Look Closely Project
After a number of years in a dormant state, Stirchley Happenings is happening again!
The previous guiding lights have handed responsibility to a new group of people, who are also committed to making art type things happen in Stirchley. This transition has been kicked off by a grant from Birmingham City Council allowing Stirchley Happenings to be part of the Birmingham 2022 Festival.
Look Closely
Five commissions in 10 different Stirchley locations; Look Closely is an art trail that paired talented artists with local residents, retailers and volunteers to develop artworks that span the high street and green spaces, the daytime and night-time economy and businesses long-established and new.
Some artworks may live on for years and others will probably be quite fleeting but in all cases looking (and in some cases listening) closely is encouraged. This is a project woven into the fabric of Stirchley, with added collectables and a soundtrack!
Details to The Sounds of Looking Closely Album by D1G will follow soon:
You can redeem your code by following this link: https://stirchleyhappenings.bandcamp.com/yum
The Great Rupert – Christmas Film – Saturday 9th December 2018
For some people Rupert is a bear. For us, particularly at Christmas, Rupert is a squirrel. A very characterful squirrel who doesn’t seem to understand the conventional boundaries between rodents and humans – whilst he’s not in every scene, that’s what we took from the film, which is quirky and fun, involving a troupe of struggling acrobats and unlikely changes of fortune.
Initially released in 1950, this is family-friendly-festive-fare, with some Yuletide songs included for good measure. For the authenticity buffs amongst you, we are daring to show the colourised version, renamed A Christmas Wish, if only so we can share the eye-bending joys of Jimmy Durante’s exceptional jacket.
Come along and join us on Saturday 9th December at 4pm. Tickets are available on the door and cost £4 for adults, £3 for concessions. The venue is Stirchley Community Church, Hazelwell Street, B30 2JX.
Be there or be a Christmas turkey, which this motion picture definitely is not. It’s smaller and hairier and likes to eat nuts.
Stirchley Happenings.
Christmas Movietime – 7:30pm Saturday 10th Dec
Christmas in Connecticut in Stirchley
Golden oldies – we all love ’em.
Christmas golden oldies – even better!
Christmas golden oldies watched at Christmas – better still!!
Christmas golden oldies set in Connecticut and watched at Christmas in Stirchley – the best!!!
This year we continue our tradition of showing the awesomest Christmas films of all time, with the totally enjoyable and heart-warming classic “Christmas in Connecticut”. Filmed in 1945 and starring Barbara Stanwyck as the perfect homemaker with a secret to hide, this movie will warm your festive chestnuts (is that a phrase?). Come along for romance, tingles and not a small amount of cookery-themed laughs (all will become clear …)
See you at 7:30pm, Saturday 10th December, Stirchley Community Church, Hazewell Street, B30 2JX
Tickets available on the door, £4 adults £3 concessions.
Still not convinced? Here’s the trailer …
Relish CAKE: Macmillan coffee morning
Join Stirchley Happeningser Roxie for coffee, totally delicious cakes (including vegan-friendly treats) and art – this time next Friday (30th September) from 11am until 2.30pm. You’ll be taking part in the biggest ever national coffee morning, and be you’ll helping to raise money for Macmillan cancer care.
Purchase a bevvie from the cafe (if you fancy one) then eat as much cake and bics as you can muster whilst absorbing creative works by local artists – just pop a few bob into the collection for the excellent cause (or text donate – easy!). Babies and little people very welcome.
Love baking? If you want to bake a cake for the cause then why not take part in the cake competition (although it will be hard to pick a winner, all the cakes will be scrummy!), £2 to enter, and it will help with raising even more donations throughout the morning – just bring the cake along to P Cafe between 10.30-11.30am on 30th September and the ‘expert judges’ (tbc!!) will award a small prize for the winning cake. Vegan bakers are especially encouraged to take part 🙂
Find out more about Macmillan: http://coffee.macmillan.org.uk
For baking recipes from Macmillan…
For vegan baking ideas: The Vegan Society and Viva! (including a guide to egg replacers).
sssh… saturday stirchley sound haven
Stirchley Happenings invite you to indulge in Saturday Stirchley Sound Haven (sssh)…
Saturday 15th October, 5pm – 7pm at P Cafe, Stirchley
A collective listening experience to a yet undecided album, the only certainty: it will feature synthesisers.
On arrival, you will be invited to lie on the floor (or there are limited sofa spaces) to experience the music. The event will take place in a dimly lit room, and the album will last somewhere between 60- 90minutes with as few disturbances as possible (obviously we’ll usher you to the loo if needed!!)
Spaces are limited so booking is recommended.
Bring a yoga or camping sleeping mat and a cushion for comfort. If you cannot lie down to experience the music then let us know on the booking form and we’ll do our very best to accommodate you on the comfy sofa or somewhere appropriate).
The session is free (donations welcome), and is part of a small programme of events associated with Relish What you have Achieved, an exhibition by Roxie Collins.
This workshop is presented in association with P Cafe and Stirchley Happenings.
synth noise: a workshop
As part of the small programme of events complimenting Roxie Collins’ exhibition Relish What you have Achieved, Stirchley Happenings present a synthesiser workshop – Saturday 8th October, 6pm – 9pm at P Cafe, Stirchley.
The session will help you learn more about your synth and jam with other synth sound lovers, led by synth musician and Birmingham City University tutor James Dooley.
This workshop is for synth fanatics who a) have a synth (or can borrow one), b) want to learn more about the basics of how synths work and c) want to make improvised collaborative synth noise!
Spaces are limited so booking is recommended.
You’ll need your own synthesiser or synth software/ app, amp (or portable speakers if you’re using a mobile/ laptop/ tablet (e.g. computer speakers) and leads/ cables, and a power extension cable might come in handy.
The session is free (donations welcomed).
Roxie Collins is one of Stirchley Happenings’ co-founders. Her artworks draw on 12” record sleeve aesthetics, crediting the cold synthesised tones of sound pioneers such as New Order, Depeche Mode and Japan as inspiration for seemingly emotionless abstract art.
relish what you have achieved
We are pleased to announce a mini-programme of events to compliment Stirchley Happenings’ member Roxie Collins’ upcoming exhibition ‘relish what you have achieved‘ at P Cafe. The show will be up from 28th September until 22nd October, launching with a Macmillan coffee morning of mostly vegan delights on Friday 30th 11.30am – 2.30pm then a gathering from 6pm, all welcome!
The Shop Around The Corner
If Christmas is about anything it’s about corners. Corners are to be found everywhere – at the points where the edges of cuboid-boxes-containing-presents meet, on sharply-cut festive potatoes and (help us out here) cornery-baubles. Which is lucky, as this film features a corner. Or at least a shop in the vicinity of (i.e. around) a corner. Specifically a street corner. Although, come to think of it, we can’t actually remember seeing the corner in the film, but it must have been there otherwise the title wouldn’t have made sense. Um, perhaps we should start again …
The Shop Around The Corner is a delightful film. Really funny. It made us laugh. And it’s set at Christmas, too. Released in 1940, it features screen greats Jimmy Stewart (did anyone say Vertigo?) and Frank Morgan (did anyone say Wizard of Oz?) alongside Margaret Sullavan, who was not too shabby herself, having been nominated for an Academy Award in 1938. The film is a romantic comedy. It’s good. It was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1999, which is before we even first started having a tentative waft of thoughts about screening popcorn-fuelled shifting shapes (i.e. films) in Stirchley. But really, don’t just listen to us, the infallible Internet Movie Database gives it a score of 8.1 out of 10, which means a) we’re not lying and b) if you come and watch it you’ll most likely have a super time.
The screening will take place at 5pm on Sunday 6th December at Stirchley Community Church, Hazelwell Street, B30 2JX. Tickets are £4 adults, £3 concessions, on the door. It’s suitable for families but not a children’s film, as such. We’d love to see you there!
Stirchley Happenings 