Birmingham Heritage Week 2015
University of Birmingham is delighted to be taking in part in Birmingham’s first Heritage Week, a programme of events and activities taking place across the city and celebrating the city’s diverse heritage from 10 - 17 September 2015.
Throughout Birmingham Heritage Week, visitors will be able to explore venues that are rarely open to the public, enjoy open top bus heritage tours, take part in workshops and be involved in the installation of a new blue plaque, and the naming of a street after celebrated local residents.
Birmingham Heritage Week coincides with this year’s Heritage Open Days (10 – 13 Sept), the UK’s biggest heritage festival.
Chairman of the Heritage Week Steering Group, Councillor Waseem Zaffar said, “Birmingham has an amazing heritage that needs to be celebrated and shared with those that live in the city as well as further afield. It's also important to recognise the contribution made by Brummies that have helped shape this city and had an impact on the international stage. Our wish is that Birmingham Heritage Week will encourage local people from all ages and backgrounds to come together to enjoy, as well as learn, about our heritage.”
UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM PROGRAMME:
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Small exhibition charting the development and evolution of botanical illustration from its earliest days in the 15th century up to the 20th century interpretations. Drawn from the books, prints, drawings and manuscripts in the University's Cadbury Research Library.
Venue: Muirhead Atrium, Edgbaston Campus.
Dates: 22 May - 04 October 2015. Exhibition open weekdays only.
Admission: FREE, no booking required.
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EXHIBITION | Fitting in and Getting Along: Integration and Identity of Birmingham's British Poles
This exhibition of text, photographs and digital stories brings to life the experiences of the second generation of Polish people living in Birmingham. This project is funded by Heritage Lottery Fund, project managed by Dr Anna Cielecka-Gibson and supported by Maureen Smojkis, Chair of the Midlands Polish Community Association.
Venue: BVSC The Centre for Voluntary Action, 138 Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 6DR
Dates: Monday 14 - Friday 18 September 2015. Exhibition open weekdays 9am - 5pm.
Admission: FREE, no booking required.
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Celebrate Birmingham Heritage Week by delving into the Barber's past in this one hour walk and talk. Find out about our founders, Sir Henry and Lady Barber, and how the Barber came to be. Explore our wonderful Art Deco building, learn about the Barber's architect, Robert Atkinson, and take a look at some of the very first purchases that started our collection back in the 1930s.
Venue: The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham
Dates: Thursday 10 September 2015, 2-3pm and Friday 11 September 2015, 11am - 12pm.
Admission: FREE, booking essential. Please telephone 0121 414 2261 or email education@barber.org.uk to reserve your place.
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EVENT | Mission // Misplaced Memory presents: Shebeen Sounds
Mission // Misplaced Memory is an afrofuturist project led by the Data Thieves, an interdisciplinary collective of artists on a mission to collect the musical memories of the region's shifting communities. For Birmingham Heritage Week, Data Thief, Bobbie Gardner, launches Shebeen Sounds, an experimental research project exploring the memories that reside in self proclaimed cultural spaces or 'shebeens' around Birmingham. Join Vivid Projects where Shebeen Queens will tell you more about the project over home brewed teas. You can also add to the Misplaced Memory playlist by bringing along your favourite vinyl records.
This event is produced and curated by Yasmeen Baig-Clifford and Ian Sergeant, Honorary Research Associates at University of Birmingham and sponsored by the University's Cultural Engagement team.
Venue: Vivid Projects, 16 Minerva Works, 158 Fazeley Street, Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 5RS
Date: Friday 11 September, 6 - 9pm
Admission: FREE, no booking required.
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Celebrate Birmingham Heritage Week by making modroc sculptures of the University's heroes including scientists, explorers...and even Lady Barber!
Venue: The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham
Date: Sunday 13 September, 11am - 12.30pm (4-8 year olds) and 1.30 - 3pm (8-12 year olds)
Admission: £5 per child, per session, booking essential. Please telephone 0121 414 2261 or email education@barber.org.uk to reserve your place.
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SALON | Connected Histories: Muslims in the First World War
Connected Histories: Muslims in the First World War is a unique project exploring the connections between Muslims who served in the First World War and present-day communities in the city of Birmingham. The project will identify and record the stories - as oral testimonies - of the descendants of those that served. These stories are now the remaining fragments of 'living memory' that pertain to the experiences of Muslims in the First World War.
Presented in partnership with the University of Birmingham, this salon led by Izzy Mohammed (Project Manager) and Dr Kevin Myers (School of Education, UoB) will reflect on the research journey, present findings, and invite discussion on how historical interventions can serve the purpose of social justice. Sponsored by the University's Cultural Engagement team.
Venue: Room G38, School of Education
Date: Tuesday 15 September, 6.30 - 8.30pm
Admission: FREE, booking recommended. Book to reserve your place.
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A talk by Elaine Mitchell
During the eighteenth century new plants arrived in Britain from around the globe. Grown for profit or pleasure, plants were commodities in increasing supply, driving expansion of the commercial nursery business. Nurseries, in turn, were instrumental in spreading a wider range of plants beyond the metropolis out into the provinces.
The growth of print aided the market for new plants and dissemination of horticultural and botanical knowledge. Through nursery catalogues, newspaper advertisements, trade cards and books, plants and print combined to satisfy the market for landscape improvement, gardening skills and botanical curiosity.
The nursery catalogue is an ephemeral item with provincial survivals rare. An eighteenth-century printing for the Birmingham firm of Brunton and Forbes provides the starting point for an exploration of the range of plants available to midlands’ gardeners, the ordering of the natural world post-Linnaeus and the agency of the nurseryman in the spread of scientific knowledge.
This talk accompanies the exhibition 'Botanical Art' in the Muirhead Atrium from 22 May - 4 October 2015.
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Anyone wishing to contribute and get involved with the programme at this year’s Birmingham Heritage Week should contact the Culture Commissioning service at the city council by email, telephone 0121 303 2434 or via the Birmingham City Council culture website.