Birmingham - a treasure trove.
Charlie Levine
Birmingham undoubtedly is Britain’s unfinished city. Forever being knocked down and rebuilt, it is continually evolving and reflecting the ‘modern visions’ of the city council. Caught in a constant state of flux, the city’s identity as the biggest, and some say first, manufacturing city in the world has become blurred in recent history. Now it is seen more as a conference hub, a place where big businesses come to rather than to work from. This change is reflected in the layout of the city; as the rapacious spatial needs of industry have subsided, sites of defined function have become disjointed relics.
The jewels of Birmingham are often the older buildings, left empty due to their rickety roofs and damp corners. However, having been a curator in the city for 6 years, I feel that it is these crumbling and dusty spaces that create the best venues for contemporary art. I can understand the appeal of a white cube in terms of curating, it is familiar and clean; but the challenges an old furniture factory or former train station pose, with their uneven floors and lack of electricity, force curators to think. To respond to a site is exciting and makes the curator act as critic and well as creator. To then respond to one dipped in the richness of Birmingham’s heritage demands a response to a site’s legacy as well. Approached in this way, the building becomes more than a frame for some art works; it initiates a discussion.
Having curated under the name TROVE at the former Science and Industry Museum in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter for the past 2 years, I have had to re-learn what it is to exhibit. The Engine Room is all that is left of the old museum; the rest of the building was replaced by hotels in the early 2000’s. The Engine Room is lofty, with only one potential display wall. The floor is uneven with some of the museum’s original plinths still in place, and it is incredibly dusty. Seen as a challenge rather than problem, the Engine Room is a place of careful play, as with Vicky Cull’s intervention into the site in December 2010. Here 8 kilos of silver glitter were placed in the doorway and visitors had to walk through it and distribute it throughout the building via their feet. ‘8 kilos of silver glitter’ was a direct reaction to the story that old factories in the Jewellery Quarter sold their floors separately to the building and often for more money. This was because of all the gold and silver dust left between the boards. Floors were burnt and the metal salvaged. Cull puts the metal dust back, directly responding to the site’s heritage. It has been the longest running piece in the space and one of the most popular. It has also been a piece inspired solely by conversations about Birmingham and the building’s history.
But not all buildings like this get a second life. Not all buildings are loaned or rented out to arts organizations. There is a concern by most landlords in the city when ‘art’ is mentioned, and especially by the city council. However, art can help regenerate a site, as with the Engine Room. Newhall Square, where the Engine Room is sited, has developed into a cultural hub over the last two years with regular arts activities happening in and around the square.
Like the Engine Room, Perrett’s Folly carries the weight of history. The tower is closely linked to literature due to the success of Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Its role as one of the ‘two towers’ is literally the stuff of legend. Although it has been used for art exhibitions like the Engine Room, it has been irregularly programmed and is mostly closed to the public.
Birmingham has been long abandoned by its previous industrial revolutionary trades, though some of the shells of this former glory remain. Due to the city’s constant struggle to re-find its former glory, it is a patchwork of buildings, never looking like a complete city. This slightly confused regeneration, unlike London or Manchester, means there is more potential for an alternative and creative culture to thrive. The opportunities are in Birmingham; if more doors were more easily opened then more could be done. It is true, once the creative industries thrive, then businesses follow. TROVE is now losing its home after 28 months in the Engine Room. Having the building open regularly means more people have been able to see it, and as a result it has recently been bought. Fortunately, Birmingham has many other abandoned spaces waiting to challenge and inspire young local creative’s.
Charlie is an independent curator and Director at TROVE. Levine’s curatorial interests lie in temporary exhibitions in historical and derelict sites, as well as archives and working in the confines of display cabinets/wunderkammers. www.charlielevine.org
Charlie Levine
Birmingham undoubtedly is Britain’s unfinished city. Forever being knocked down and rebuilt, it is continually evolving and reflecting the ‘modern visions’ of the city council. Caught in a constant state of flux, the city’s identity as the biggest, and some say first, manufacturing city in the world has become blurred in recent history. Now it is seen more as a conference hub, a place where big businesses come to rather than to work from. This change is reflected in the layout of the city; as the rapacious spatial needs of industry have subsided, sites of defined function have become disjointed relics.
The jewels of Birmingham are often the older buildings, left empty due to their rickety roofs and damp corners. However, having been a curator in the city for 6 years, I feel that it is these crumbling and dusty spaces that create the best venues for contemporary art. I can understand the appeal of a white cube in terms of curating, it is familiar and clean; but the challenges an old furniture factory or former train station pose, with their uneven floors and lack of electricity, force curators to think. To respond to a site is exciting and makes the curator act as critic and well as creator. To then respond to one dipped in the richness of Birmingham’s heritage demands a response to a site’s legacy as well. Approached in this way, the building becomes more than a frame for some art works; it initiates a discussion.
Having curated under the name TROVE at the former Science and Industry Museum in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter for the past 2 years, I have had to re-learn what it is to exhibit. The Engine Room is all that is left of the old museum; the rest of the building was replaced by hotels in the early 2000’s. The Engine Room is lofty, with only one potential display wall. The floor is uneven with some of the museum’s original plinths still in place, and it is incredibly dusty. Seen as a challenge rather than problem, the Engine Room is a place of careful play, as with Vicky Cull’s intervention into the site in December 2010. Here 8 kilos of silver glitter were placed in the doorway and visitors had to walk through it and distribute it throughout the building via their feet. ‘8 kilos of silver glitter’ was a direct reaction to the story that old factories in the Jewellery Quarter sold their floors separately to the building and often for more money. This was because of all the gold and silver dust left between the boards. Floors were burnt and the metal salvaged. Cull puts the metal dust back, directly responding to the site’s heritage. It has been the longest running piece in the space and one of the most popular. It has also been a piece inspired solely by conversations about Birmingham and the building’s history.
But not all buildings like this get a second life. Not all buildings are loaned or rented out to arts organizations. There is a concern by most landlords in the city when ‘art’ is mentioned, and especially by the city council. However, art can help regenerate a site, as with the Engine Room. Newhall Square, where the Engine Room is sited, has developed into a cultural hub over the last two years with regular arts activities happening in and around the square.
Like the Engine Room, Perrett’s Folly carries the weight of history. The tower is closely linked to literature due to the success of Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Its role as one of the ‘two towers’ is literally the stuff of legend. Although it has been used for art exhibitions like the Engine Room, it has been irregularly programmed and is mostly closed to the public.
Birmingham has been long abandoned by its previous industrial revolutionary trades, though some of the shells of this former glory remain. Due to the city’s constant struggle to re-find its former glory, it is a patchwork of buildings, never looking like a complete city. This slightly confused regeneration, unlike London or Manchester, means there is more potential for an alternative and creative culture to thrive. The opportunities are in Birmingham; if more doors were more easily opened then more could be done. It is true, once the creative industries thrive, then businesses follow. TROVE is now losing its home after 28 months in the Engine Room. Having the building open regularly means more people have been able to see it, and as a result it has recently been bought. Fortunately, Birmingham has many other abandoned spaces waiting to challenge and inspire young local creative’s.
Charlie is an independent curator and Director at TROVE. Levine’s curatorial interests lie in temporary exhibitions in historical and derelict sites, as well as archives and working in the confines of display cabinets/wunderkammers. www.charlielevine.org
