The Digbeth Speaks exhibition

Warwick Bar Fete: A Moveable Feast, 27 July 2013

Saturday 27 July saw the Digbeth Speaks team descend on Warwick Bar. In exchange for a cool glass of cloudy lemonade, we collected voxpops with visitors to the Summer fete.

At just gone 10am, a small group of dedicated volunteers gathered in the space we had been assigned for the day. Armed with bunting, balloons, coloured pens and signs, we set to transforming an empty unit into a beautiful stall that would entice visitors to come and talk to us. 

Kym Epton from Red Cell Films made a time lapse film of us setting up, which will be included as part of a mini film about our oral history project. 

 The Warwick Bar Moveable Feast was a free event filled with food, art and culture. Visitors were able to experience Ikon’s summer launch of the ‘Slow Boat’, an aerial acrobatics show by Rogueplay Theatre, the Edible Eastside open day, an artisan food market and a pedal powered cinema, to name a few. There was also bhangra dancing, a mini sports day and people were able to taste the finalists in the Digbeth Pie competition (we were one of the finalists!).

Throughout the day members of our team spoke to local residents, performers, artists and visitors, and asked the following three questions:

• What have you been doing in Digbeth today?
• How would you describe Digbeth in three words?
• What does Digbeth mean to you?

We had a huge range of responses! Unfortunately the Heavens opened at about 5pm and put an end to the event. But by that time all the Digbeth Speaks team had had a fabulous day and gathered lots of new thoughts about Digbeth.

Holly Beaumont-Wilkes, Project Volunteer

Introducing film 1: Digbeth Speaks does the Custard Factory's Antiques and Vintage Bazaar, 8 June

In a previous blog post we told you about the filming we did at the antiques and vintage bazaar at the Custard Factory on 8 June. Here's the finished video:

Chinese Community Centre - Birmingham interviews, 2 August

On 2 August 2013, I conducted an interview with two ladies at the Chinese Community Centre - Birmingham (CCC-B). CCC-B is located at the heart of Digbeth. It aims to promote cultural exchange, social and personal well-being within the Chinese community. The two ladies - Ms Fung and Ms Tang - were service users of the Hong Que Day Care Service. Hong Que provides vital services for the elderlies, such as hot meals, weekly shopping trips, health talks and recreational activities.

Upon arrival, I was given a warm welcome by Kate Gordon, the Senior Care Officer who helped to arrange the interview. I was then treated to lunch with the Hong Que grannies. The delicious and nutritious meal was prepared by a team of dedicated volunteers. As I was seated at the big round table, the grannies were eager to show their hospitality by piling delicious food on my plate. It was a lovely experience, which reminded me of being with my grandparents in Hong Kong.

After lunch, some of the Hong Que ladies went to the activity room to have a game of mahjong. It was a great way to socialise, as well as to exercise their mental dexterity. 

The interviewees and I were then led to the cosy 'Dragon Room' by Kong Sing Lee, the Care Support Worker. Mr Lee accompanied Ms Fung and Ms Tang throughout the interview, offering excellent support and helping to explain the procedures. It was fascinating to hear about their experiences and we are grateful for their participation in our archive.

Tessa Mo, Project Volunteer and Visual Documentation

Sara Preisler interview

On 15 July, a humid Monday afternoon, I was fortunate enough to be able to escape the heat in the fresh and attractive surroundings of the Sara Preisler Gallery in Digbeth. I had volunteered to interview Sara Preisler, a jewellery designer who has been creating collections since 1993, and whose gallery and studio space can be found in the Custard Factory. I was joined by Holly Beaumont-Wilkes, who had kindly agreed to take notes for the interview and to photograph Sara and the gallery. 

The oral history interview was a unique experience for me. I was able to gain insight into the place Sara’s gallery occupies in relation to the surroundings of the Custard factory, the relationship she has to the artistic community in Digbeth and her involvement and support of local university graduate jewellery designers. 

We also discussed the jewellery collections she creates and the bimonthly exhibitions that are held at her gallery. It was great to get to see the space in which she creates and exhibits her jewellery and would recommend you to visit and see the exquisite jewellery that can be found in Digbeth, and the diverse community that forms the Custard Factory.

Hannah Squire, Project Volunteer

Community life in Digbeth? Monday 15 July

On Monday 15 July we went to St Anne’s Roman Catholic Church on Alcester Street to meet Father Patrick Brown. We talked about the Digbeth Speaks project and discussed potential people we could contact to record stories about the Irish heritage and spiritual life of the area. We found out that Cardinal Newman had founded St. Anne’s in a former gin distillery next to where the present church was built. Father Brown recounted some of his memories about Digbeth from the 1970s and talked about the ways it had since changed. We recorded a short interview with him to go into the archive - he had an interesting insight on the question of whether Digbeth has a ‘community’ today. While many of the church’s parishioners live across Birmingham, for those with Catholic and Irish heritage, St Anne’s brings that community together.

Next stop - SIFA  Fireside, a charity that tackles homelessness, alcohol misuse and social exclusion across Birmingham, situated in an old printing factory on Allcock Street. Development Manager Simon Hackett invited us along to their weekly forum to talk about Digbeth Speaks. We also found out about the fantastic work that the charity does as well as hearing from some of the service users about the positive impact that the centre has had on their lives. Rob told us the story behind the name of the band he is part of - Feed us Biscuits, we should’ve guessed by the digestives on the table! Check out their performance here.

We then stopped off for a lovely lunch at the Greenhouse Café in Digbeth, before calling into the Lakeside Gallery at the Custard Factory – where our exhibition at the end of the project is going to be held. We also called by one of the vintage shops on the way, where Carly bought this beautiful 1930s brooch!  

When we arrived at the gallery, we were greeted by an exciting exhibition of street art. Setdebelleza is a Spanish artist is touring galleries around the world.

After visiting all the people and places on that day I started to think about the whole range of reasons that people visit Digbeth, including eating, socialising, going to an event or exhibition, or shopping; for those that visit SIFA fireside, it’s a place that offers many of the same activities and it’s a lifeline to them; for parishioners at St. Anne’s it’s a spiritual home. While Digbeth might not have a traditional, fixed community, it welcomes a range of smaller communities and individuals as a modern, multi-cultural hub, but with reminders of its industrial past. 

Lauren Dudley

Project Volunteer

Deadpixels, 18 July

On the 18^th of July Suki10c hosted the second instalment of ‘Deadpixels’, “Birmingham’s newest retro gaming night”, fusing the moody urban nightlife of Digbeth with such console-gaming classics as Street Fighter, Tomb Raider and Goldeneye. As Nikolay, Dasha and I entered the venue I was pre-empting my devolution into a rosy-cheeked fledgling as I caught sight of the Goldeneye menu screen, replete with all of the childhood wonderment of the then next-gen of gaming. Fortunately, I was able to control my excitement and Nikolay and I took to the pads for our first game of the 007 shooter with one of the promoters of the night. With Nikolay respectfully bowing out midway through, it ended in a tie between myself and the promoter – not bad after a 10-year hiatus! – after which he kindly provided a great vox pop, likening Digbeth to one of the main arteries connected to the heart of the city. 

The evening was a slow-burner and modestly attended, but gradually, one by one, the venue began to fill out. As music went it was a hybridisation of dub reggae, dubstep, breakbeat/hip-hop and a general assortment of electronic dance music; a variety consistent with the rich history of urban music and club culture in Digbeth. Indeed, an apt setting for these confluent cultures. Since the early nineties MC’s have drawn on these classic retro titles as witticisms in their lyrics, and when sampling technology developed producers were able to patch in familiar sound bites from these games into their beats: an aesthetic adopted by a wide range of jungle, garage and grime producers including, most notably, Jo, Wiley, Zomby and Birmingham born Preditah. And that’s not to forget the tradition of martial arts in Hip-Hop/Grime culture (think Wu-Tang), where ciphers and battles are decided on the raw, lyrical force and dexterity of the MC’s. (Hell, grime legend D Double E couldn’t make it clearer with his ‘Street Fighter Riddim’!) It’s no secret that Digbeth has been a vital mainstay in the development of these cultural legacies in the UK, and Deadpixels’ bimonthly night presents a refreshing new direction. Everyone I spoke with effused on the importance of Digbeth as an aspiring, alternative community, facilitating these types of event.

Later in the evening Stale Dale & Chonkybeatz performed a masterful live beatboxing set as a respite from the button bashing. In fact, the Street Fighter corner had amassed a slew of budding players eager to test themselves against an opponent, Goldeneye too had its moments, but Lara Croft was left, sadly neglected in the middle of the dance floor. All in all, the night was a charming, down-tempo alternative to the usual offerings and I look forward to part three to see how they develop the idea.

Hamish Campbell-Legg, Project Volunteer