Area Guide A/W 2017

Here’s the latest Area Guide – we’ve teamed up with our friends at Creative Black Country to produce the latest edition featuring…

-100 Masters – Festival of Masters at Starworks Warehouse
-Juneau Projects and a new set of augmented reality animations to try out
-Interview: Amelia Beavis- Harrison
-Interview: Laura Dicken
-Black Country Touring’s Community Cinema
-Interview: Katie Tomlinson
-Funny Things Festival
-Interview: The Orchestra of Chaos
-Interview: Redhawk Logistica (The Joke Exchange)
-Interview: Producer of The Lost Hancock’s – Dave Freak
-Feature – Black Country Type
-Listings

 

15 February Culture events to keep you busy

Until 22 February
NICKLIN REVISITED
Reuben Colley Fine Art
During the 1950s & ‘60s University of Birmingham Geography tutor Phyllis Nicklin captured Birmingham at a time of massive change. Not only was the urban environment being significantly  transformed but new communities were changing the city’s demographic profile too.
In collaboration with Brumpic Reuben Colley Fine Art have invited a number of artists to produce work inspired by Nicklin’s photographs. The exhibition will feature paintings & drawings by Reuben Colley, Mark Godwin, Danny Howes (pictured above), Rick Garland, Horace Panter, Mark Lippett, Stephen Earl Rogers, Annette Pugh and Kevin Line.

5 February – 10 April
WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2015
Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry
This world-renowned exhibition showcases 100 awe-inspiring images, featuring fascinating animal behaviour and breath-taking wild landscapes. Dive deep into the oceans, fly amongst the tree tops and journey across sand dunes discovering the variety of life this world has to offer.

7 February, 6 March, 11am – 5pm (and first Sunday of the month onwards)
MAC CRAFT MARKET
mac birmingham
An exclusive selection of products from local designer makers offering ceramics, jewellery, paintings and much more – it’s a great place to pick up original home and gift items.

9 & 10 February
MOTIONHOUSE: BROKEN
mac birmingham
Broken erupts onto the stage in an adrenaline-filled spectacle. Athletic contact work, spectacular acrobatics and a gripping narrative combine with a revolutionary set design and digital imagery that melds with the performers as they move. Tickets £22.

12 February, 11 March, 15 April, 7.30pm – 10.30pm
COVENTRY LATES
Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry
One night a month the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry opens their doors for an exciting evening of art, music, drinks, talks, performance and history inspired fun.

13 February, 12 March, 9 April, Saturdays 10.30am – 3.30pm
SKETCH COVENTRY
Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry
Join local urban sketchers in the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry Café for a day of sketching around Coventry city centre at this informal and supportive event.

14 February
VALENTINE MATINEE: BRIEF ENCOUNTER
The Lighthouse
Tickets £6.70 / £6.20 concessions £4.50 under 25s/students

15-20 February
CREATIVE WEEK IN THE MEAD GALLERY
Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts Centre
In response to Gerard Byrne’s new exhibition, Coventry artist Jo Gane will curate the activities area in the Mead Gallery.

16 & 17 February
20 STORIES HIGH: THE BROKE N BEAT COLLECTIVE
mac birmingham
20 Stories High and Theatre-Rites join forces to create a unique mash up of hip-hop, theatre and puppetry bringing together 4 amazing artists: beat-boxer Hobbit, b-boy  LoGisTics, puppeteer Mohsen and, from the Midlands, singer/rapper Elektric, to form The Broke ‘N’ Beat Collective. Tickets £12.

16 February, 12–5pm
CAMERA OBSCURA FAMILY DROP-IN
Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts Centre
FREE drop in event
Birmingham Obscura will be installed at Warwick Arts Centre, allowing participants a chance to explore a mechanical camera obscura with artists Pete Ashton and Jenny Duffin.

17 February, 1-3.30pm
PINHOLE PHOTOGRAPHY FAMILY WORKSHOP
Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts Centre
Use recycled materials to construct a working pinhole camera in this workshop led by Jo Gane. £3, book in advance.

19 February
CHRIS MARTIN: THIS SHOW HAS A SOUNDTRACK
mac birmingham
Movies always have a soundtrack… so why can’t a stand up show? Join ‘one of the UK’s best observationalists’ (The Guardian) for a brand new stand-up show accompanied by its own original soundtrack. Tickets £10.

25 February
NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE: AS YOU LIKE IT
The Lighthouse & mac birmingham

25 February
DENADA DANCE: HAM & PASSION
mac birmingham
A gender-bending evening of seductive and provocative dance. Three short narrative works form this kitschy and filmic bill of contemporary dance with a very Spanish flavour – a true feast of meaty dance soaked in a salsa of passion.
Tickets £11 (£9).

26 February
AUSTENTATIOUS: AN IMPROVISED JANE AUSTEN NOVEL
mac birmingham
Undoubtedly one of the most talked-about shows on the UK comedy scene, Austentatious: is a comedy play spun in the inimitable style of Jane Austen – and based entirely on audience suggestions.
Tickets £15 (£13).

AREA GUIDE > NEW CULTURE EDITION

For the third year in a row we have teamed up with New Art West Midlands to present a special culture edition of Area Guide.

Featuring a wealth of new graduate talent New Art WM chooses the best of the graduate shows to present 4 unique curated exhibitions of work that focuses on cross-art forms. This year the exhibitions, which start this month, will take place at Wolverhampton Art Gallery, mac birmingham, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and Herbert Museum & Art Gallery, Coventry.

This edition also features upcoming exhibitions, festivals and cultural events taking place from now until May.

Read the edition online here or pick up an issue at the venues mentioned above.

AREA GUIDE > November-December issue

Check out the latest edition of AREA GUIDE – if you haven’t managed to pick up a copy yet you can read it online here.

This issue features the usual mix of Art, music, comedy and film previews alongside festive days out and cocktail features, fashion looks for A/w 2015 and our handy gift guide.

Hiroshige’s Japan: 53 Stations of the Tokaido Road

Works by 19th century artist Utagawa Hiroshige, showcasing the landscape along Japan’s major highway between the cities of Edo and Kyoto, are visiting Wolverhampton Art Gallery courtesy of Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology.

53 Stations of the Tokaido Road features travellers and Samurai warriors journeying along the famous route and offers a rare chance to see some incredible Eastern artworks.

The images, made from woodblock prints, were ground-breaking at the time due to their depiction of Japan’s striking landscapes, its quirky travellers and the variety of weather extremes people encountered along the route.

Hiroshige’s Japan: 53 Stations of the Tokaido Road
Wolverhampton Art Gallery
Until 21 November

West Midland Degree Shows 2015

It is a busy time for 3rd year undergrads at the moment as they work hard to present their final year degree shows and hope to get noticed. Always an excellent place to pick up and find new and exciting talent, here are a selection that are open to the public across the West Midlands…

New Art West Midlands 2016 – applications open now

If you a visual arts graduate from either; Birmingham City University, Coventry University, Staffordshire University, University of Wolverhampton or University of Worcester and graduated with a Fine Art or Visual Arts BA, MA or PhD in 2013, 2014 or 2015 you are eligible to make an application for the selected showcase exhibition New Art West Midlands 2016.

New Art West Midlands is a Turning Point West Midlands initiative and a partnership between Birmingham Museums, mac Birmingham, Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry and Wolverhampton Art Gallery.

Deadline: Monday 29 June 2015.

More information and the application form can be found here.

Scifest Science and Engineering festival @wlv-uni 1-5 July

A giant robot will star at the week-long ‘Scifest’ the Science and Engineering festival at the University of Wolverhampton. Titan the Robot will be joined by former children’s television presenter Johnny Ball and The One Show’s resident Scientist and Inventor Dr Marty Jopson on Scifest family day.

‘Pop-Up’ Junction Festival Saturday – Call for Postcard submissions

Junction Wolverhampton is calling artists of any media to send in Postcard sized artwork themed around Music, Art, or Beer for the ‘Pop-Up Junction Festival’ in Chapel Ash, Wolverhampton on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th July 2014.

Fabulous Forties at Black Country Living Museum

The sights and sounds of wartime Britain are being celebrated at the Midland’s historical attraction with forties glamour heading to the Black Country.

Visitors can expect a nostalgic journey back to the sweet sounds of WW2 with wartime melodies taking centre stage. The 1940s weekend welcomes visitors to relive the era of wartime Britain as the squaddies, G.I.s and Land Girls, Canaries and a cavalcade of military vehicles patrol the streets.