Monthly creative festival
Join us to celebrate everything Retrofit Balsall Heath has achieved this year, and look ahead to the next stage of our shared journey.
Come and enjoy drinks and tasty refreshments from ChangeKitchen CIC, find out more about retrofit in our neighbourhood and meet others working for positive change in Balsall Heath.
Everyone welcome!
Book your free place: https://events.humanitix.com/retrofit-balsall-heath-agm
Join artist Dominika Kubalova for a beginner’s bookbinding workshop, in which 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).
This session is free, please consider making a donation here.
ITZATNA Arts invite you create your very own ‘Árbol de Vida’ – a ‘Tree of Life’ – inspired by the colourful handicraft tradition of México. The craft originated in central Mexico, blending indigenous clay-working traditions with Spanish colonial Catholic imagery.
In this hands-on family workshop, you’ll build a tree sculpture that tells your family’s story: your roots, your lineage, the people and objects that make you who you are. Using cardboard, paper, collage materials, and plenty of imagination, each family will design and construct a one-of-a-kind tree to take home and treasure.
No art experience needed – just bring your curiosity and your family stories. We’ll bring everything else.
Suitable for families with children aged 5+. All children must be accompanied by a participating adult at all times – this is a together activity, not a drop-off.
Session times (30–45 minutes each):
Spaces are very limited, and our studio is small and cosy, so places go quickly! Please arrive a few minutes early to secure your spot. Limit of 6 people per session.
How to join: Sign up on the door outside Studio ITZATNA in the Upper Gallery at The Old Print Works on the day. First come, first served.
This is a taster workshop ahead of the full event at Thimblemill Library, Smethwick, as part of the exhibition ‘Raíces/Roots’ at *discovery room sandwell – curated by Abigail Villaroel. Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. Follow for more: @discoveryroom.uk // @abigailvillarroel.art
This session is free, please consider making a donation here.
ITZATNA Arts are a Studio Partner at The Old Print Works.
Local makers and crafts / bric a brac / clothes / curios and more
August stallholders include:
If you would like to be part of the market, please contact us at info@oldprintworks.org or book a stall here (cost £10 or £90 for 12 months).
As the renovation of Darkroom Birmingham nears completion, join the team for analogue and digital portrait adventures, to book early-bird workshop and darkroom access offers, and to have your say in shaping the facilities.
Darkroom Birmingham is a Studio Partner at The Old Print Works.
This workshop, led by Community Energy Birmingham, gives people hands on experience installing home energy efficiency measures. Funded by Central Co-Op.
Join a free workshop to design kites for West Midlands Palestine Solidarity Campaign (WMPSC). They will also be promoting their upcoming events and produce from Palestine.
This session is free, please consider making a donation here.
The work, activism and far-reaching influence of Birmingham photographer Rhonda Wilson are being brought back into the spotlight through an exhibition titled Seeing Rhonda and a community archive led by Birmingham City University and The Old Print Works.
Together, the exhibition and archive span over three decades of Wilson’s work, from the 1980s to the 2010s. Photographs, letters, posters and publications sit alongside personal notes, sketches and overlooked ephemera, revealing not just what Wilson created, but how she worked, collaborated and built opportunities for others. Seeing Rhonda presents Wilson as more than a photographer; as a cultural entrepreneur, journalist, educator and activist, she spent over 30 years championing others and reshaping the photography landscape in Birmingham and beyond. Wilson’s constructed social documentary style of photography was underpinned by her commitment to addressing issues of women’s representation, low pay and homelessness.
The project was initiated by Dr Annette Naudin, Associate Professor at Birmingham City University, in partnership with The Old Print Works and in collaboration with PRISM Photography Network. This exhibition is supported by Birmingham City University and The Old Print Works.
Opening times (free entry):
Saturday 12 September, 11am-4pm. Presented as part of Birmingham Heritage Week.
Location:
Upper Gallery, The Old Print Works
Please note access is via a number of stairs and The Old Print Works does not have a lift.
Workshop:
Drop in for a fun, hands-on zine making workshop based on the Seeing Rhonda exhibition. We will make mini-booklets known as ‘zines’, using collage and drawing. All materials provided and suitable for all ages.
This is a free exhibition, please consider making a donation here.
Photo: Archive material, Rhonda Wilson community archive. Image courtesy The Old Print Works.
Balsall Heath Local History Society presents an exhibition celebrating the history of the local area: showcasing Mick Turner’s photographs, archive images and interviews with local people.
The years 1960 to the 1990s saw a transformation in Balsall Heath. Many migrants moved in to the area, and some long established residents were compulsorily rehoused elsewhere as whole streets were demolished. Meanwhile the area was in decline with uncleared bomb sites from the Second World War, poor housing, high unemployment, appalling health statistics, poverty and a major prostitution problem.
This was also a time of new opportunities, new organisations and new ideas. There was growing dynamism and hope as the groundwork was laid for the thriving multi-cultural community of today’s Balsall Heath.
The Mick Turner Archive of photographic images is a vast collection of images, thousands of which were published in the Balsall Heathan through this time. We will use these images as a starting point to understand Balsall Heath through the eyes of people who have lived there.
Sketching workshop with local artist Muhmood Tahir (Midy)
Saturday 12 September, 11.30am-2.30pm
Director’s Office (Courtyard)
Free, drop in. Open to all ages.
Balsall Heath Local History Society is a Studio Partner at The Old Print Works.
Photo:
Join local artist Muhmood Tahir (Midy) for a free drop in workshop and have a go at sketching, inspired by the wonderful imagery of Mick Turner’s photographs of Balsall Heath, on display in the Balsall Heath in Changing Times exhibition. Workshop and exhibition organised by Balsall Heath Local History Society.
Midy will be on hand to help out offering tips, support and all the materials you need to make your own masterpiece!
Drop in. Workshop open to all ages.
This session is free, please consider making a donation here.
Balsall Heath Local History Society is a Studio Partner at The Old Print Works.
Image: artwork by Muhmood Tahir (Midy)
Come and take a look at the CDT room which has a range of tools for turning, milling, precision cutting, drilling, engraving and pyrography.
The CDT room is run by Richard Newton who has 30 years of experience teaching craft, design & technology to children. Projects are designed and led by children, who make musical instruments, vehicles, furniture or whatever they can imagine out of wood, plastic and metal. Children are also encouraged to adapt and repair their tools.
90 minute session. £8 per child / £6 per sibling
Richard Newton is a Studio Partner at The Old Print Works.
Join us at MIAH to celebrate the launch of Balsall Heath’s new street banners designed by artist Faisal Hussain, marking the culmination of the Believe in Balsall Heath project.
The five banner designs celebrate the people, stories and culture of Balsall Heath, bringing local heritage and creativity into the streets of the neighbourhood.
Meet Faisal and hear about the inspiration behind his designs, and enjoy music from the Oriental Star Agencies collection as we come together to celebrate the project and the community it represents.
📅 Saturday 12 September | 12–2pm
📍 MIAH Foundation Islamic Arts & Heritage Gallery
496 Moseley Road, Balsall Heath, B12 9AH
🎟️ Free | Booking required
Book here or scan the QR Code.
Believe in Balsall Heath is funded by Birmingham City Council and brings together The Old Print Works, MIAH Foundation, The GAP Arts Project, Fruit & Nut Village and Balsall Heath Local History Society to celebrate the history, heritage and creativity of Balsall Heath.
For this Balsall Heath Second Saturday The GAP share the outcomes from their Summer Programmes.
They also present a free Story Telling session, 2.30-3.30pm, for 6-11 year olds. This event last for an hour, please arrive on time.
The GAP Arts Project is a Studio Partner at The Old Print Works.
If you’d like to support The Old Print Works please consider making a donation here.
ChangeKitchen CIC will be doing a Cafe Takeover and running The Mix Community Cafe at The Old Print Works.
Open 12-4pm, serving artisan drinks and ethical, climate-friendly food that’s yummy, and does more good across our communities.
Cycling in the Dark is an exhibition incorporating many objects collected / found locally which are used as surface, tool and material.
Delicate forms of pressure push the boundaries of tension in sculptural forms and scrappy, soft materials. The exhibition asks us to reflect on the more subtle violent treatment of objects, humans and animals. How do those build up to bigger ones?
Lauren Royall is an artist and studio holder at The Old Print Works whose work is rooted in abstract painting and sculpture. Their practice is conceptually driven by their experience in sexual violence education and prevention.
The exhibition is free, and there is a small selection of prints available for sale, where 50% of proceeds will go towards The Old Print Works.
Balsall Heath Repair Cafe is back again at Balsall Heath Second Saturday.
Check balsallheathrepaircafe.org for repairers closer to the day.
This session is free, please consider making a donation here.
Join us for a drop in workshop to learn the art of Kumihimo, a traditional Japanese artform and craftwork for making braids and cords. Open to all ages.
This workshop is organised by members of Daily Thread, the community textiles sessions which run every week at The Old Print Works.
This workshop is free, please consider making a donation here.
Come and play with clay with Sundragon Pottery. Try some simple techniques and experiment with form making – just drop in, stay as long as you like.
This session is free, please consider making a donation here.
Sundragon Pottery are a Studio Partner at The Old Print Works.
Join Salmah and J C Amaechi for Between Worlds, Between Words: a peer-to-peer writing workshop for Black writers exploring how to write from the spaces between languages, cultures, countries and identities.
This event is organised by the Black British Book Festival. Selina Brown, Founder and CEO is a Studio Partner at The Old Print Works and the founder of the Black British Book Festival and the inaugural National Reading Hero recipient of the Queen’s Reading Room Medal. Her Penguin picture book My Rice is Best has been shortlisted for the British Book Awards 2026, The Laugh Out Loud Book Awards 2026 and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2026.
This is a free event. If you’d like to support The Old Print Works please consider making a donation here.
Join Councillor Duncan Ali for his Balsall Heath West community surgery.
Saturday 12 September, 2-3.30pm
Join members of Radical Exhibition Collective, Film Pardna and BLK CURRENT for the first iteration of PRAXIS: A knowledge and resource exchange for Global Majority collectives in Birmingham.
PRAXIS is a collective workshop and discussion session responding to a growing grassroots cultural landscape in the city. Existing outside of institutional spaces, DIY and grassroots cultural activity in Birmingham is thriving, responding to a growing need for affordable third spaces and connection, as well as creative and ambitious programming- especially from global majority perspectives.
Reflecting upon our own experiences, we’ll be exploring how we might protect and strengthen DIY infrastructures across the city through thinking about:
* What it means to work collectively
* Navigating non-hierarchical working practices
* Peer to peer support and collaboration
This session is aimed at collectives delivering grassroots initiatives in Birmingham, as well as those who may be interested in starting a collective themselves.
Spaces are very limited so book your spot in advance here.
📆 Saturday 12th September
⏰2pm-4pm
📍Textiles Room, Upper Gallery, The Old Print Works
ACCESS INFORMATION:
The Upper Gallery is located up a flight of stairs and The Old Print Works does not have a lift.
Community Energy Birmingham (CEB) is running the Seeing in Colour project (funded by the University of Birmingham) to host free thermal imaging workshops and evening walks in your
neighbourhood. These events will help local residents grow their understanding of heat loss in homes.
CEB are a non-profit organisation who have experience since 2012 in delivering projects which improve the city of Birmingham’s relationship with energy.
Our thermal camera classes will show you:
This is an excellent educational opportunity for families with complimentary snacks and hot/soft drinks provided.
In this session with MAKE & TADA!, participants can make their own Noughts & Crosses game to take home.
Participants will saw the grooves with a tenon saw, drill 9 holes and paint dowels in two colours.
This is a relaxed, welcoming free community workshop, suitable for all abilities. All materials are provided, along with guidance throughout. Booking is essential as places are limited, and children must be accompanied by an adult.
Workshop session:
2.30-3.30pm
Booking is essential, please book here.
Aimed at children aged 6+
This workshop is free, please consider making a donation here.
MAKE & TADA! is a Studio Partner at The Old Print Works.