Homegrown is an ambitious artist development programme run by Birmingham live art agency Home For Waifs and Strays,  supported by Arts Council England and the Jerwood Charitable Trust. The aim of the programme is to showcase some of the great live art and performance talent in the West Midlands by giving emerging artists the chance to receive mentoring, develop new work and perform at venues across the UK.

After touring to some of the country’s premiere live art venues, Homegrown comes to Vivid Projects for the final performance of the programme. On Friday, there will be a showcase of the work developed by the chosen artists over the last four months. The artists are an eclectic group, with practices comprising drag performance, performative baking, filmmaking, writing and theatre. One of the artists, Albert Smith, uses baking and bread making metaphors to explore his ideas and tell his stories. Another, Andy Howlett, is an artist and filmmaker who is exploring the possibilities of film as a live medium. Andy draws inspiration from the streets of Birmingham and is interested in the work of the Birmingham surrealists. China Dethcrash is a ‘swamp witch, performer and storyteller’, who invites audience members into her specially constructed dwelling for one-on-one performance.

Homegrown takes place from 7-10pm on Friday 9 September at Vivid Projects, Digbeth. Entry is free.

POKEMON GO FOR GOOD – Ampersand Projects

Thursday 25 August, 6-8pm at Eastside Projects

Pokemon Go is a free-to-play, location-based augmented reality game which has quickly become a global phenomenon. It has been downloaded by more than 100 million people worldwide and has been credited with popularising augmented reality gaming, as well as for promoting physical activity.

This event aims to gather cultural and community organisations together to discuss the benefit of games, and how we might use digital technology and offline elements of them to motivate people to collaborate and make change locally and globally.

Ampersand Projects, a Birmingham based organisation are interested in how we can use games to explore and solve some of the world’s social problems. Their recent project ‘The Gamification Lab’ at mac Birmingham linked up young participants with arts organisations to create gamified engagement campaigns and build skills.

Please note that this event is not a ‘how to’ so we won’t be showing you how to use existing technology but is an opportunity to explore how the technology could be used in the future. No digital expertise needed.  Free event – pre-booking essential.

More info about the event on Ampersand Projects’ website here.

POKEMON GO HOME

The event is scheduled for Saturday 10th September 2016, and will be presented in partnership with Still Walking Festival.

Bit late in the publicising of this one, but Tim Hodgson’s just achieved a successfully funded Kickstarter campaign:

Pokemon Go Home is a free post-Brexit vote Pokemon hunt aimed at promoting community cohesion in Birmingham, UK. Many businesses have used lure micropayments in mobile AR game Pokemon GO to entice visitors, this event uses the same premise to encourage the general public to visit a variety of minority and culturally specific organisations, societies and places of worship in a single day.

We will work with twenty minority venues in central Birmingham with adjacent Pokestops, from mosques to Polish cultural centres to Ethiopian cafes. We will pay for a full day’s worth of continuous lures at their venue to draw Pokemon towards the site, will help the organisations to create an open-door engagement offer for the day and will provide onsite volunteer staffing support at each venue.

All info is on their kickstarter campaign here.

Craftspace in partnership with mac birmingham present a unique one hour performance by the Torcher Chamber Arkestra, seen live for the first time in England, led by glass artist Carrie Fertig and featuring composer Alistair MacDonald  and percussionist Stu Brown.

In this unusual collaboration Carrie Fertig creates a series of glass instruments, live, using the process of flameworking. These new instruments and others made from recycled glass, are played by her and the musicians and combined with electronic and digital sound.

After each performance the audience will have the opportunity to handle and play the instruments. On Saturday evening there will also be a Q&A with the artists.

More info & booking details on Craftspace’s website.

Adrienne from We are Frilly alerted us to these events happening in the Jewellery Quarter this weekend:

Jewellery Quarter Festival Friday 22 – Sunday 24 July

Starting Friday 22 July at 4pm with an after work party, this three-day festival celebrates the unique blend of heritage and thriving creative innovation in this quirky corner of Birmingham. The weekend will see a host of activities, music, live acts and performances hosted on the Quarter’s newest public space, the Golden Square; also on St Paul’s Square, the last Georgian square in Birmingham and home to the Grade I listed St Paul’s Church.

Open Studios Saturday 23 & Sunday 24 July

Open Studios is your chance to discover what today’s Jewellery Quarter is really about. For this weekend only you will be welcomed inside the world of designer-makers, be given the opportunity to meet and chat with the people behind the businesses, see demonstrations and maybe even try your hand at what they do.

More information over on the Jewellery Quarter’s website.

With suitable weather upon us, this weekend Summer in Southside brings the seaside to the city.

Over the weekend, experience a vibrant carnival atmosphere where Hurst Street will be transformed with seaside sights, sounds and silliness. Be swept away by nautical encounters from a cod choir, deep-sea divers and even some pirates.

Play on wooden street games, dive into the mouth of an enormous whale, enjoy street acrobatics, a marching band with a difference and much, much more.

The festival takes place from 12-5pm on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 July. The programme can be found here.

Join Warwick Bar this Saturday for a free day of family fun, films, art installations, open studios, activity workshops, a craft market, live music, street food and drinks!

• Grand Union’s studio artists will be opening their doors to the public, offering a rare opportunity to see behind the scenes.
• Edible Eastside will open their doors for the last time. They will be selling-off plants, tools, fridges, polytunnels, compost and even their pizza oven!
• Beautiful ceramics exhibition.
• Off the Scale will be selling an amazing selection of vintage clothes and accessories by the kilo.

…and much more.

Warwick Bar is located on Fazeley Street, Digbeth. For more information, see the Facebook event page.

Antonio Roberts sent us this info about an upcoming workshop at Black Hole Club:

Navigating the world of copyright and intellectual property can be daunting, but it’s important to know your rights and how protecting them can be central to your success. Come find out everything you need to know about copyright, the law and your rights as an artist.

Established by artists for artists, DACS is a not-for-profit visual artists’ rights management organisation. Passionate about transforming the financial landscape for visual artists through innovative new products and services, DACS act as a trusted broker for 90,000 artists worldwide.

In this workshop, Reema Selhi (Legal and Policy Manager) and Abby Yolda (Head of Communications) will explain how you can protect your rights, earn from licensing your work, and will answer your questions about copyright.

MADE are looking to commission five artists from Birmingham and the Black Country to enliven a space under the M5 motorway in Sandwell for a one day event on Saturday 16 July 2016.

The commissions are inspired by MADE’s vision for a Black Country Garden City utilising a neglected section of land under the raised section of the M5 motorway between junctions 1 and 2.

Full information can found here. Deadline: Midnight, Wednesday 22 June 2016.

Yarningham is a new yarn festival produced by Stitches and Hos, Brum’s motley crew of enthusiasts for all things knitted, crocheted and stitched. Taking place over the weekend of 16 and 17 July at Stirchley Baths, it will feature stalls from independent yarn producers from across the UK…and two live alpacas (called Cookies and Cream).

To compliment the marketplace, Yarningham will also include a programme of workshops for visitors. Learn how to knit socks, or even how to spin your own yarn. It will also feature demonstrations from the Weavers, Spinners and Dyers Guild.

Yarningham will be open from 11am-5pm with day tickets available for £5 (+ booking fee) in advance or £7 on the door.

More information on Yarningham can be found here.

• An open day at Moseley Road Baths.
• Tours of the Gun Barrel Proof House.
• Tolkien Tour of Birmingham with Two Towers Brewery.
• City Centre Historic Pub Walk.

The full programme can be found here.