About
Ikon's gallery spaces will exclusively exhibit works created in Birmingham, also hosting some of our best-known music festivals and organisations in a programme of live performances.
Oliver Beer
The Resonance Project: Pay and Display
17-20 November
First Floor Galleries
In June 2010 artist Oliver Beer worked with Ikon and singers from Ex Cathedra to create a sound piece at Pershore Street Car Park in Birmingham. Pay and Display continues his series of works entitled The Resonance Project (2007-2011) in which he uses the human voice to stimulate buildings to resound as giant architectural instruments. Tapping into the sonic frequencies of the carpark, Beer composed a 6-part score for the singers to harmonise with its brutalist structure. Ikon now shows a video projection of Pay and Display.
Stephen Earl Rogers
What To Do In An Emergency
17-20 N0vember
Second Floor Galleries
This series of paintings has its origins in a 1980s Reader's Digest self-help, family manual. The book, entitled What To Do In An Emergency, contains information and illustrations ranging from first aid to self-defence and survival tips. In response, Rogers invited independent artists and producers from Birmingham to appear in his paintings. Amongst them are artists Juneau Projects translated into the scenario âHow to cross a river', and Ian Francis and Pip McKnight of 7 Inch Cinema demonstrating an âAbdominal thrust on a conscious adult'.
The book's original purpose, to inform the reader of what to do in difficult circumstances, is appropriated by Rogers as a reflection on his local cultural landscape.
Ikon Posters
17-20 November
Second Floor Galleries
Specially selected by Ikon's Director, Jonathan Watkins, these posters assert the breadth of artistic talent featured at Ikon during the last eleven years. Souvenirs of the exhibition programme, they exemplify Ikon's engagement with both the local artistic community and wider cultural worlds.
Music and More
Second Floor Galleries
7 Inch Cinema
Thursday 17 November, 7-10pm
£3 on the door (Or free if it's your birthday. Proof required)
An evening of short films and music, taking place on and inspired by the seventeenth of November. Birmingham's cinematic adventurers 7 Inch Cinema will be delving through dusty archives, old microfilms and a fair bit of Wikipedia in order to bring you superlative entertainment devoted to one apparently insignificant day. To give some idea of the lineup, 17 November saw the birth of Martin Scorsese, Peter Cook and Belgian ping pong legend Jean-Paul Saive, and it was also the day Russia landed the first remote-controlled lunar module on the moon.
Moseley Folk Festival
Treetop Flyers
Friday 18 November, 7.30pm 10.30pm
£4 plus booking fee from www.moseleyfolk.co.uk or £6 on the door.
Five-piece Treetop Flyers recently earned themselves a slot at Glastonbury's prestigious Other Stage after winning the Emerging Talent Competition earlier this year. They bring their rock-revved, sepia-toned soul'n'roll sound to Autumn Almanac, courtesy of Moseley Folk Festival.
Celebrating Sanctuary Birmingham
Steve Yimga and friends (Afro fusion showcase)
Saturday 19 November, 2-3pm
Free, Donations welcome
Celebrating Sanctuary Birmingham harnesses the arts to raise awareness of the contributions that refugees make to the UK, and in particular to the city of Birmingham. For Autumn Almanac, Celebrating Sanctuary Birmingham present 5-piece Afro-fusion band Crossroad Collision led by Steve Yimga, an African drummer from Cameroon.
Slow Boat Sessions
Saturday 19 November, 7.30-10pm
£5 on the door In September, Ikon Youth Programme's (IYP)
Slow Boat hosted a series of performances by local musicians, embarking on a journey of sound along Birmingham's canals. Poppy Tibbetts, E.L. Heath, Tom Peel and Boat to Row convene at Ikon for an evening of songs inspired by their Slow Boat sessions. The evening will also feature projections and field recordings of the journey. Entry includes a CD featuring songs from the sessions, with packaging designed by IYP.
Birmingham Contemporary Music Group
Sunday 20 November, 2-4pm
Free Internationally acclaimed and a proud ambassador for its home city, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group is passionately committed to engaging audiences and participants with the most exciting classical music of our time through pioneering concerts, learning programmes, tours and media projects. BCMG gives a rare performance of all 34 of Luciano Berio's Duetti for two violins, with a sprinkling of solo pieces by composers including Howard Skempton and Oliver Knussen.
Capsule present Andrew Moscardo-Parker and the ensemble Ore
Sunday 20 November, 8-11pm
£6 (available via www.theticketsellers.co.uk and on the door)
Andrew Moscardo-Parker performs as Lash Frenzy, exploring the action of playing, turning performances into immersive, participatory events. Central to his sound work is a rejection of narrative and a focus upon the present, the 'now'. Ore are a drone doom tuba group, forging the power and depth of brass with the care of craftsmen. It is the sound of Birmingham: its industrial heritage, metal-working origins and creative innovation.
