Blogs

We’re moving into the third week at our Ladywood shop. It’s good to see the place being used, people are dropping in, having a cup of tea – quick or slow – and moving on. We had confirmation of our Arts Council England funding, which is fantastic news. Visit Hybrid’s home page to read about the arts commissions that we can now offer.

We’re starting to see regulars. Today we met our upstairs neighbours, which was great. We had tea and cake – a nice panettone was on the menu.

Image via Old Ladywood. Our shop is on the left-hand side of the road past The Ivy Bush pub.

It’s been a mad week setting up the first shop on Hagley Road, in Ladywood, Birmingham. It’s the first stage of our empty shops programme of activity – Inhabit. We are creating a social space by setting up popup arts tearooms across Birmingham. Karen has done a fantastic job drawing together an eclectic mix of tables, chairs, teacups, saucers, teapots and plates. It sets the scene really well.

Image via University of Derby

"Sometimes it’s said that we need cultural change in organisations or even communities. Stories don’t just reflect the culture: they ARE the culture. If you want to change culture, you need to change the stories and the way people tell them."

Image via sriks6711.

The burqa is back in the spotlight on both an international and local scale this month. The French Lower House has passed a ban on the wearing of the full Islamic niqab and Heard and not Seen, at the Birmingham Musuem and Art Gallery, sparked controversy in the Daily Mail and Telegraph for its experimental approach to the issues of community integration, Islam and violent extremism.

Two articles in the recent Arts Professional make clear that debate over diversity policy in the arts seems to be increasing in momentum, presumably due to recent funding cuts in the ACE budget and resulting uncertainty for all artists and organisations about their future.

Image via BBC News

Image via BBC News

These are our images of ROAD WORKS, the Birmingham City Council contribution to PARK(ing) Day, a project that takes metered parking spaces and turns them into temporary parks.