Birmingham’s writers and spoken word artists are being inspired by some of the city’s greatest treasures: the recently restored stained-glass windows at the Cathedral. On […]
Into the woods with Louise Bourgeois at Compton Verney
Warwickshire’s Compton Verney has been taken over by giant spiders, swinging figurative sculptures and fluid flower paintings. They are among 40 works being exhibited as […]
‘JOY…Inspired By Nature’ at Herbert Art Gallery and Museum
Standing beneath a canopy of giant green textile leaves and enormous pink flowers with glitter ball centres, I feel like Alice in Wonderland. In fact, […]
Barber Institute of Art reopens with contemporary vision
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts is back, after almost a year of closure for refurbishment work. With anticipation, I stepped through the Art Deco […]
A creative day inspired by the Birmingham Qur’an
Before artists applied paint from tubes, they created pigments from the natural world. Plants, flowers and rocks inspired the colour palettes and materials they used […]
10 women artists and their muses
Today, the term ‘muse’ carries negative connotations, particularly within feminist art history. However, the muse can be viewed from another perspective altogether – through that […]
Women’s Art about Motherhood at MAC
For decades, women were told that they couldn’t be both artists and mothers. However, a new exhibition at Midlands Arts Centre, ‘Acts of Creation: On […]
Birmingham’s 100 Days of Creativity
Birmingham is a creative city. It’s also a resilient city, in the face of council cuts, as this summer is proving. Running until 26 August, […]
Culture Forward x Book club: ‘Both Not Half’ by Jassa Ahluwalia
“So much of this book was about finding answers”, says actor, writer and filmmaker Jassa Ahluwalia, who sits on stage at the University of Birmingham. […]
Carolyn Blake: ‘Preserving the Memory’ at Malvern Library
This week, I took the train to Malvern to see a mesmerising new exhibition of paintings by Birmingham-based artist, Carolyn Blake. ‘Preserving the Memory’ at […]