Walks in The Quarter…your last chance
It’s one of those things that has entered Jewellery Quarter folklore – an annual series of fascinating, insightful walking tours that have gained a cult following in recent years. This year’s no different – local historian Chris Upton’s tours have treaded paths around the quarter that no one knows better than him – revealing stories you’d never imagined took place right in the heart of the city.
We’ve already had a few this year – but if you’ve got even a passing interest in the history of Birmingham, and love a stroll around the Jewellery Quarter (who doesn’t?), then this really is perfect for you.
Here’s what you can expect from the final walk this Saturday from 2.30pm from the porch of St Paul’s Church in the square:
“Pen Nibs and Pencil Cases. They made more than just jewellery in the Jewellery Quarter. This walk will look at some of the less known trades in the area. And while we’re at it, let’s visit the site of the largest public meeting in British history, and find out what Victorian policemen wore on their feet.”
So why not combine some last minute Christmas shopping with some time in the company of one of Birmingham’s best known historians. As ever, contact us on 0121 464 1187 to confirm your attendance, although Chris always welcomes newcomers on the day as well.
Let us know if you’ve been on one by commenting below!
Comments (0)The Jewellery Quarter uncovered…this Saturday
One of the best things about Brilliantly Birmingham is seeing the emergence of talented designer makers, most of whom trained in Birmingham, and many of whom go on to live and work in the Jewellery Quarter, too.
Open Studios celebrates a tradition of jewellery making that stretches back more than 250 years and that’s still thriving in the quarter today.
Brilliantly Birmingham isn’t just a celebration of the city’s jewellery heritage; everything that you see exhibited is for sale, too.
Open Studios are a unique opportunity to get up close and personal with a range of fantastic designer makers, see how intricate their practice really is, and watch as beautiful new pieces are created in front of you. You can even commission a new piece directly with a designer maker. It doesn’t get much better than that.
This year’s open studio participants are some of Birmingham’s most talented designer makers. James Newman opened his first jewellery shop on Vyse Street last year after ten years making hugely popular precious metal pieces that gained him a national reputation. Visit www.jamesnewman.co.uk for more information.
Sara Preisler has her own shop in Birmingham’s other creative district, The Custard Factory, where she also makes her own jewellery. Her illustrious clients include the Royal Shakespeare Company and you’ll also find the work of an ever changing roster of talented designer makers in her shop, too. See for yourself at www.sarapreisler.co.uk
Design Space is a place for newly graduated designer makers to get their first foot on the designer maker ladder, helping with funding for studio space in the heart of the jewellery quarter. You’re bound to see a whole range of young, vibrant makers at this stop. Here’s Sarah Collins hard at work…
Also opening their studio doors are established designer maker Katherine Campbell Legg, who’s part of the renowned Centrepiece collective, and the beautiful metalwork of Bonnie Styles, who’s exhibited in Milan, no less. www.bonniestylesjewellery.co.uk
You’ve got two weeks to go until Christmas – this is a perfect opportunity to pick up a unique, original, beautiful present for someone you care about.
All of the opening times and locations are in our Brilliantly Birmingham catalogue – download it for free from our Downloads section on the website home page.
Comments (2)Behind the Scenes with the Birmingham Mail
Here’s a taster of what to expect if you come along to the Brilliantly Birmingham Open Studios this Saturday (13th Dec). Pop into the FLUX exhibition at BCU School of Jewellery, on Vittoria Street, and you may also be treated to a glass of champagne and a mince pie to get you into the Christmas spirit!
Click on the map to find out more about Open Studios and to see who is participating.
Fetish Fashion, Tuesday 9 December, School of Jewellery
Anyone who’s indulged in a bit of escapism with a Kathy Lette novel will know her own unique brand of innuendo could leave Dame Edna Everage cowering. Find out why at www.kathylette.com
What better person, then, than the best selling Australian author to chair a seminar entitled Fetish Fashion.
The seminar’s all about the influence fetishism has had on all areas of design - and increasingly on jewellery design. Eschewing the usual neck, wrist and hand adornments, fetish fashion can use a whole array of body parts (I’m sure you can use your imagination) as its muse.
It’ll be a fascinating discussion - did society become more sexual and the jewellery industry responded? Or has jewellery led the way in pushing the boundaries and changing the landscape?
Lette isn’t the only familiar face on our panel. Anyone who’s watched “Super Skinny Me: The Race To Size Zero” or “Super Botox Me” on Channel 4 will know that journalist come documentary maker Kate Spicer is carving her own niche in shock-docs. She’s a self-confessed addictive personality, and never fails to provide a fascinating insight.
Joining our panel of femme fatales is Irish designer Paul Saville - who’s carved his own niche in seductive jewellery and accessories, with the fashion houses of Karl Lagerfeld, Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood all taking orders. Here’s one of his pieces….
So whether you know your way around a whip and paddle or fetish fashion is a taboo you’ve yet to uncover, this is certain to be one of the most eye opening events in Brilliantly Birmingham history.
As ever, book now by calling 0121 464 1187. I’ve got a feeling you won’t regret it.
Comments (0)All That Glitters….Tuesday, 6.30pm, School of Jewellery
Amongst a festival programme so jam packed with the best that contemporary jewellery design has to offer, a seminar about ethical jewellery might not be the first thing that jumps from the catalogue pages.
But it’s actually a really topical issue right now. With gold prices sky high and corruption in the diamond industry the subject of hip hop records (Kanye West’s Diamonds for Sierra Leone) and blockbuster movies (2006’s Blood Diamond, starring Leonardo Di Caprio), the dark side of bling has been pretty well publicised.
The seminar’s already got the papers talking…click Here to see a great article by one of our guest speakers, ex Harpers Bazaar fashion editor Sharon Walker.
Granted - you won’t find her brand of ethical gold for fifty quid down at H Samuel just yet. This is top end jewellery with a top end price tag to match (just ask celebrity customers Emma Thompson and Lily Cole).
It’s something I’m sure we’d all be quick to support, but deep down, do we care enough about where our gold comes from? Should we care? Knowing that each and every gold ring creates 20 tonnes of mine waste certainly resonated with me.
We’re all quick enough to pick up a fairtrade latte on our morning commute, so it begs the question - why not buy a fairtrade wedding ring as well?
Maybe it’s a case of running before we can walk- most of us are still getting our heads around recycling our tin cans, after all - but these are important issues at an important time for the jewellery industry.
It promises to be an eye opening couple of hours, and places are EXTREMELY limited. Call Prim Currie on 0121 464 1187 for a guaranteed place (although the speech givers at the launch last week were quick to invite one and all!)
To have the environmental journalist Lucy Siegle (a regular roving reporter on The One Show) and celebrity jeweller Steven Webster giving their views, anyone involved or interested in jewellery won’t want to miss this.
Comments (3)Listen to this….Sunday night, 10pm
A heads up for those of you who like your jewellery of the Bollywood variety…for we have a famous Indian designer maker in our midst!
Tusheeta David’s work can be seen at the School of Jewellery right now as part of Flux, but before she studied in Brum she was a successful designer maker in India, where she designed all of the jewellery for the major Bollywood movie Paheli.
It was even nominated for an Oscar for best foreign language film. Not bad eh?
It demonstrates the truly international feel of the festival this year - from Oslo and Tokyo to Bangalore, all via Birmingham, of course.
Here’s a picture of Tusheeta’s jewellery being worn by some of Bollywood’s biggest stars Shahrukh Khan, Rani Mukherji and Amitabh Bachchan.
She’s no doubt got some fascinating stories about her life in India - and you can hear about it when she chats to Midlands Today presenter Satnam Rana on her weekly radio show - Midlands Masala - this Sunday on BBC WM, that’s 95.6fm.
If you miss it - and you’ve got no reason to, the telly on a Sunday night’s rubbish - you can listen again for the next week at www.bbc.co.uk/wm. Just click on listen again and then choose Midlands Masala.
Comments (0)Launch Photos Are In…
Check out these amazing photos from Thursday’s launch…they really do the spectacle justice.
Congrats to all the students and their performance, Bijoux Bionyx, and of course everyone involved with or exhibiting in Flux!
Bonkers...in a good way
Oh What A Night
Anyone who was there at the Brilliantly Birmingham launch last night - I told you so!
The performance of the second year School of Jewellery students was fantastic - think Kylie Minogue’s Can’t Get You Out Of My Head dancers mixed with Daft Punk’s video for Around The World, only much wackier!
It was a great opening to proceedings, and kept up the growing tradition of wonderfully bonkers student performances, backed by their truly innovative jewellery designs.
But seeing the work of so many talented designer makers on display at Flux - and watching them nervously as guests checked out their work - is what the real spirit of Brilliantly Birmingham is about. Remember - Flux is a selling show, and I certainly had a few pieces in mind for Christmas presents.
I did promise photos of last night - which I will put up as soon as possible, as well as more info about a few of the things that are coming up in the next couple of weeks.
Remember - everything you need to know is in the catalogue, which you can download now from our Downloads section.
Comments (0)Are you ready for the launch?
I’ve been to approximately four thousand launch events for creative and arts festivals in and around Birmingham over the years.
The wine is usually the same. The canapés are usually the same. Even the guests are, sadly, usually the same.
Brilliantly Birmingham is different. Each year, the launch event is a spectacular, exciting, extraordinary affair that, as I near five thousand launch events, still manages to be memorable.
Of course, the fantastic displays of jewellery all play their part, but it’s the increasingly eccentric performances by the graduating students of the School of Jewellery that will command your attention.
The stunning backdrop of the school helps, but looking up at the students, in their own jewellery, strutting along the peripheral walk ways from the atrium below has never failed to entertain me.
I won’t give too much away about what the students - and their lecturer Zoe Robertson - have conjured up for this year’s launch, but I do know that it’ll be another unmissable spectacle.
It all kicks off tomorrow night, and you can download the invitation here…you don’t have to bring it along, but PLEASE do RSVP to Prim Currie by emailing prim.currie@birmingham.gov.uk or call her on 0121 464 1887 so we know how many of you will be there.
All that remains is to tell you to enjoy yourselves…and check back here on Friday for the pictorial evidence!
Comments (0)The Brilliantly Birmingham 2008 Catalogue is Here!
Download the Brilliantly Birmingham 2008 Catalogue and Guide now!
The wait is finally over…details of all of the events, exhibitions and workshops forming part of Brilliantly Birmingham 2008 can be found in the gorgeous catalogue, which you can download by clicking the link above.
Have we mentioned they’re all absolutely FREE!?
If you’d prefer to receive a hard copy of the catalogue in all its glory, don’t hesitate to contact the Brilliantly Birmingham team on 0121 464 1187 and we’ll post one straight out to you. Or why not register using our online form?
Happy Jewellery hunting!
Comments (0)© 2008 Brilliantly Birmingham
