THE BAG

birmingham art guide / may 2026

hello, and welcome to the may edition of the BAG. spring has truly sprung and the artists have come out to play - there’s so much going on this month! as ever, chat to me in the comments if you have more recommendations, or see something you particularly like. see you out there!

what’s on

theatre

a special one for me this month: a whole festival of work from Origins, the artist development programme at the Hippodrome designed and led by yours truly. from tues 12th to sat 16th, eight birmingham artists present new works made over the last 18 months, with free workshops, talks and events across the week too. tickets are pay-what-you-can.

from fri 1st-sat 9th, the gate theatre dublin’s adaptation of katriona o’sullivan’s novel poor is at the belgrade. it’s followed by emma rice’s adaptation of malory towers, from tues 12th - sat 16th.

bus stop goths, a theatre show about the guardian angels of middlesbrough’s subculture, is at the mac on thurs 7th.

open theatre are at the rep on fri 8th-sat 9th with their new show falling.

did you know that lawn tennis was invented in edgbaston? i didn’t, but there’s a new musical about it if you want to know more. fairlight explores the untold queer and brummie history of tennis, and is being presented on weds 13th as part of flatpack festival.

on fri 15th, james rowland is at the arena theatre with a classic from his repertoire of beautiful one-man shows, team viking.

on fri 29th, the three counties talent hub writing competition presents a night of new writing from women playwrights living in rural areas.

driftwood, martina laird’s debut play set in 1950s trinidad, is at the rsc until sat 30th.

bryony kimmings’ new show bog witch is at warwick arts centre on sat 30th for one night only.

dance

on sun 3rd, dance company thick and tight are performing their show Papillon at the conservatoire.

film

as usual, there’s an incredible array of films programmed for the 20th edition of flatpack festival, which is running from fri 8th - sat 16th at venues all over the city. there’s desert hearts, a pioneering piece of queer cinema, do you love me, a found-footage documentary love letter to beirut, and crossing the kalûnga river, a night of pan-african cinema. take a look yourself, but other highlights i spotted are effi o blaenau, an adaptation of gary owens’ play iphegenia in splott, a documentary about city hospital, a screening of the late martin parr’s films about the black country, and horses! - about horses.

music

GANNA is at centrala on weds 6th, with a blend of ukrainian folk songs collected on research trips in the region, along with electronic sounds and textures.

on sun 17th, the warsaw philharmonic are at symphony hall playing beethoven’s 7th.

on sat 23rd, sarathy korwar brings his blend of indian classical, jazz and hip-hop to sampad’s midday mantra slot.

baroque music collective solomon’s knot are at the elgar concert hall at uob on weds 27th, with a repertoire of bach’s vocal works.

visual arts

a beautiful-looking exhibition from the latvian sculptor daiga grantina opens at the mead gallery on sat 2nd.

seema mattu’s video, music and film exhibition LOCAL SUPERSTAR opens this month at eastside projects and continues through til july.

the two summer exhibitions at mac by genevieve robertson and clare hewitt, both exploring forests in different ways, continue through the month.

fractured landscapes and how we heal by jaskirt dhaliwal-boora continues at the new art gallery walsall until june.

on thurs 14th, a new exhibition opens at MIAH, exploring imperial influences in the ottoman empire.

i adored halima cassel’s sculptural work in break the mould at ikon, and will definitely be going again before it closes in september.

multistory’s exhibition of their resident artists’ programme is on throughout the month at wolverhampton school of art - featuring, excitingly for this publication, the artist Bag Lord.

this month is your last chance to catch the immersive archival exhibition stories that made us at the herbert gallery.

reading + writing

i loved gurnaik johal’s novel saraswati, and he’s at the heath bookshop speaking about it on tues 12th.

incredibly, friction arts are putting on a mark fisher weekend from fri 15th-sun 17th, including film screenings, talks and workshops, all centred around the legacy of mark fisher, author of capitalist realism.

you can catch ocean vuong in conversation with local poet zakariye on thurs 28th.

miscellaneous

on weds 13th, sophie williamson is giving a performance lecture at the mead gallery on world building while lying down.

you only die once, a birmingham collective of people supporting public conversations around death and grief, are holding a festival called a matter of life and death, with creative workshops, discussions and performances across various venues from mon 4th-sat 16th.

on tues 19th, shout festival’s talk of the town open mic is back, and the theme is (un)holy.

birmingham media archive project are exhibiting works made in response to the archive throughout the month at bmag. one of the artists, erinn dhesi, wrote this beautiful piece about working in the archive. on sat 30th, there’s also a free workshop on digitising your own tapes.

the duplicate publishing fair is at eastside projects on fri 29th and sat 30th, with stalls from smalle presses and zine- and printmakers.

opportunities

on fri 15th, in good company are hosting an arts council DYCP grant application workshop, on a pay what you can basis.

applications are open for pilgrim’s art postcard, a small grant fund for artists to attend exhibitions and other arts events in the midlands. deadline 30th june.

new grant programme made in cov is now open for artists and companies to create arts activities and events in coventry.

for curators

film hub midlands have pitch pots of up to £2k available for people who want to exhibit or screen films that broaden the experience of film in the region.

for directors

the new vic are looking for an assistant director to theresa heskins on their christmas production of the borrowers. deadline 18th may.

for artists

grand union are seeking four emerging artists for a project called ‘students of nature’ led by exodus crooks. deadline 1st june.

applications are open for syllabus ix, a bursaried artist development programme with eastside projects and partners. deadline 19th may.

vivid projects have a callout for artists who are interested in experimental sound to take part in a 6-part workshop series led by okcandice, in which you’ll produce your own diy radical radio broadcasts. deadline 20th may.

colmore bid are seeking artists for a commission responding to the life and work of george shaw. deadline 8th may.

creative black country have a commission available for an artist to create a new digital work exploring walsall heritage. deadline 25th may.

for writers

in good company’s script submission window is open from mon 11th-sun 17th may, with an offer of a full feedback report from one of their readers.

thanks for reading - if you enjoy the BAG, please tell a friend. see you next month!

anna x