Eclectic Wedding Extravaganza, 24 March

On Sunday 24 March, Rachael and I braved the snow to head to the exciting Eclectic Wedding Extravaganza at the stunning Fazeley Studios in Digbeth. We were really excited about going to this wedding fayre, especially as it is the kind of pop-up event that characterises Digbeth’s creative community. Fazeley Studios is a beautiful venue. It was built in the nineteenth century as a Unitarian Chapel and now it hosts all kinds of events, including weddings, so it was the perfect place to showcase the wonderful designs and creative stalls that were being exhibited. We could have easily spent much more time looking at the stalls to design our perfect weddings but luckily we met lots of friendly people who kindly gave us their time to talk about Digbeth. We met a range of people, some that love Digbeth for its creative community, as well as some who felt that it hasn’t yet reached its full potential. There were quite a few visitors for whom it was their first time in Digbeth, so it was interesting to hear their impressions of the area.

Liliia’s bespoke dress designs, inspired by Pre-Raphaelite art – the designer of these dresses and event co-organiser, Vikki, told us that this venue was perfect for displaying her designs.

One of the lovely vintage dresses being modelled during the fashion show and some of the brilliant cakes and hats on display.

Chris Barber photography – Chris and his girlfriend gave us their thoughts about Digbeth, knowing the area well and working there.

The event was a great opportunity to meet people that live, work and socialise in Digbeth. We captured some great stories and anecdotes about the area and were able to spread the word about Digbeth Speaks. 

Lauren Dudley, Project Volunteer

Thanks Printbots!

A Digbeth company called Printbots printed all our promo materials for the project. They are based at Minerva Works, which is a small industrial space on the canal, which houses many interesting arts and cultural organisations, including Grand Union and Stryx, and you can often see the beautiful Ikon Slowboat moored at the canal! Read more about the tenants and their activities here. Below are some pictures of Printbots unit at Minerva Works, a smiley Lee who managed our order, and the great stickers and postcards that we are using for the project (which you can see modelled by some of our volunteers!)

Sarah Taylor Silverwood, Project Manager

Arts and Science Festival, University of Birmingham, 22 March

As part of the University of Birmingham's Arts and Science Festival, on Friday 22 March we welcomed people to contribute to the ‘Digbeth Speaks’ project at an all day, drop-in event which took place in Red Marley, 32 Pritchatts Road, the marvellous home of the university's Research and Cultural Collections. 

The inclement weather forced many to abandon venturing out, so Daisy, Carly and I decided that we needed to brave the meteorological conditions in order to gather information from the insightful, enthusiastic and albeit a bit cold, students, staff and other visitors to the university’s campus. 

Equipped with an abundance of sweets and chocolate, fact filled flyers, irresistible brightly coloured stickers and a professional, shiny recording device we trekked about a snowy campus asking willing participants to divulge their impressions, recollections and three word sound bites concerning Digbeth. A fruitful day was had. We collected many stories from an assortment of individuals. We spoke to those who knew the area only vaguely as a place full of vintage fashion and creative delights, to people who discussed the industries involved in the area. Additionally we received information from those who had visited the area some time ago: some were part of the lively club culture of the 1980s, whilst others had gone to Digbeth purely to marvel at some of the centuries old buildings there, waxing-lyrical about its architectural panache.

Hannah Squire, Project Volunteer

Getting ready for Flatpack Festival

Decisions, decisions. Too many events, not enough time!
http://www.flatpackfestival.org.uk/

Carly Hegenbarth, Project Manager

FoBAH's AGM, 16 March

On Saturday 16 March, Carly and I went along to the Friends of Birmingham Archives and Heritage’s (FOBAH) AGM. Carly is a committee member and gave an update about Digbeth Speaks, which has only been possible through the support of FoBAH. 

The AGM provided a great forum to publicise our project and gather support and contacts from FoBAH's members. Everyone was really enthusiastic about the project and had lots of suggestions for people we could contact or places that could be investigated! It generated some interesting questions too, including what we considered to be the boundaries of Digbeth, which might be an interesting way of thinking about contemporary Digbeth’s identity. At the meeting the industrial heritage of the area was mentioned and it might be interesting to see how the spaces in Digbeth have transformed – e.g. how former factories are used today or whether they are derelict. There are lots of exciting possibilities and we can’t wait to hear people’s stories. 

Rachel MacGregor, Senior Archivist at Birmingham Archives and Heritage, also gave a lecture about the history of Birmingham’s public library. This was particularly of interest given that it is about to undergo a major change when it relocates to its brand new home on Centenary Square later this year. It was fascinating to hear about the opening of the library in 1865 and it being in keeping with the Victorian ethos of self-improvement. Rachel explored some really interesting aspects of its history including women in the workplace, the fire of the first library in 1879 and its subsequent re-location, as well as some of the books that caused scandal in the 20^th century! It is great to know that the oral histories that emerge from the Digbeth Speaks project will go into the archive of the new Library of Birmingham, and that contemporary Digbeth will be memorialised alongside this period of change for the library. 

Lauren Dudley, Project Volunteer

Badges!

It was an exciting day when our HLF badges arrived! We donned them for the first time this weekend at two events: FoBAH's AGM (16th March) and the St Patrick's Day Parade (17th March). Blog posts to follow. In the meantime, look out for our volunteers wearing the badges at forthcoming events in Digbeth...

Carly Hegenbarth, Project Manager

Question time

Imogen (our Team Leader for oral histories) and I had a productive meeting finalising our oral histories questions and information packs a couple of weeks ago. We really got to grips with what we wanted to get from the project and devised questions accordingly. Our questions fall into 3 main themes: origins, present and future. We're ready to go! If you have a story to tell, please get in touch.

Carly Hegenbarth, Project Manager