February Digbeth First Friday

This February, get out and about, discover something new and enjoy the fantastic independent culture Digbeth has to offer!

On offer this month:  

Centrala: Paulina Korobkiewicz – Udarny trud exhibition opening, 6pm-late

Join us to celebrate the opening night of Paulina Korobkiewicz - Udarny trud exhibition!'Udarny trud' is a solo show of a London based photographer Paulina Korobkiewicz. The exhibition consists of archival material that Paulina found in an abandoned textile factory in Alytus (Lithuania) with contemporary photos she took of the building and its interiors. Today, a dilapidated building and its monumental structure and cracked windows represent the material remnants of the past. Concrete crumbling from the walls and furniture covered with dust tell a story of the rise and fall of a political system where labour was perceived as a right and a sacred duty.

Eastside Projects: Harold Offeh's Selfie Choreography, 6–8pm

Performance from 6.30–7.30pm. Drawing on histories of video art, performance and dance the first of two playful performance uses selfie sticks, human bodies and mobile phones to create a new type of dance, mediated through the screen of a device that has become an extension of the human body. Selfie stick optional. #selfiechoreography

The Edge: Ideas of Noise & Celebrating Sanctuary, 6–11pm

Building on last year’s success, IoN and CSB present a brand new intercultural collaboration from four Birmingham based musicians. Combining folk influences from Haiti, Zimbabwe, UK and America with strings, percussion, synths, electronics and vocal explorations, come and hear some never-heard-before music from some of the region's most exciting musicians.Line up: https://www.facebook.com/events/502441153716059/

Grand Union: Love & Solidarity by Jamie Crewe, 6–8pm

Join us for the launch of Love & Solidarity, an exhibition of new works by Jamie Crewe. Comprising of videos, sculptures and writing which take inspiration from Radclyffe Halls 1928 novel The Well of Loneliness. This is a co-commission between Grand Union and Humberside Gallery (Hull) where the ‘sister’ exhibition, Solidarity & Love is currently taking place.

Muthers Studio: Black Hole Presents: Michael, Haq123, Strip Search Tramp, 7pm

Buy tickets: https://www.seetickets.com/event/michael-haq123-strip-search-tramp/muthers-studio/1472611

Recent Activity: Hayley Tompkins: Bag of Rainbow, 6-8pm

Recent Activity presents a new exhibition of work by Hayley Tompkins.

Stryx: THE SKETCHBOOK AND THE COLLIDER: DRAWING LINKS BETWEEN FINE ART AND PARTICLE PHYSICS - Art Residency by Ian Andrews, from 6pm

Ian Andrews will be exhibiting, making and testing new work related to his collaboration with particle physicist Prof. Kostas Nikolopoulos for February 7th Digbeth First Friday and for a further two-week residency period until the 21st February.

The project sees Ian attempting to find an intimate connection between the visual language of drawing and the characteristics and interactions of the fundamental particles that make up the universe. 08/02 – 22/02 (Thursday, Friday Saturday) 12pm – 4pm – open to public

Open by appointments at other times – contact ianandrewsfineart@yahoo.co.uk

Vivid Projects: Emotional Polarity: Cardioid, 7–9pm

Social media platforms, virtual reality and artificial intelligence are changing the way in which we establish meaningful connections. Our relationships are increasingly developed and maintained, started and ended in the form pixels and data, cultivated by in an interdependent web of algorithms many of us have no control over. Artists James Dooley and Matthew DF Evans present three new works using ubiquitous and developing technologies to explore how we are able to feel, respond and generate love.