THE BAG
birmingham art guide / january 2026
hello! happy new year, and welcome to the first BAG of 2026. i hope the interstitial period treated you kindly. it’s still dark out, but by the end of january we’ll have another hour and a half of daylight under our belts, and plenty of art too.
a notice from your editor: at the end of the month, i’ll be starting a weekly drama group for elders at pineapple house community centre. if you or anyone you know might be interested, do keep an eye out for the sign-up announcement on their website/socials, or get in touch with me to find out more.
what’s on
theatre
on friday 23rd + saturday 24th you can catch a script-in-hand concert performance of seiriol davies’ new musical sweet henry v at the rep. also at the rep is open theatre’s latest show search for the second star on saturday 24th, and send in the clowns, a drag revue hosted by birmingham’s own fatt butcher, from thursday 29th-saturday 31st.
casey bailey’s play please do not touch, which premiered in 2024 at the belgrade, is coming to the hippodrome from thursday 29th-saturday 31st.
dance
if you missed it last autumn, ACE dance’s the world as we see it is at the rep for one night only on saturday 24th.
film
iranian director jafar panahi’s latest film it was just an accident is showing at the mac on friday 2nd-thursday 8th.
on friday 23rd, centrala are screening a collection of short films by artist, activist and sex worker mirha-soleil ross, whose “uncompromising body of work reshaped the landscape of trans art and politics”. the event will raise funds for not a phase.
music
on saturday 10th and saturday 17th, concertina virtuoso cohen braithwaite-kilcoyne is giving beginner workshops on the anglo concertina for trad arts.
EMOM: electronic music open mic is at centrala on thursday 22nd.
birmingham’s own xhosa cole will be in residence at the mac for two nights on friday 23rd and saturday 24th, exploring the music of thelonious monk. and if you miss those, he’s at the hare and hounds on tuesday 27th.
the conservatoire’s annual percussion showcase at centrala has some interesting repertoire, on tuesday 27th.
opera
new opera at bcmg! involving AI, for some reason. anyway, this workshop sharing of Sergej Newski’s opera The Relatives: Videoconference of a Crimean Family 1912–2025 on friday 9th looks interesting, and tickets are free.
visual arts
at eastside projects, two new exhibitions are launching on friday 23rd. marley starskey butler has developed a series of choreographic films during their residency with beacon family services, entitled compensare: for the swallows we weigh. NAR MARRATU by sarah al-sarraj is a speculative work of worldbuilding, accompanied by a workshop on worldbuilding and counter-cartographies on saturday 24th.
reading + writing
on saturday 17th there is a talk with tharik hussain, author of muslim europe; a fourteen hundred year history at MIAH. be quick with that one, it’s nearly sold out. it finishes at 5.30, so if you wanted to double bill, you could walk up the road to a new poetry open mic night at moseley hive - the first draft, presented by i’d peel a pomegranate.
two other poetry nights this month: poet’s palace at the legacy centre on wednesday 14th, and verve open door at the hive in town on tuesday 20th.
on saturday 24th, voce writer-in-residence taylor burns is giving a workshop on style, and £15 is not bad at all.
miscellaneous
there are plenty of wassails this month as the apple trees need to be suitably pruned and blessed. the stirchley wassail on saturday 17th looks particularly lively.
on monday 26th, there’s a talk about birmingham’s role in the 1926 general strike at the birmingham & midland institute.
opportunities
for theatre artists
another world is possible, the anarchist association gallery in digbeth, are seeking creatives of all kinds to get involved with a production of tennessee williams’ i rise in flame, cried the phoenix.
applications remain open for an actor/groupworker at geese theatre until january 7th.
for composers
flatpack festival are running a development programme for composers who want to write and perform music for film. deadline january 11th.
for writers
the room 204 development programme, run by writing west midlands, is still open for applications from writers of all genres. it offers a year of support, guidance and perks for writers hoping to develop and broaden their career. deadline 7th jan.
for curators
flatpack’s curation traineeship programme in pan-african film and archive curation is still open for applications until jan 4th.
thanks for reading - if you enjoy the BAG, please tell a friend. see you next month!
anna x