This Friday the many galleries, artists studios, projects based in Digbeth throw open their doors for the very first Art After Hours. A fantastic opportunity to explore what is happening in the area.  Grand Union, Eastside Projects, The Lombard Method, VIVID Projects, Stryx, Vinyl at Edible Eastside and MSFAC at The Edge (phew! – quite a list!) will all be open that evening.

Art After Hours takes place from 5-9.30pm. The full programme of events can be seen here.

…and if that isn’t enough – The Art Bus, will be touring Birmingham’s bigger art institutions on Thursday from 5-9pm.

A few years ago when I first started MCtV I was inspired by a local Art Map I found on a visit to Nottingham. I wanted to start one for Birmingham but just did not have the time, revenue, contacts or knowledge to make it happen. However, I was delighted to hear a couple of months ago that one was in the pipeline… and it has finally happened!

The new, quarterly Birmingham Art Map with information on visual art events and exhibitions happening in the city over the summer can be downloaded here. Print versions will hit the streets next week.

Flatpack Festival is here! During the first few days of the festival, Flatpack have teamed up with Colmore Business District  once again to bring Film Bug, a mini festival of film to Birmingham’s business district. From Thursday 21 March to Saturday 23 March Film Bug will take over venues across CBD including Birmingham Cathedral, Yorks Cafe, the Gas Hall at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and the Great Western Arcade. Many of the events are free.

Flatpack have been visited by a Vintage Mobile Cinema in the past, but this year I am very much looking forward to Sol Cinema, the world’s smallest mobile cinema which seats only 8 people. They will be located in Pigeon Park on Friday and the High Street on Saturday.

Other highlights include Musictube a curated programme of music videos at Yorks Bakery Cafe and a series of screenings for younger viewers at the Gas Hall in Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery.

The full Film Bug programme can be found here.

Flatpack Festival runs from 21-31 March across Birmingham. The full festival programme can be seen here.

Thrift Radiates Happiness is the first contemporary arts exhibition to be held at the Municipal Bank in central Birmingham. Taking place from 14-17 March 2013 the former Grade II listed Municipal Bank on Broad Street will showcase a range drawings, images, sound and light, video and music from local, national and international artists.

The title of the exhibition has been taken from an inscription found carved across a main beam within the building. All the art projects featured will appropriately focus on finance and investment.

The showcase event is the result of an arts and business collaboration between Birmingham based gallery TROVE, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the Birmingham Architectural Association (BAA), Birmingham City Council and global architect practice Aedas.

The opening will take place tonight from 5-8pm.

New Art West Midlands is a gargantuan exhibition opening on Friday across three Birmingham venues which will showcase the work of more than 20 recent visual arts graduates from the West Midlands’ five university art schools.

The programme was open to students from Birmingham City University, Coventry University, Staffordshire University, University of Wolverhampton and University of Worcester. The show will provide a unique opportunity for recent graduates from the region to launch their careers through exhibiting at the galleries. I look forward to seeing the works!

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
15 February – 19 May 2013

Grand Union, Eastside
15 February – 16 March 2013

The Barber Institute of Fine Arts
8 March – 19 May 2013

Seal your Love – initial tattoo designs by Jayne Murray

Over three evenings, 14-16 February, Love Stirchley More will provide an alternative Valentine’s experience across Stirchley; a mini festival celebrating and demonstrating love which have been made for Stirchley and hosted by businesses there.

Events range from Get Your Noodle Out a pop-up heart-warming noodle restaurant from Loaf and  film fun on matters of the heart courtesy from Stirchley Happenings and Kino10. There will be a carnival-spirited launch procession from Bournville Railway Station to Stirchley’s High Street, a chance to sample Stirchley Sauce made from Love Apples i.e. tomatoes (perhaps a good replacement for HP now that it is no longer made in Brum) and even a number of exclusively designed free permanent tattoos! (see images above.)

Comedian and compere of The Laughing Sole Stirchley’s very own comedy club, Barbara Nice will be on hand in a Love Boat touring Stirchley’s span of canal. It’s sure to be a hoot!

Several artists have also been chosen to work with local shop-keepers and community. They will provide a series of installations, performances and interventions across Stirchley during the festival as well as free drop-in workshops and events.

The full Love Stirchley More programme can be viewed here.

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If you want the seemingly unbuildable built then Queen & Crawford are who you need to call. Based in Minerva Works on Fazeley Street in Digbeth they have worked on lots of projects you may know and remember… they designed/built the Their Wonderlands cardboard labyrinth at mac, the studios within Grand Union and put together the staging for Dachshund U.N. outside Ikon at Fierce Festival…to name a few….

In 2011 they designed, built and helped fly a kite for  Ivan and Heather Morison called Little Shining Man. The kite was built using a system of components designed by the company. The flight was filmed and became something of a viral sensation.

On New Year’s Day a new Honda advert premiered in the US and guess what? Queen & Crawford’s kite has been included, apparently a great inspiration for Japanese car designers. A stunningly beautiful object built and designed in Birmingham.

The advert can be viewed below:

Flatpack is back! The seventh Flatpack Festival returns from 21-31 March 2013, spreading across eleven days.

This year audiences can expect  and cycle-powered screenings, Lotte Reiniger’s 1926 cut-out fairy-tale, The Adventures of Prince Achmed, filmmaking collective Shynola (perhaps best known for sequences in Hitchhickers Guide to the Galaxy (2005), I.T Crowd, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) and a performance from the amazing Demdike Stare.

Film Bug , supported by, and taking place within Colmore Business District, returns for a second year with free screenings, events and installations kicking off the festival and the festival will be celebrating Birmingham Arts Lab and its legacy, gathering key contributors, screening relevant works, and displaying some of the mind-bending posters that emerged from their screen-print workshop.

The full programme will be announced in February but in the mean time Flatpack need your help:

The Flatpack Palais will once again provide the festival’s beating heart; a place to meet people, eat cake, pick up a brochure and sample the programme. This year it will be housed in the Old Library in the Custard Factory. Flatpack will be collaborating with students from Birmingham City University’s School of Architecture to transform it into a screening space and social hub.

Flatpack needs your help in order to achieve this and fund its hub programme which will include shorts, parties and a psychedelic poster exhibition. It has launched a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign to make it happen. Rewards for donators include a mention in the festival brochure, to a 10 year pass to all future festival events!

More information on the Kickstarter campaign can be seen here.  Please help Flatpack make it happen.

The Eastside galleries are going all festive this Friday (5-11pm) and Saturday (12-6pm) with Winter Fest at Minerva Works on Fazeley Street.

Ikon Youth Programme, Grand Union, Vivid Projects, and Stryx will be hosting a variety of events and exhibitions. Three artists/artist groups have also been commissioned for Winterreise: Cathy Wade and Paul Newman, Extra Special People, and Black Dogs will be working with K4 Architects to open up Minerva Works by creating public events and temporary works that respond to our passage through winter.

The event is absolutely free, and there will be lots of hot food and drink for sale to keep you toasty and warm!

More information on the numerous aspects of Winter Fest can be found on the Warwick Bar website.