The Balsall Heath Biennale

With a street party to rival the festival attended by the rich and powerful in Venice, the Balsall Heath Biennale in Birmingham began with a big, rather localised, bang. That localisation is exactly what this two year art project is about: bringing art and community together in neighbourhood often dismissed as messy, litter strewn and, well, a bit dodgy really.

Summer in Southside starts next weekend!

The jaw dropping Nofit State Circus (pictured below); Warwickshire based Motionhouse with a nail-biting blend of emotional and extraordinary dance and aerial work; a fully animated 20 foot Iron Man (pictured above) bringing puppetry, and live music for kids and adults alike; Sign Spinning all the way from Hollywood, a strolling street band hailing from the Indian community in Trinidad plus a host of wonderful surprises in unusual settings make their way to Birmingham’s Southside during August!

ESPIRITO BRUM 11 July – 10 August, Kings Heath

It’s testament to the multicultural make-up of Birmingham that a festival celebrating links between the city and the powerhouse of vibrant culture of Brazil is even able to take place in a suburb south of the city centre. But Kings Heath, an area home to families and creative professionals alike, offers an ideal location for a celebração, with a wealth of venues, cultural projects and an ever-growing number of fetes, festivals, events and fayres taking place within its borders.

Supersonic Festival Presents: Nazoranai + special guest Nicholas Bullen, 9 July, CBSO

Tomorrow night Supersonic lays on a night with Nazoranai – the trio made up of Australian composer Oren Ambarchi, Seattle musician Stephen O’Malley alongside Japanese musician and composer Keiji Haino.

SHIMABUKU: Something that Floats / Something that Sinks – Ikon Gallery, 24 July – 15 September

‘Feel free to take a rubber band out of the box, and pass your body through it’. This playful suggestion was sketched onto the wall of the Wilkinson Gallery in 2004. The artist could see the worth in doing frivolous things, and his audience was invited to take delight in such frivolity. Seven years later, Berlin-based, Japanese artist Shimabuku was again lauded, this time by The Guardian, for his ability to make the familiar strange, and to cast the conventional in a magical light.

WIN AN ASTON MANOR CIDER HAMPER

The annual Brindleyplace Chilli Festival returns this year (19 – 20 July) bringing some of the country’s hottest producers together to celebrate all things chilli. This year’s festival, sponsored by local independent cider maker Aston Manor, promises to delight chilli lovers with the fiercely competitive chilli eating competition and a range of products to try and buy.

MALIBU RUM PRESENTS THE MALIBUTIQUE – Competition

Personalised styling from ASOS, manicures by Nails inc, hairdressing by TONI&GUY and delicious Malibu cocktails are on offer at this year’s pop-up Malibutique, which hits Birmingham’s Bullring at the end of July (25-28).

LOOKING INTO WONDERLAND at The Herbert

The evocative paring of Lewis Carroll’s infamous writing alongside Sir John Tenniel’s illustrations have graced many a bookshelf, school bag and bedside table. And it would seem that it is this amalgamation of the two which bring the nonsensical to the senses; turning the weird into wonder-land.  

Art in the Heart

This year, for the first time, 23 of the region’s best galleries and attractions come together to highlight the wealth of art on our doorstep. There’s no over arching theme, simply some of the biggest names in contemporary and classical art exhibiting in the West Midlands. See everything from masters Rembrandt and Goya at the Barber Institute of Fine Art, Birmingham to key works by Damien Hirst at The New Art Gallery, Walsall, there’s something to appeal to everyone.