Birmingham Weekender
When: 24th September 2017 Time: 11am - 4pm
Where: Bull Ring Open Markets, Birmingham
As part of the Birmingham Weekender 2017, Home Live Art transformed the city’s much-loved Bull Ring Open Markets into an Alternative Village Fete.
With market stalls set up alongside performance stalls, the whole day embraced the best bits of a traditional village fete with an alternative Brummie twist!
The artists / companies helped us create an energetic, vibrant and celebratory day for a family-friendly audience. We had songs and words of wisdom from the inimitable Ida Barr, OAP music Hall star turned rapper, who delighted crowds with Tea And Sympathy by Christopher Green, The music theme continued through the day as Lorraine Bowen performed Be Original, a micro express version of her song writing and musical show for children.
We had games galore in our Alternative Village Fete; Rachel Mars invited passers-by to come and gamble with their personal information in The What Have You Got to Hide Tombola, whilst Megan Clark-Bagnall and Jasmine Loveys helped us shake our (car) booty with their Carboot Disco Bingo! Audiences could test their patience and luck as they evolved from a single celled organism in Laurie Ramsell’s The Generation Game.
Three stalls were converted into interactive installations; there was subversive fun, pound shop prizes and homemade arcade games from Amy Pennington’s Our Arcade, a stall of curiosities to reflect the joy of the ‘accidental curator’ from Friction Arts and the chance to swap stories and objects with Cache Converters Demi Nandhra and Toni Lewis
SHOUT Festival captured the imagination and playfulness of self-expression with Drag Queen Story Time for children, and there was a pop-up performance clinic from BE FESTIVAL artists in residence Klaus Erich Dietl & Stephanie Müller, who transformed the insecurities of passers-by into pieces of art work in Protection Shields to Go.
Throughout the day audiences could help build new cities and make flying kites; there was a mega den building project for you, old, and everyone in between as 815 Agency encouraged visitors to make their very own Den City, and Birmingham Patang provided opportunity for all to embrace kite-making and kite-flying’s rich global tradition, with Women Empowering Women and artist Benny Semp.
Read about the entire Birmingham Weekender here.
