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 the evening of Thursday 8th August, they will perform in front of the masterpieces at Festival of Voices, celebrating their continued significance today.
Originally installed between 1885 and 1897, the four windows were designed by Birmingham’s great Pre-Raphaelite painter Edward Burne-Jones and his artistic partner, William Morris. Each shows a well-known scene from the life of Christ: The Nativity, The Ascension, The Crucifixion, and The Last Judgement.
The Cathedral’s new poet-in-residence Nafeesa Hamid is writing responses to all four windows, which she wants to “make relevant to the here and now”. Although brought up in Birmingham, Hamid had never previously been into the space, uncertain as to whether it was appropriate for her to enter, as a member of the Muslim community.
However, through the process, Hamid has found the Cathedral to be “a safe, still space” where she can “reflect on life”, and she has observed many other people from diverse backgrounds doing the same thing.
Faith is a major theme in her work, through which she wants to “make it accessible to people from all walks of life.” The poet also feels a “responsibility to offer hope” in her writing.
Spending time with the windows, she has been “struck by how the light shines through them and how the scenes become more detailed and complex, the closer you get to them”. She says that “It’s been a humbling experience”, and the impact of the residency has made her feel more connected to her own faith, while allowing her to adopt a new language from Christianity.
Using a “found poetry approach”, she has incorporated snippets of conversation, newspaper clippings, headlines and biblical quotes into her texts, in which she expresses the universal themes taken from Jesus’ Crucifixion speech – compassion, salvation, empathy, union and forgiveness. As she points out, these also emerge in statements by the prophet Muhammed.
She will share her inter-faith poems for the first time at Festival of Voices, where several other poets perform on stage. Among them are members of the local Iranian community, who will read a selection of Persian poetry, as well as Midlands-based writer Chris Fewings.
Lucy Anderson, meanwhile, will speaking about her experience of being a refugee within her own family and the power of healing through the poetry she writes, often working in partnership with refugee groups.
“This is an opportunity for us to widen the voices of people we are going to hear from”, explains The Reverend Canon Andy Delmege. “We are using the restoration of the windows, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, as a chance to engage with people who don’t normally come into the Cathedral and think about how we can serve a hyper diverse Birmingham”.
As well as commissioning a poet to respond to the windows, the Cathedral has launched a new podcast, Tracing Glass. Created in collaboration with We Don’t Settle, who are on a mission to make art and culture accessible to communities through co-creation, it brings together young voices from across the city to reflect on what the stained glass means to them today.
Behind the podcast are writer Renee Landell and creative producer, Nompumelelo Ncube, who says the series aims to “bring back to life voices of Burne-Jones and Morris through narrative scenes and dramatised reenactments, drawing on traditions of oral storytelling and performance.”
At the same time, it will connect past and present, with creative interpretations of the windows. Hosting the podcast are curator Olivia Agbe and artist Rumbidzai Savanhu who will lead four episodes, each of which follows a theme from the four windows.
The first episode will focus on birth and becoming, looking at Burne-Jones and Morris through a contemporary lens. This will be followed by discussions of the crucifixion and Death of the Author concepts in literary criticism. Their third episode will explore notions of ascension, rising above and being inspired by creative predecessors. The series will conclude with ideas of the afterlife, raising important questions about what we do with contested heritage.
“Produced in Brum by Brum people, listeners will hear the city in the background and local Brummies will also appear on vox pops”, says Ncube, who intends for the series to take listeners on a journey through time using sound, while reminding people of their locality. “We are trying to make magic moments with and for people of Birmingham”, she explains.
The hosts will be joined by numerous other voices, including Tate curator Caroline Jacobi, Birmingham’s poet Roy McFarlane, plus performers from the city’s thriving spoken word community.
At Festival of Voices the podcast team and some of their guests will take audiences behind the scenes, speaking about how the series has been created through trips to the Cathedral, on high streets, and in the affectionately-known Pigeon Park, where the windows can be seen from the outside.
“Heritage doesn’t belong to one person but everyone”, says Ncube who adds that “We are all part of a puzzle – joining people who have come before us. Like the Brotherhood of Burne-Jones and Morris, there is a new sisterhood forming around the cohort who have worked on this podcast”.
These new voices are crucial as we tell stories about Birmingham and its histories, re-interpreting them for contemporary audiences, including those of all faiths who step into the Cathedral. The building offers a place of refuge, reflection, mourning and celebration beneath the stained glass windows which continue to inspire ever more diverse artists from Birmingham.
Festival of Voices will take place from 19:30 – 21:30pm on Thu 8th August. It is free to attend, thanks to the National Lottery Heritage Fund. To help with planning for numbers, including refreshments, please register for a ticket at birminghamcathedral.com/event/festival-of-voices
