Characters from the Festival of the Rea – part of the House of Beorma archive of the city’s lost origins

Six weeks into the Discovery season and we’re getting great feedback on our celebration of the new library. The Discovery Trail is open for you to explore throughout the season. And each week there are one off events and workshops to get involved in.

This week the Outcrowd Collective are in residency. They present the House of Beorma archive, a selection of artefacts from lost local history. Come visit them til Sunday 13th October in the Pavilion, and make your own offerings in honour of Birmingham’s lost customs and festivals.

Reference Works is an exhibition featuring new works by photographers Brian Griffin, Andrew Lacon, Michael Collins and Stuart Whipps. Each artist diplays their creative responses to the new Library of Birmingham, the ‘old’ Central Library building and the build, transition and relocation. Stuart Whipps will be giving a free exhibition tour this Saturday 12th October at 11am.

There’s still time to sign up for the Shangaan Electro dance workshops. Your chance to be part of the South African dance craze that became a youtube sensation – workshops are 1pm or 3pm on Friday 25th October at Dancexchange, Thorp Street. Workshops are totally free, you just need to sign up via [email protected]

Shangaan Electro will also perform as part of the Bring To Light weekend of adventurous music, 25-27 October. The next in the Discover New Music series, this event features the artist Dinos Chapman, roboticist Sarah Angliss, the Brain Pulse Music of Masaki Batoh and many more. Day and weekend tickets are available viawww.theticketsellers.co.uk

Highlights of the new Library of Birmingham’s four-month Discovery Season, which will run from the opening on Tuesday 3rd September until 31st December, are announced. Arts Council England support for the Discovery Season was confirmed earlier this year.

Taking its inspiration from the Library’s internationally-important archives and special collections, the Discovery Season will include:

Playground of Discovery – a specially-commissioned Cabinet of Curiosities created by multi-award- winning artist, Morag Myerscough, housing a rolling programme of creative residencies throughout the Season. Capsule are taking applications for the residency programme until Monday 29th April, learn more here. The Commentators from Stan’s Café, the Birmingham-based artists’ group, will be broadcasting from the Playground of Discovery, as the first of the creative residencies, in the opening week.

In a collaboration with Flatpack Festival, a weekend of cabaret and cinema to celebrate Birmingham’s long and colourful association with Early Cinema and the development of the Magic Lantern with a focus on the Library of Birmingham’s archive of 60,000 lantern slides dating from around 1890 to 1940

Theatre Jukebox by Stand + Stare

A trail of artworks will be situated across the building, each making reference to the Library’s rich collections and archives. To include Theatre Jukebox created by Stand + Stare using the Library’s Wingate Bett Transport Ticket collection, an arcade-style cabinet installation that plays stories instead of records housed on the Library’s fourth floor

The Library of Lost Books – an exhibition celebrating the history of the book, with related workshops, featuring contemporary artists and printmakers, inspired by and breathing new life into books that have reached the end of their natural lives

Carol Ann Duffy and Lionel Shriver will appear at October’s Birmingham Literature Festival (formerly the Birmingham Book Festival)

Reference Works, an exhibition of Birmingham’s largest ever photography commission which has seen four photographers – Michael Collins, Brian Griffin, Andrew Lacon and Stuart Whipps – create work in response to the building of the Library of Birmingham

Volume, the Birmingham Art, Book and Print Fair in December has been created as a unique event for the Discovery Season by bringing together existing organisations in collaboration (Writing West Midlands, Birmingham Zine Festival, An Endless Supply, BCU Typography Hub, Grand Union and Eastside Projects). Volume will open with a keynote speech from artist, musician and writer, Bill Drummond.

The Discovery Season is being produced on behalf of the Library of Birmingham by Capsule and is supported by Arts Council England.

The Season will throw a completely new light on the Library’s collections and bring to life the library’s stunning new spaces with installations, events, performances, workshops, and music and dance for every age and interest.