Birmingham is home to lots of brilliant places to visit for your studies, research and enjoyment.
Museums and Art Galleries
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery has a collection of international importance covering fine art, ceramics, metalwork, jewellery, natural history, archaeology, ethnography, local history and industrial history. This ranges from a Pre-Raphaelites Gallery to an Ancient Egypt Gallery.
The Ikon Gallery is a gallery of contemporary art, located in Brindleyplace. It is housed in the Grade II listed, neo-gothic former Oozells Street Board School and was set up to encourage the public to engage in contemporary art. The gallery runs an off-site 'Education and Interpretation' scheme that educates audiences, promotes artists and their art.
Music and theatre venues
Birmingham is home to a wide variety of music and theatre venues including Birmingham Symphony Hall, Birmingham Hippodrome and large international music venues.
For classical music lovers Birmingham Town and Symphony Hall will be right up your street. The Symphony Hall, widely considered one of the finest in the world, has a 6000-pipe symphony organ specially tailored to the hall's reverberation chambers. Along with classical music, these venues present a programme of jazz, world, folk, rock, and pop concerts, organ recitals, spoken word, dance, comedy, and educational performances.
The Birmingham Hippodrome is the place to go for the best musicals, dance, opera, ballet and even pantomime.
The Solihull Arts Complex hosts a varied mix of professional and amateur events including music, drama, comedy and dance. Most areas are available to hire and successful events are held almost every night from local drama groups to national commercial promoters.
For those who prefer a smaller audience, the Old Joint Stock would be ideal. This old Victorian bank building is now home to a theatre and pub with an island bar below a glass-domed roof. The Old Joint Stock offers regular productions with low prices and a great atmosphere.