Win Free Tickets to see Courtney Pine!

Win Free Tickets to see Courtney Pine!

The Drum, the UK’s Premier Arts Centre are pleased to be hosting the ground breaking, multi-instrumentalist jazz musician Courtney Pine live for one night only on Saturday 27 April debuting material from his latest studio album, House of Legends.

Deeply steeped in the traditions of the Caribbean, this fifteenth album from the award-winning Jazz instrumentalist sees Courtney on top form. Bringing together musicians from Africa, the Caribbean and Europe for vibrant exchanges that tell tales of life from a truly multi-cultural viewpoint. Expect an exhilarating mix of Merengue, Ska, Mento and Calypso.

"Album of The Year 2012 - Unquestionably one of the most joyous albums Pine has ever made, it's just brilliantly effective dance music" – Jazzwise

As Arts Champions for the Hall Green district, The Drum, is giving away 10 tickets to the first 10 residents of Hall Green, Sparkbrook, Springfield Moseley and Kings Heath who register with p:Articipate scheme (see below for more details).

Deadline for this exclusive ticket give away offer is Friday 26 April, 5pm

What is p:Articipate?

The p:Articipate scheme offers discounted tickets from as little as £3 for residents of Hall Green District.

What do you need?

Photo ID and proof of address

How do I get my tickets?

Call The Drum’s Box Office team on 0121 333 2444 to check which events* offer reduced prices.   

 *Terms and conditions apply, to selected events. Offer subject to availability

http://www.the-drum.org.uk/contact/

Critical Meeting Space

Meeting, listening, talking - first steps in critical thinking

So what do you mean by critical?  A question artists generally spend a minute or two considering when they meet up - critical we work together, critical of 'art' and what it achieves, and critical that you make these kind of meetings - Birmingham Critical Spaces met for first time (after pilot) on Wednesday 10 April, 2pm to 4.30pm at Ort Cafe.  I'm sure there's a few other criticals - please forward if you have a minute.

This was a first meeting, so not surprising we started with basics, but pretty quickly we were into interesting territory.  Matt 'opened up a can of worms' starting with the New Library of Birmingham and recent project work related to the week long opening festival controversially replacing 'Artsfest' this year.  Is it meeting the needs of Communities?  Where is engagement outside of city centre?  Where is engagement outside the Custard Factory?  How are community libraries involved?  Some of the many questions raised.  Also how many Artists have had meetings with Brian Gambles in the last couple of weeks?

Does money change our language - is there an art to the application form, and how can we present our ideas and meet the needs of 'communities' more accurately?  Tom Jones, Brum's own Community Arts Champion questioned whether it was really possible to separate art from life, the danger of working within institutions, and the risk art supported by institutions of all kinds can become self-(institutionally speaking)-serving.

How can we wrestle significant public spaces from the architects, and their take on 'public art?  Is it the community artists' lot to transform derelict spaces ready for re-development?  We heard from Ort cafe Josie about how the Ort mission has successfully created a vibrant community arts venue and achieved sustainability.

Then there's the big question of artists successfully collaborating rather than competing, of sharing information, issues of open access and trust.  Here's hoping Critical Space - Locally-national network approach will succeed in developing some interesting partnerships.  In Birmingham, it already has.

For more info see

http://criticalspaces.wordpress.com/

Next meeting Wednesday 5th June 2:00-4:00 location to be confirmed, but if you're missing meeting local artists, check out your local art forum.

Urgent Volunteers Needed!!

RoguePlay Theatre are creating a new piece of circus theatre for outdoor performance at the site of Sparkhill  Park, on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 April (12noon & 3pm) both days. The project, entitled Leap of Faith, is in partnership with Soul City Arts. The performance, entitled Leap of Faith, will use the huge mural painted on the back of the building, by Mohammed Ali of Soul City arts, as the inspiration for the piece.

We are looking for volunteers to support the delivery of the production. This will entail assisting people to complete monitoring forms and or working with the performers and graffiti artist to deliver the workshops   each day.

If you are interested and available for either or both days please contact RoguePlay Theatre:

Contact Jo Gleave

Email: info@rogueplay.co.uk

Mob: 07746327284

Thank you

Less than a week until Leap of Faith

It's less than a week until RoguePlay Theatre performs Leap of Faith  in Sparkhill Park, Stratford Road. We have posted a couple of clips, one from the rehearsals currently taking place and the other an interview with Mohammed Ali, of Soul City Arts talking about creating the mural.

Leap of Faith will be performed on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 April and we hope that you will come out and support us and bring your friends and family. The performances will be followed by sessions where you can have a go at some of the acrobatics and other skills on display. However, if you do not feel that adventurous, you can have a go at creating a snazzy design on a baseball cap. This session is provided by Soul City Arts. We are sure this will prove to be very popular, we have a limited number of white baseball caps, we recommend you either get there early and or bring your own "White Baseball Cap" to make sure you leave with your own creation.We hope to see you there on Saturday or Sunday or both. 

Leap of Faith Rehearsals

Leap of Faith - Mohammed Ali talks about the inspiring mural