, launches and gigs. Deadline for applications is Monday 19th July 2010.
Successful applicants will receive a £200 bursary and the opportunity to attend a week long intensive summer school, which will highlight the many techniques and skills they will need to become fully fledged Platformbloggers. During the week they will take part in workshops led by industry experts including; journalists, photographers, bloggers and film-makers. Subjects covered will include:
Journalism, writing, reviewing and interview techniques
Podcasting with audio and video
Photo blogging and social media tools
Events management, promotion and marketing
The Platform bloggers will then organise a live launch of the website to their peers, parents, friends and mentors. The group will meet regularly throughout the project with continued access to and mentoring from industry professionals who will support them in creating content, researching articles and building their on-line readership.
The core group will improve skills in; ICT, literacy, independent learning and critical thinking. The project will also support those wishing to pursue a career within the creative and cultural industries.
The aspiration for Platform is to amplify young people as unique, dynamic, cultural commentators that successfully communicate, inspire and engage other young people, while at the same time propose significant debate about their cultural offer. It is also hoped that Platform will become a vehicle that cultural organisations, venues and promoters connect with to ensure their programming reflects the breadth and individuality of young people in Birmingham.
How to apply:
Applicants need to write a 200 word article on a creative passion that they have
Include their name, address, date of birth and contact details
Send the completed article with all the necessary contact details to: Bright Space, Studio 222 The Custard Factory, Gibb Street, Birmingham, B9 4AA
Bright Space (www.brightspace.org.uk) is committed to developing and encouraging activity that helps young people find creative progression routes in and beyond the arts. Bright Space works actively to encourage sustainable cross-sector partnerships that broaden the horizons and opportunities available to young people.
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 15th 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.
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.
FOR over 60 years, the Vogue Talent Contest for Young Writers has been one of the UK’s most prestigious writing awards. Many established journalists started their careers after entering the contest, and recent winners have gone on to become successful poets, playwrights, authors and members of Vogue’s staff. So, what are we looking for? Journalists who can identify a story, and know how to tell it with pace and creative flair. What’s the prize? £1,000, plus a month’s paid work experience at Vogue, with £500 for the runner-up.
How to enter – you must complete all sections:
Write about a personal memory. This could be a memory of an extraordinary event, place or person, or simply something that resonated deeply (800 words).
Write a short feature article – a contemporary cultural review or a fashion trend (500 words).
Write an opinion piece or polemic. This could be about a person, or on current affairs or social issues (500 words).
Accompanying your entry should be a passport-sized photograph of yourself, attached to a sheet of paper listing your name, permanent address, telephone number, date of birth and occupation. The judging panel will include Vogue’s editor Alexandra Shulman, senior members of the magazine’s staff, guest editors and writers. Finalists will be invited to a lunch at Vogue with the judges, after which the winner will be decided.
Closing Date: April 9, 2010. – Please note this competition is for under 25s only.
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
Here is a collection of alternative Christmas gifts available from creative folks in and around Birmingham. Firstly a Christmas type mix of records from me. Feel free to wang this mix on whilst wrapping your presents or mulling your pies… enjoy!
At the top of the page we have the infamous Spinwell Bobble Beanie – which had almost sold out from this Birmingham based cycle blog, before the delivery had even arrived. Thankfully some are still available and now in stock ready for Christmas, very reasonably priced at £15 a pop. You will look hot when you are cold.
Spinwell Projects No.1 will be the Spinwell Bobble Beanie. Limited to 30 pieces and available in two colour options – Red/Grey/White and Grey/Red/White ( unfortunately not the colour pictured, this is my special sample! ).
Current State is the work of Birmingham based designer and illustrator Jane Anderson. Current State do lovely bold prints and are often feature in Fused Magazine. You can purchase postcards and Eco bags from Studio 4 Gallery aka The Framers along with a whole bunch of other stylish prints, postcards, bags and stickers from other artists and designers. Picture of Current State’s Eco Bag below - online shop and information here.
Mouldy Loaf is an independent company and brand which stocks the best in men’s and women’s wares. We have created an innovative and alternative brand which provides a great change to mainstream, high street fashion.
I say amen to that! Mouldy Loaf also run We Create* in Oasis Market. To go peep their wares just head down to the Custard Factory or look online here.
From mouldy bread to tasty and mouldy (if you so please) cheese! I love cheese and I love this shop! Newly opened in Kings Heath with a tasty collection of cheese, deli goodies and chutneys.
Capeling and Co is a specialist cheese shop and delicatessen on York Road, Kings Heath. We sell a large range of artisan cheeses, charcuterie, olives, antipasti, chutneys, vinegars, oils and lots more!
You can find out more here and become a fan on facebook. Support your local independent cheese retailer!
For those unfamiliar with Louis Den Beat Battles it’s an online community of hiphop beatmakers and producers taking part in weekly beat making challenges run from our myspace, our Beat Cypher nights are an extension of this taking beat making to the live platform with invited producers coming to showcase their material and emcees / vocalists sharing the stage performing special versions of their tracks over the nights producers.
The next Louis Den features Budge, Chemo, Sleaze Da Don, Ghosttown, Wizard and Birmingham favorite Juice Aleem and will be hosted at their new home Sound Bar, 250 Corporation St on 10th December from 9pm and is only 4 pounds before 10pm.
The online beat community Louis Den Beat Battles returns with another installment of the “Beat Cypher” night; the aim of “Louis Den Beat Cypher” is to showcase the production element of hip-hop in a live setting, the main focus will be on the 4 profiled producers of the night as well as live PA’s from artists.
The closing party to Capsule’s 10th birthday celebrations is on Saturday 19th December at Vivid on Heath Mill Lane in Digbeth. This party will see a gathering of some of Birmingham’s most exciting experimental live acts including the fabulous Modified Toy Orchestra plus someone called Stinky Wizzleteat and others – all paying tribute to the ten years of exciting, genre pushing music that Capsule have produced and provided a stage for. You can get more info here and tickets from here. See you down the front.
Pioneering typographer, sleeve designer and artist Swifty will be setting up shop at the Sauce Gallery in Birmingham’s Custard Factory from Saturday 12th December. Everything from originals and one off prints to T-shirts, skateboards and stickers will be for sale in The Swifty Pop Shop.
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.
The Pop Shop is the latest branch of Swifty’s expansive career. Having studied design at Manchester Polytechnic, at the age of 21 he trained under Neville Brody at The Face magazine. His work at The Face and later led him to be recognised as one of the top new talents in the specialist world of typography.
In 1989 he joined the team at Straight No Chaser, a publication aimed at the jazz, jive and soul community. As art editor he drove the creative style that went on to embody the magazine as a whole. At the same time he established his own font company, Swifty Typograpfix, and spread himself between the magazine and producing fonts, record sleeves, club flyer designs and many other sidelines. Swifty dominated the scene, being the designer of choice for nearly every acid jazz label.
Punch Director Ammo Talwar said:
“Swifty is a design legend whose work cuts across all typography boundaries. Bringing the Pop Shop to Birmingham is a real scoop for the city, and will give visitors a rare opportunity to see many of Swifty’s personal projects first hand.”
The Pop Shop will be open to the public at the Sauce Gallery, 5 The Custard Factory, Gibb Street, Digbeth from 11th December to 10th January 2009. For more information visit www.punch-records.co.uk
Inclusion Inspires – music making a difference a free conference delivered by MusicLeader West Midlands, Youth Music and Symphony Hall on Monday 16th November.
For teachers and musicians leading music with young people who have special needs, physical and learning disabilities.
Learn about the best techniques and technologies, share skills and stories and try out the Patrick Music and Multimedia Studio and its equipment. For anyone working with music in school, mainstream or special, youth clubs, health settings, support groups.
This event is free to attend.
For further information contact 0121 236 7978 or west-midlands@musicleader.net
