Vivid Projects

Join experimental sound collective 🔊ways towards something🔊 for July’s as they sound Vivid Projects out of Minerva Works and celebrate the practices held onsite since 2013 with our last ever event in the space 🎉

For Sound Out, they are working in collaboration with who will be recording and broadcasting the work that manifests live onsite 📡

This is a durational performance and you are welcome to drop in at any point and respond to listening prompts👂developed by the group that focus on finding space within the soundscape 🧘

The second part of this performance will take place at our new site at Allison St in the Autumn 🍂
 
🗓️5th July
📍Vivid Projects
⏱️7:30-9:30pm

To read more about the project, head to our website via the link in our bio 🔗
& for a taste of what’s to come, you can listen to the previous ways towards something + Radio Stall broadcast that took place at Vivid Projects on the 13th of May, also available via the link in our bio 😌

We hope to see you there 🤝

Visuals by

Reflecting on our two screenings of the brilliant Dr XYZ earlier this month 🥼🩺

We received some lovely feedback from our audience at our First Friday showings and important conversations were had at the panel discussion with members of the collective at Allison St 🫂

If you missed the screenings not to worry! The film is now available to view on the XYZ website: https://xyzarchive.com/

It’s Digbeth First Friday and we have the marvellous XYZ collective here to share their new film! 🍿
Free event, check out the details below

A little reminder that we will be screening Dr XYZ 🩺this month for June’s alongside a special ‘Waiting Room’ performance!

Some of you may remember us posting behind the scenes snapshots of filming here at Vivid Projects HQ last year 🎬 so it’s exciting to see the film is complete and ready to be shared! 🤩

We look forward to welcoming you to view the film, but in the meantime, enjoy these stills 🎥 and read more on our website 🔗

🗓️7th June
⏱️5-8pm
📍Vivid Projects

P.S. There will be a separate, more intimate screening and discussion with the filmmakers at The Warehouse on 8th June for the trans+ (and wider LGBTQI+) community 🏳️‍⚧️
Book your free tickets 🎟️ https://www.outsavvy.com/event/20101/dr-xyz-film-screening-and-discussion

Call for artists via our colleagues Animate Projects

Mortal: call for artists

Taking inspiration from the Death Positive Movement, we are seeking to produce new animated works that will reflect on how death and dying can be rethought, and how matters such as end of life care, handling grief, and funerary practices can be better approached.

Following on from Planting, we are again looking to commission three early career artists. Each artist will undertake a period of research and development, taking inspiration from our partner, social anthropologist Dr Hannah Rumble.

Read more about the project and apply on Curatorspace: https://bit.ly/3wYeie1

The deadline is noon, Thursday 4 July 2024.

This June we welcome XYZ Projects back to Digbeth to share their new film ‘ Dr XYZ: A Medical Drag Transthology’.

The film is produced as part of the NHS Untold Stories Initiative, with funding received from the British Film Institute(BFI) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council(AHRC) with production support from Vivid Lab.

Screenings:

5-8pm, June 7. Part of Digbeth First Friday at Vivid Projects, Minerva Works. Free, drop in timed screenings.

2-4pm 8 June. Queering the information film: screening and discussion at Vivid Projects, Allison Street. Free, pre-booking required and tickets available via 🔗 below.

Queering The Information Film with XYZ Projects: Screening & Discussion Tickets - Birmingham - OutSavvy We welcome Birmingham's trans+ (and wider LGBTQI+) community to join us for a screening and discussion of Dr XYZ, a trans+ healthcare training film produced by XYZ Projects (CIC) as part of the NHS Untold Stories Initiative, with funding from the British Film Institute (BFI) and the Arts and Humanit...

Brought to you by XYZ Projects (CIC), we are delighted to screen Dr XYZ: A Medical Drag Transthology on 7 & 8 June.

During August 2023 the collective was resident in the Vivid Lab as part of their production for ‘Dr XYZ’.

The film engages the untold stories of the trans and non-binary community in Birmingham as a collaborative drag anthology on accessing healthcare; and takes the form of a contemporary update on the public information films within the NHS on Film collection to create a satirical take on the healthcare service announcements of the 1960s and 70s.

Read more via the link 🔗

Dr XYZ: A Medical Drag Transthology | Vivid Projects Brought to you by XYZ Projects (CIC), we are delighted to screen Dr XYZ: A Medical Drag Transthology. During August 2023 the collective was resident in the Vivid Lab as part of their production for ‘Dr XYZ’.

Good morning Birmingham! ☀️

Come down to Digbeth and check out some digital art 🎮

We are open 1-5pm today and Saturday 11th with Antonio Roberts’ ( ) exhibition of new work.

To read more about what to look forward to, follow the link 🔗 Antonio Roberts Research Residency | Vivid Projects

PS. Our neighbours and are open too so there’s lots to see this week 🙌🏾

It was lovely to see so many faces for 10th Birthday 🎂 and Antonio Robert’s ‘A Boy is a Gun’ exhibition launch 🚀

If you didn’t make it down, not to worry! The free exhibition will be back open from 1-5pm this Thursday, Friday and Saturday (9th-11th) for you to come and enjoy.

Get hands on with a playable video game 🎮 flick through a choose your own adventure book 📖 listen to a conversation on the work between Antonio Robert’s and Dr Ian Sergeant 🎧 and more!

📸: .grabowska

Enjoy this sneak preview 👀 of some of the work that will be in Antonio Robert’s ( ) upcoming exhibition ‘A Boy is a Gun’ !

The exhibition launches at 5pm this Friday (May 3rd) as part of Digbeth First Friday’s 10th Birthday extravaganza! 🥳🎂

This new work centres around reimagining stereotypical roles within gaming, with a particular focus on the character Skate from Streets of Rage 2, who can be seen above exploring the unfamiliar terrain of Super Mario’s world on his wheels 🛼

We’ll be open til 8pm, and elements of this exhibition are interactive, so come and get involved!

P.S. There will be cake 🍰

Additional opening times are:
4th May - 1-5pm
9th, 10th, 11th May - 1-5pm

The fabulous Antonio Roberts guested on the Elise Evans show on today, discussing his upcoming exhibition ‘A Boy is a Gun’ developed through his artist residency with Vivid Projects.

The work reimagines stereotypical roles within gaming, with a focus on the character Skate from the game Streets of Rage 2 🎮

The exhibition launches on May 3rd from 6-8pm as part of 10th birthday celebrations 🎈

Lots of Digbeth spaces including Eastside Projects, Centrala, Grand Union and Prsyer Room will be open to celebrate - save the date and come down if you can 🗓️

This free exhibition continues May 4th from 1-5pm, and May 9th-11th from 1-5pm

Tune in to the Elise Evans show on at 11:10am tomorrow to hear Antonio speak about his upcoming exhibition ‘A Boy is a Gun’! 📻

The exhibition launches on May 3rd as part of 10th birthday celebrations 🎂 and will also be open for viewing May 4th from 12-5pm, and May 9th-11th from 1-5pm

We are delighted to announce that Antonio Roberts ( ) will be sharing exciting new work in his upcoming exhibition ’A Boy is A Gun’ here at Vivid Projects! 🤩

The work centres around reimagining stereotypical roles within gaming, with a particular focus on the character Skate from the game Streets of Rage 2 🎮

The exhibition launches on May 3rd from 6-8pm as part of 10th birthday celebrations 🎈

It will also be open for viewing May 4th from 12-5pm, so save the date and come down if you can 🗓️

To read more about what to look forward to, follow the link in our bio 🔗

Save the date: 3rd May, Digbeth First Friday is 10!

May 2024 marks the 10th birthday of Digbeth First Friday. To celebrate, we are delighted to share A Boy Is A Gun – new work from Antonio Roberts, who in 2014 featured in Vivid Projects inaugural First Friday event!

A Boy is a Gun presents a new fictional narrative to reimagine stereotypical roles with gaming, with main character Skate Hunter (from Streets of Rage) set in the world of Super Mario Bros. Streets of Rage 2 was the first game to feature the character Skate and in his artworks, Roberts draws from the original narrative and existing fan fiction to interrogate the ways in which Skate’s characterisation draws on stereotypes of Black masculinity.

In the new game, Skate is rendered as the ‘child’ – or teen – that his interactions with family indicate, rather than the combative adult male familiar from the original game.

The Skate character is central to a playable version of the research, which is presented alongside videos further exploring the narrative and a recorded conversation between the artist and Dr Ian Sergeant.

3rd May 6-8pm (late opening for Digbeth First Friday birthday celebration)

4th May 12-5pm

Venue: Vivid Projects, 16 Minerva Works, 158 Fazeley St, Birmingham B5 5RS

Free event, part of Digbeth First Friday

Antonio Roberts Research Residency | Vivid Projects Antonio Roberts works with technology in innovative ways, exploring authorship, gaming, digital and reproduction. This spring, his research residency focuses on developing an experimental narrative fiction game using Twine software. A Boy is a Gun presents a new fictional narrative to reimagine ster...

We’re open today 2-5 with free screenings of two films exploring the legacy, aesthetic strategies and histories of the 1980s UK Black Film Workshops 🎥

Morgan Quaintance ‘South’ (2020) Rehana Zaman Your Ecstatic Self’ (2019)

🍉 Free to watch - as recommended 🍉

Stay up to date with all that’s going on at Vivid Projects this spring by reading our newsletter!

News & Events Spring 2024

We invite you to join us for Second Sight: free screenings of two brilliant films exploring the legacy, aesthetic strategies and histories of the 1980s UK Black Film Workshops 🎥

We’re showing Morgan Quaintance’s ‘South’ (2020), pictured in the first slide, and Rehana Zaman’s ‘Your Ecstatic Self’ (2019), pictured second.

🗓️ The films will be shown from 6-8pm on April 5th for , and 2-5pm on April 6th.

They will be screening continuously during these hours, so feel free to drop in at any point!

You can read more about these films on our website by following the link in our bio 🔗

Hope to see you there 😊