Pop down to @oldprintworksbrum on 14th December for a festive fun-filled day out whilst supporting local artists and young people. Expect an exciting array of unique handmade gifts and goodies for sale – all made by local young artists, designers and crafters – in amongst our cosy community cafe The MIX and during the bustling @balsallheathsecondsaturday.
Come join us at The Old Print Works for a fun-filled event where you can get creative and make your own wooden decorations with the Pathcarvers – all welcome
Sat 9 Nov 2024 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM The GAP Arts Project, 498 Moseley Rd, Balsall Heath, Birmingham B12 9AH
Join us on November 9th, as we listen to (and learn from) traditional Palestinian songs and hymns of resistance brought to us by Maramiya Band.
Promoting Palestinian heritage and history, our evening will also feature a talented Violin player, and powerful Poetry recitations. ✨
🟢 Appetizers, bite-sized food and hot drinks will be available during the break. 🧆☕
🔴 Proceeds from this evening will go to support the Palestine Action prisoners who sacrificed their freedom for the struggle and liberation of the Palestinian people. You can also support our work by donating an additional amount when purchasing your tickets.
⚫ Please note that tickets are required for this event and anyone without a ticket will be unable to attend. 🎫
⚪ Join us for an evening of supporting Palestinian identity and enriching our community that embraces the Palestinian struggle.
We would love your presence and support, and hope to see you there! 🇵🇸
🕖 Doors open at 6.30 pm, event starts at 7.00 pm
🗓️ 9th of November
📍The GAP Arts Project, Balsall Heath, B12 9AH
“Root yourself in the soil, for you will remain here. The land is your land, young man, this country is our country. They are ignorant, they do not know that your homeland is eternal. So stand firm, persevere, and seek reward, for we are all behind you. How many martyrs have given their lives to achieve certainty. O owner of the land, hold fast, for the land is the honour of the righteous.”
Mahmoud Darwish
🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸
P.S. 1. Please let us know of any food allergies beforehand, 2. Please note this event is suitable for children 7+ and not younger.
****Full timetable of activities to follow, including games, music, discussion and more*****
Following the inaugural Memories Carried exhibition at the Amnesty International’s London HQ in May 2024, and the launch event at the MIAH Foundation on the 26th October 2024, Art Forward are proud to announce the expanded Memories Carried Campaign and International Touring Exhibition.
The exhibition series brings together over 20 international photographers and activists, including artists from Palestine, the wider Arab Region, across Latin America, the UK and Europe, as well as Israel, all committed to raising funds for charities on the ground in OPT and Lebanon. Exhibitions will take place in Birmingham and Newcastle, UK; Paris, France and Berlin, Germany, supporting Al Haq, Al Mezan, The Ghassan Abu Sittah Children’s Fund, and Health Workers for Palestine.
As part of the campaign, The Wall of Hope initiative will invite the public to take portraits of friends and family with a personal message of hope, which can be submitted online with a donation and an invitation to others to do the same. Beyond raising funds, the aim is to create a digital wall of portraits to offer hope and solidarity with the people of Gaza. This will be exhibited online and internationally at events, including projections on public landmarks.
Through an evolving programme of exhibitions, film screenings and workshops, and most importantly through community building and conversation, this campaign will educate the public, support organisations working on the ground in Gaza and the Occupied West Bank, and build a repository of hope with international reach.
Memories Carried will unite prominent voices on both a global stage and within local communities, denouncing the systematic discrimination of Palestinians under Israel’s system of apartheid.
Join us this Balsall Heath Second Saturday for the first session of Sewing Solidarity, an exciting creative banner-making project for young people combining textiles, activism, local history and working class customs 🧵✊📢
During this Saturday’s sessions, textile artist and craftivist Jane Thakoordin @janethakoordin_ will introduce you to the use of textiles banners in social movements, and show you a variety of textile and design techniques to try out.
🔴 For ages 13-18
🔴 Two sessions – join one or both! (11am-1pm & 2-4pm)
10am onwards, The Drawing Room, The Old Print Works
Join people from Moseley Road Baths to discuss the plans for the building once major refurbishment works are completed and to find out how you can be involved
Join The MIAH Foundation for an in–person workshop on creating a Palestinian Tatreez bookmark, with a guided tutorial.
During the in–person workshop, you will learn about the history of Palestinian Tatreez and the techniques to create your own embroidery based on traditional motifs. You will then create your own Tatreez bookmark. All materials will be provided. This workshop is being run as part of the ‘Balsall Heath Second Saturdays’ programme – a monthly mini-festival celebrating making, creativity, community, local culture and the arts held on the second Saturday of every month.
In this beginner’s bookbinding workshop, you will learn a saddle stitch binding method and create a one of a kind pocket journal to take home.
All tools are provided, along with a wide selection of papers, card stock, magazines, old books, maps and more. You will get to pick the pages for your notebook, learn how to bind them together and then decorate the cover in your own style. Feel free to bring with you: old envelopes, pages from unused notebooks or sketchbooks, sheet music, maps, posters, old books, cards, paper bags, wrapping paper. Anything goes!
Suitable for older children accompanied by an adult (we will be using sharp tools – an awl, needle, scissors and craft knife)
The GAP invites you to join them this @balsallheathsecondsaturday to create your own visual artwork responding to the theme of ‘CYCLES’ and submit it to be included in an upcoming group exhibition in The GAP Gallery 💫💫💫
A wide variety of art materials will be provided, as well as prompts to inspire imaginative responses to the theme 🎨🖌️✂️✏️🧶🚲🌛🌪️🌱🌻🍂❄️🌀🌍💫🕐
Balsall Heath Repair Cafe is back again at Balsall Heath Second Saturday. Repairers include textiles and knife sharpening, Check balsallheathrepaircafe.org for repairers closer to the day
Come join the MIAH Foundation for a Ebru / Ottoman Marble Art Workshop, with a guided tutorial (materials will be provided).
12-2pm | Saturday 14th September 2024 | MIAH Gallery, Moseley Community Hub | 496 Moseley Road Balsall Heath B12 9AH.
Join us for a creative painting workshop where we will explore the Ottoman and Persian art of Ebru marble painting. This workshop is being delivered as part of the ‘Balsall Heath Second Saturdays’ programme – a monthly mini-festival celebrating making, creativity, community, local culture and the arts, held on the second Saturday of every month.
Who is this course for? All levels of ability are welcome. Suitable for adults and children aged 9+ years. All materials are provided.
To secure your place, please book in advance using ‘register’. We will allow a small number of walk-up bookings on the day, subject to availability.
In this beginner’s bookbinding workshop, you will learn a saddle stitch binding method and create a one of a kind pocket journal to take home.
All tools are provided, along with a wide selection of papers, card stock, magazines, old books, maps and more. You will get to pick the pages for your notebook, learn how to bind them together and then decorate the cover in your own style. Feel free to bring with you: old envelopes, pages from unused notebooks or sketchbooks, sheet music, maps, posters, old books, cards, paper bags, wrapping paper. Anything goes!
Suitable for older children accompanied by an adult (we will be using sharp tools – an awl, needle, scissors and craft knife)
We are holding a space this Saturday for people to come and share their personal experience of how they are feeling. We will sit and listen to each other and just be.
We believe understanding, communication and love is what the world needs.
This is a space open to all. To share, to be present , to witness We are stronger together.
Never been to a sharing circle? Don’t worry, you don’t have to share, you can just sit and be.
Come join the MIAH Foundation for a Mughal Flowers Workshop, with a guided tutorial (materials will be provided).
12-2pm | Saturday 10th August 2024 | MIAH Gallery, Moseley Community Hub | 496 Moseley Road Balsall Heath B12 9AH.
Mughal albums are known for the way they decorated the marginal spaces with detailed studies of flowers and fauna. Mughal flower studies included lilies, narcissus, iris, tulips, carnations, poppies, anemones and campiones among other flowers. Although they were painted to be naturalistic, they used a distinct Mughal style and colour palette. In this workshop you will study some of the flower drawings found in Mughal albums and create your own flower study in the style of 17th century art albums from Mughal India.
Who is this course for? All levels of ability are welcome. Suitable for adults and children aged 9+ years. All materials are provided.
To secure your place, please book in advance using ‘register’. We will allow a small number of walk-up bookings on the day, subject to availability.
Link to book: https://miahfoundation.com/events/mughal-flowers-workshop
This Balsall Heath Second Saturday, we invite you to our new Peace Garden, created by Bek and a group of young volunteers over the past 8 months. Located just next to The GAP and in-front of The Old Print Works’ house Myrtle Cottage, this small garden is intended as a space for the local community to learn about and connect with nature, and as a space for peace, reflection and the celebration of life. 🕊️ 🌱
It’s looking absolutely beautiful, and we can’t wait to share it with you.
For this open day, you will be able to:
💚 Help us install a wormery, learn about soil and its life-creating goodness, and contribute towards community composting by bringing along your own food waste, greens and browns to add
💚 Decorate a peace stone to add to the Peace Garden (or to take home)
💚 Create a mini pond to attract pollinators
💚 Or simply have a wonder or a sit down to soak it all in
In this beginner’s bookbinding workshop, you will learn a saddle stitch binding method and create a one of a kind pocket journal to take home.
All tools are provided, along with a wide selection of papers, card stock, magazines, old books, maps and more. You will get to pick the pages for your notebook, learn how to bind them together and then decorate the cover in your own style. Feel free to bring with you: old envelopes, pages from unused notebooks or sketchbooks, sheet music, maps, posters, old books, cards, paper bags, wrapping paper. Anything goes!
Suitable for older children accompanied by an adult (we will be using sharp tools – an awl, needle, scissors and craft knife)
Come join us for our Saturday in–person workshop based on the tile of the Dome of the Rock, with a guided tutorial (materials will be provided).
12-2pm | Saturday 13th July 2024 | MIAH Gallery, Moseley Community Hub | 496 Moseley Road Balsall Heath B12 9AH.
Join us to learn about this Dome of the Rock tile design and create your own ceramic coaster to take home. This workshop is being delivered as part of the ‘Balsall Heath Second Saturdays’ programme – a monthly mini-festival celebrating making, creativity, community, local culture and the arts, held on the second Saturday of every month.
This workshop is inspired by the ceramic tiles that decorate the Dome of Rock, or Qubbat aṣ-Ṣakhra, in Jerusalem, Palestine (occupied Palestinian territories). Painted in an underglaze of cobalt blue on a white tile, this floral design can be tesselated to create a never-ending pattern. During this workshop, you will study one of the tile patterns that adorn this building, which is currently housed at the British Museum and in the teaching collection of the MIAH Foundation Islamic Arts Gallery.
You will recreate this design on a ceramic tile that can then be taken home to be displayed or used as a coaster. Please note: this workshop focusses on the design of the tile. Due to the length of the workshop, the design will be painted using acrylic paints and not underglaze.
To secure your place, please book in advance using ‘register’. We will allow a small number of walk-up bookings on the day, subject to availability.
Balsall Heath Repair Cafe is back again at Balsall Heath Second Saturday. Repairers include textiles and knife sharpening, Check balsallheathrepaircafe.org for repairers closer to the day
In this beginner’s bookbinding workshop, you will learn a saddle stitch binding method and create a one of a kind pocket journal to take home.
All tools are provided, along with a wide selection of papers, card stock, magazines, old books, maps and more. You will get to pick the pages for your notebook, learn how to bind them together and then decorate the cover in your own style. Feel free to bring with you: old envelopes, pages from unused notebooks or sketchbooks, sheet music, maps, posters, old books, cards, paper bags, wrapping paper. Anything goes!
Suitable for older children accompanied by an adult (we will be using sharp tools – an awl, needle, scissors and craft knife)
Two films about retrofit: our homes and neighbourhoods, and the huge 1960s Smallbrook Ringway building in the city centre.
RETROFIT REIMAGINED – embargoed film preview!
We’re delighted to preview in Balsall Heath this inspiring 18 minute film.
Retrofit means insulating your home to cut fuel bills, cut carbon, improve health, give new jobs and skills.
Retrofit Balsall Heath is a community-led local group, and co-founder of RETROFIT REIMAGINED Festival, created in July 2022 in collaborative with Civic Square in Ladywood and others.
Retrofit Balsall Heath is working to embody RETROFIT REIMAGINED’s foundational question: “What if the climate transition and retrofit of our homes and streets were designed, owned and governed by the people who live there?”
In autumn 2023, RETROFIT REIMAGINED toured to five venues across the UK, launching in Balsall Heath at Moseley Road Baths. This beautifully created film tells the whole story.
18 minutes
SAVING SMALLBROOK – fresh from première at Flatpack film festival!
Although Birmingham City Council’s planning committee voted to demolish Smallbrook Ringway Centre, the fight is still on, with a new legal challenge.
This 2-year ongoing planning battle has been captured on film by Liverpool’s Doberman Films, in a new documentary which explores the city’s ambivalent relationship with its post-war heritage.
Like its sister building the Rotunda, Smallbrook Ringway Centre was designed in the 1960s by Birmingham architect Jim Roberts.
Retrofitting would be much lower carbon than the 187 million kg of CO2 for demolition and rebuilding.
25 minutes
Free event, with Q&A, and donations invited to Save Smallbrook crowdfunding campaign
In this beginner’s bookbinding workshop, you will learn a saddle stitch binding method and create a one of a kind pocket journal to take home.
All tools are provided, along with a wide selection of papers, card stock, magazines, old books, maps and more. You will get to pick the pages for your notebook, learn how to bind them together and then decorate the cover in your own style. Feel free to bring with you: old envelopes, pages from unused notebooks or sketchbooks, sheet music, maps, posters, old books, cards, paper bags, wrapping paper. Anything goes!
Suitable for older children accompanied by an adult (we will be using sharp tools – an awl, needle, scissors and craft knife)
Create and take home a unique artwork inspired by the stories and games from ‘Stories Of The Wind’ – These “nichos” are sometimes a part of the ofrendas of the traditional Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead.
They are often devotional but also quirky, made from common household objects and craft materials.
