Still Walking is a one of a kind festival, it covers a wide range of experiences, with no set remit, as long as it involves walking! And their Kickstarter project is currently live, they’re looking for support for the edition of the festival and there’s lots of tempting rewards for your generosity, from historic maps to personalised events.

Ben Waddington is a local historian, with a list of interests longer than anyone’s arm I’ve seen. He created Still Walking to showcase different people’s pockets of enthusiasm and expertise. Previous tours have focused on subjects from brutalist architecture to typography to Black Sabbath and moss growing on buildings.

Read more about their fundraising campaign at www.kickstarter.com/projects/stillwalking/still-walking-festival

Here is another sneak preview of the work we’ve commissioned for the Discovery Trail which is being installed over the next week or so. The Juneau Projects commission is a site specific piece in response to the vegetable beds located on the 3rd floor garden terrace at the Library of Birmingham, Vegetable Quest is a series of vegetable family dioramas sheltered within the vegetable beds, exploring the idea of self- sufficiency and how people and communities might survive following an imagined global disaster. The artists have devised a folklore that explores the diverse origins of each species and link this with the idea of settlement. Migration is one of our key themes within the Discovery Season.





All photos courtesy of Juneau Projects

The Library of Birmingham opens on the 3rd of September and the Discovery Season runs until the end of December.

As part of the Bring To Light weekend. we’ll be paying homage to one of the pioneers of electronic music, Delia Derbyshire. The Delia Darlings exist to pay sonic homage to Derbyshire via her archive held at University of Manchester. Currently, Delia Darlings are experimental electronic Caro C and contemporary classical Ailís Ní Ríain. After Delia Derbyshire Day in Manchester in Jan 2013, the darlings have an info-show that spreads the magic of the fascinating archive.

The aim of this project is to increase the profile and honour the legacy of the late great Delia Derbyshire, as well as championing female experimental composers past and present.

www.deliaderbyshireday.wordpress.com

At Bring To Light, Delia Darlings will present:

Caro C – live performance of ‘Audient, My Dear’ and Ailís Ní Ríain – live performance of “The Consquences of Falling” for trumpet and double bass . Both performances will be creative response to interacting with the archive of Delia Derbyshire.

Both performances will be preceded by an intro sharing insights into Delia’s archive and working methods and playing extracts from the archive which have rarely been heard in public. There’ll also be a Q&A with the artists.

Plus screening of Kara Blake’s award-winning documentary “The Delian Mode”

There’s a lovely interview with Delia Derbyshire on soundcloud, where she discusses working at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and her famous work on the Doctor Who theme.

Full line up :

Dinos Chapman / Shangaan Electro / Josephine Foster / Clipping / Deafheaven / Masaki Batoh / Robedoor / Zomes / High Wolf / Kogumaza / Richard Dawson / Sleaford Mods / Sarah Angliss / Delia Darlings / Laurence Hunt / Hordes

Weekend tickets are limited make sure you get them in advance from theticketsellers.co.uk

We’re pleased to announce that OM will return to Birmingham on Tuesday 26th November at the Rainbow Warehouse.

Tickets are available from www.theticketsellers.co.uk

OM is a duo from San Francisco, California, United States, formed in 2003 by the rhythm section of the disbanded stoner metal band Sleep. The band’s first three albums feature Al Cisneros on vocals and bass and Chris Hakius on drums.
The band’s music is similar in structure to Tibetan and Byzantine chant and is rich in rhythm and melody. Their music and lyrics lift off at the beginning and slowly mutate giving a feeling of evolution inside each song. The vocals have a monotone quality, producing, on some tracks, a noticeable hypnotic effect of the sort that tends to be appealing to the devotees of the many various genres of druggishly-bent, “space” music – but which not all music calling itself stoner rock necessarily is able to cause.
On January 2008, Hakius left the band and was replaced by drummer Emil Amos, of Grails. In 2011 Robert Lowe (Lichens) joined the group.

Members:
Al Cisneros – bass guitar, vocals
Emil Amos – drums
Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe – Vocal, Keyboards, Percussion, Tambura

Click through to hear our August playlist, with a Bring To Light focus, it features Kogumaza, Shangaan Electro, Sleaford Mods, Josephine Foster, High Wolf and more.

soundcloud.com/supersonic-festival/sets/capsule-playlist-august-2013

Full line up :

Dinos Chapman / Shangaan Electro / Josephine Foster / Clipping / Deafheaven / Masaki Batoh / Robedoor / Zomes / High Wolf / Kogumaza / Richard Dawson / Sleaford Mods / Sarah Angliss / Delia Darlings / Laurence Hunt / Hordes

Weekend tickets are limited make

sure you get them in advance from theticketsellers.co.uk

Here’s a little sneak preview of the work we’ve commissioned by artist Lucy  McLauchlan for the Library of Birmingham Discovery Trail.  Lucy  McLauchlan’s  site  specific artwork sits within the spectacular  surrounds  of  the   Book  Rotunda. Yesterday Joe and team began the complex task of installing the work, and they’re doing an amazing job, we can’t wait to see the finished piece it’s going to be really stunning. Each block is being carefully placed on the book shelves in this massive space.
The Library opens on the 3rd of September and the work will be on display until the end of December.

Lucy describes her process “I spent some time in John Madin’s library making sketches, rubbings and photographs documenting the architectural features and absorbing Madin’s style and use of materials. This research material has influenced my final artwork (which was important to me to include some of the old into the new, a nod of respect) as has the new library been my other source, with it’s constant circles, ever connecting.”

With thanks to Katja Ogrin for the photographs

We’ve invited our friends at Leftfoot to take over the Library studio space for one night. They’ve invited British soul legend Omar. A soul singer, songwriter and musician, Omar learned his craft classically, playing the trumpet, piano and percussion. Making albums since the early 1990s, his work is often compared to Stevie Wonder’s work of the 1970s. He is described by some as the father of British neo soul.

www.omarmusic.co.uk

Leftfoot was founded back in 2000 by Adam Regan and Richard Whittingham, and has evolved into one of the most important left-of-centre, soul- based projects in the UK. Voted the best Club Night by Gilles Peterson in 2003, the intervening decade has witnessed Leftfoot’s pioneering progression, hosting guests across a vibrant palette covering house, hip-hop, disco, jazz, funk, soul, reggae, drum & bass, techno, Afrobeat, Latin and more.

Tickets are available from www.birmingham-box.co.uk

The Icebook

Before the days of film, the magic lantern was an important source of entertainment, using glass slides to create moving images and visual tricks. Birmingham played a key role in this pre-cinema world, producing thousands of lanterns for export, leading to the birth of the flipbook, and eventually the cinema. The Library of Birmingham boasts a hefty archive of 60,000 lantern slides, and to coincide with the Magic Lantern society’s annual conference in Birmingham, Flatpack Festival presents Box of Light, a weekend full of events, workshops and activities celebrating early cinema, part of the Capsule curated Discovery season.

Box of Light Variety Show / 25 October / 7.30 – 9.30pm / £8
An evening of edification and entertainment featuring acclaimed performer Professor Heard, followed by the Physioscope, a Victorian experiment with light and mirrors. The finale of the show is provided by French artist Julien Maire, whose Open Core performance includes a live dissection of a video projector.

The Icebook / 26 October / performances from midday / £5
Beautiful and intimate theatrical performances using paper cut-outs and miniature projections. The Icebook will delight small audiences using old pre-cinematic illusions and magic lanterns; to create shadows and silhouettes complemented with a film footage backdrop.

Projecteo / 26 October / 1.30PM / FREE (bookable)
Designer Benjamin Redford will be giving a talk about his ingenious miniature slide projector. In response to modern technology and the craze for Instagram, Benjamin has created a tiny projector to share Instagram pictures called the ‘Projecteo’. This analogue approach works by creating wheels of slide film to hold up to 9 images, which can be watched and enjoyed as a slideshow.

Mirror Mirror Lantern Workshops / 26 & 27 October / FREE (drop in)
Mirror Mirror will host an array of free family workshops, where visitors will have the chance to create their own lantern slides and experiment with colour projection.
Box of Light’s weekend is set to include more talks and activities and a comprehensive walking tour of key locations in Birmingham’s pre-cinema history. Watch this space for updates.

Tickets for the Box Of Light variety show are now on sale via birmingham-box.co.uk.

www.flatpackfestival.org