THE BAG
birmingham art guide / august 2026
hello, and welcome to the august edition of the BAG. before we begin, a brief call to support two cultural spaces that are under threat in the city:
a devastating construction plan intends to demolish the birmingham friends of the earth warehouse in digbeth, est. 1977. the building houses VOCE books, vivid projects, brum radio, BRIG cafe, digbeth community garden and much more. the current plan is to flatten it to make way for a temporary worksite whilst extending the camp hill railway line. they have asked people to respond to this consultation by the 28th.
"This building is not just BFOE’s ‘property’. It’s the result of five decades and millions of volunteer-hours of activism and commitment from BFOE, other residents and guests, steadily building its social outcomes, condition and business success. It’s the city’s heart of activism, an irreplaceable city-centre meeting space for hundreds of community organisations every year, and a building in which we have in the last year invested over £100K in new roofs and energy efficiency measures. It has expanded into a beautiful wildlife garden, a rare Digbeth green space. And much more. No financial compensation can make up for this loss.”artefact, an artist-led gallery and venue in stirchley, is part of a co-operative housing and retail development that is under threat from the building developer, green square accord. stirchley co-operative development are asking supporters to write to angela rayner, mayor richard parker, and their local MPs and councillors to support co-operative ownership of the building, prevent a corporate takeover and ensure that artefact will have a home. find out more here.
thank you! now that our letter-writing session is complete, on to the good stuff:
what’s on
theatre
stan’s cafe are touring their river tour pieces at the moment, and you can explore the avon with them at their space in selly oak on thurs 6th. pay what you can.
the ink and curtain festival are aiming to ‘revive Malvern’s tradition of drama festivals’, and there are some interesting theatre history talks planned, as well as a mask workshop with Vamos, and plenty of performances.
opera
on sun 30th, infinite opera premiere their new piece open for business, continuing their operatic enquiry into digbeth and gentrification.
film
ISH, a coming-of-age film by imran peretta and enda walsh, is at the mockingbird cinema from the 1st-6th.
indus blues, the 2018 documentary charting the at-risk musical traditions and instruments of pakistan, is screening at mac on tues 11th, with a live acoustic set afterwards.
laisul hoque’s art film learning to drive in birmingham sounds fascinating, and it’s opening at digbeth first friday and then screening at the grand union gallery until october.
music
weather permitting, qawwali in the park on thurs 6th at mac’s open air theatre sounds gorgeous.
the listening room, an event where musicians and producers share 1 minute of something new, is back at friction arts on thurs 6th.
brummie dream rock band st cecilia are at centrala on fri 28th.
two cool-looking gigs from stateside musicians at the hare and hounds towards the end of the month: alt-folk singer lily seabird on thurs 27th, supported by brum’s own layla tutt. and on mon 31st, experimental san francisco street musician the space lady will don her steel helmet and take pop songs to a transcendental plane.
visual arts
digbeth first friday is a bumper one this month, with the ikon youth programme at minerva works, an exhibition of paintings of vans, two photography openings and more.
elsewhere, here, an exhibition showcasing works by contemporary artists from across the middle east, is on at stryx gallery for only two weeks. their mothership exhibition continues until sept 5th.
at the new art gallery walsall, Ten.8 afterimage continues until sept 13th, exploring the legacy of the eponymous photography journal founded in handsworth in 1979.
reading + writing
poet adjei sun is hosting wata is life, an afternoon of performances, talks and art inspired by the caribbean sea, on sun 2nd at friction arts.
illustrator layla sadiq is holding a zine-making workshop at the old print works on sat 8th.
open mic poetry night verve open door is at the hive cafe on tues 18th.
on weds 19th, dr shelby judge from the university of derby is giving a talk on greek mythology at the glee club.
miscellaneous
season 2 of shout festival’s open mic talk of the town concludes on tues 18th, with the theme ‘it takes a village’.
on sat 8th and sat 22nd, sampad are bringing back their walking tour of stratford road, which includes sampling some culinary delights along the way.
opportunities
fringe arts wolverhampton have a callout for artists, creatives, performers - anyone who’d like to be part of the second edition of their annual fringe festival.
for artists
STRYX gallery have three callouts open; an online residency, an early-career residency, and a residency for artist mothers. deadline sept 15th.
eastside projects’ artist curator traineeship is open for applications until aug 21st.
multistory have opened their callout for ASSEMBLY, a programme for black country artists which culminates in a group exhibition. deadline aug 20th.
MORE ART INC, wolverhampton art gallery’s yearly artist development programme, is open for applications. deadline aug 31st.
for actors
burn the ditch are looking for performers to R&D a new piece of devised theatre in the autumn. deadline aug 5th.
big brum theatre-in-education are looking for two actor-teachers for their upcoming tour of edward bond’s beautiful and prescient play the broken bowl. deadline aug 17th.
for theatremakers
applications are open for playspace at the hippodrome, a regular programme offering studio space to artists wanting to experiment with a new idea. deadline aug 23rd.
also at the hippodrome, steve wilson from live and local is holding a free workshop on rural touring on sept 1st.
thanks for reading - if you enjoy the BAG, please tell a friend. see you next month!
anna x