CULTURE

Sometimes you have to claw deeper beneath the skin of this city to understand the people and places who help shape our scene – to embrace the weirdly, wonderfully, and woefully Brummie.

Read our CULTURE pages here, including broader features, interviews, investigations, and opinion articles.

Paris Memories: Delicate Yet Uneven Drama Depicts Life After Trauma

Writer Jimmy Dougan / Press Images courtesy of Picturehouse Entertainment How do you recover from something so traumatic that you find yourself physically unable to remember it happening? This is the question faced by Mia ...
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Melati Suryodarmo Performs 12 Hour Endurance Piece ‘I’m a Ghost in My Own House’ – At IKON Gallery Until 3 September

Words Victoria Lane / Photography Connor Pope It is 8pm on a Friday night. Melati Suryodarmo stands in a white room situated on the first floor of the IKON Gallery. The floor is blanketed by ...
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Queers in Space: House of Allure’s ‘Worlds Away’ Glitters At The Nightingale

Writer Yasmyn Nettle / Photographer Connor Pope I recently came back to the UK after spending time abroad. My journey involved grumpy airport staff, turbulence, and long queues. So when I find out the theme ...
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Electronic DJ Ringers’ Journey From Low-Key To High-Key

Writer Jasmine Khan / Photographer Connor Pope Sitting on stools in the Dark Horse that are slightly too big for both of us, DJ and founding member of High Key, Ringers, is telling me about ...
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Evil Dead Rise – A Relentless Sprint Into Hell Screening At Mockingbird Cinema Until 4 May

Writer Jimmy Dougan / Images courtesy of StudioCanal UK Confession time: I’m a massive wuss. A scaredy-cat. A wimp. Gore makes me gag. Jump scares send me flying. So, imagine my delight when I found ...
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Punk Drummer Beckett Kelly-Williams Chats Ahead of TEETUS DELETUS At The Victoria

Writer Ray Vincent-Mills / Photographer Emily Doyle On Wednesday 19 April, Beckett Kelly-Williams drummer – vocalist, artist and video game enthusiast – will be part of DIY rock night TEETUS DELETUS, held at the Victoria ...
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Bridging the Gap Between Birmingham and London with BBC Radio 1Xtra DJ Kaylee Golding

Writer Jasmine Khan / Photographer Andrew Roberts Birmingham to London, it might only take an hour and fifteen on the train, but anyone who has spent time in both cities knows they can be worlds ...
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Creating Inclusive Alternative Spaces With Sister Duo ALT BLK ERA

Writer Jasmine Khan / Photographer Connor Pope For the girlies and enbies especially, alternative gigs can feel like being new kid and trying to sit at the cool kids' lunch table in an early 2000s ...
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Iqbal Khan Directs Of Mice And Men – At Birmingham Rep Until 8 April

Writer Ed King / Photographers Ciaran Bagnall and Mark Senior (production), Kris Askey (publicity) Written as a novel for the stage, John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men has been treading the boards since its release ...
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‘God’s Creatures’ – A Haunting Drama About The Limits Of Motherly Love Screening At Mockingbird Cinema From 31 March

Writer Jimmy Dougan / Images courtesy of A24 What a hat trick for Irish cinema. In May of last year, we were treated to Colm Bairéad’s sublime The Quiet Girl followed by the mournful The ...
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Artum Exhibits Ally Standing’s Photography At Hockley Social Club 05/03/23

Writer Megan Treacy / Photographer Andrew Roberts   To walk into Hockley Social Club today is to find a den of warmth and invigorating sounds sheltered from the bleak white skies outside. Friendly dogs, upbeat ...
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The Joyous Thing #4: Supersonic’s International Women’s Day Celebration Meets Matters’ Echolocations Album Launch

Writer Ray Vincent-Mills / Photograph Ewan Williamson It’s Saturday night at the Old Print Works in Balsall Heath, which means it’s the last event of The Joyous Thing by Outlands - a yearly festival in ...
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Matters Talk About The Making Of Echolocations & Their Album Launch Party On 4 May At Old Print Works

Writer Emily Doyle / Photographs courtesy of Supersonic Recordings Birmingham electronic duo Matters are no strangers to the DIY method, but in the run up to their new release Echolocations (Supersonic Recordings, 03.03.23)  they’re pushing ...
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Lukas Dhont’s ‘Close’ Is A Tender Tale Of Loving Friendship Abruptly Ended

Writer Jimmy Dougan Close is being screened at Mockingbird Cinema from 3 March to 9 March and MAC from 31 March to 6 April It begins in the dark: two boys hiding in a derelict ...
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Grove Talks To Birmingham Review About Their Legendary Pussy (Music)

Writer Jasmine Khan / Photographers Khali Ackford & Luke Tubbs **Grove is playing at the Hare & Hounds on Tuesday 31 January, as part of Independent Venue Week – click here for tickets** “No one ...
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‘All The Beauty And The Bloodshed’ At Mockingbird Cinema From 27/01/23

Writer Jimmy Dougan / Images from Nan Goldin and P.A.I.N Acclaimed photographer Nan Goldin thrives in the edges. Her world is dimly lit, glanced fleetingly in a bathroom mirror or through the cigarette haze of ...
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Passing Fancies Is No Passing Fancy: A Cutting-Edge Bar Built On Community Values

Writer Mark Roberts / Photographer Connor Pope Passing Fancies, open Wednesday through Sunday, is an unassuming glass fronted bar opposite the large ‘Foliage Man’ (I’ve trademarked the name, before you ask) in the Custard Factory ...
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Tom Ford’s Insights On Music, McDonald’s And Home-Cooked Meals

Writer Jasmine Khan / Photographer Connor Pope Heading to The Spotted Dog before hours risks bumping into their seemingly strict landlady, but jazz guitarist and growing local legend Tom Ford says the pub feels most ...
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Dimes Have The Home-Field Advantage At The Dark Horse 22/12/22

Writer Jimmy Dougan / Photographer Maddie Cottam-Allan The Dark Horse chills contentedly in the centre of Moseley Village, the black and gold frontage giving way to the kind of bar that could easily be slipped ...
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>THEM. On How Community Culture Needs To Change In Birmingham’s Music Scene

Writer Jasmine Khan / Photographer Charly Humphreys (Charly Jeane)  Turning up at Mama Roux’s on yet another wet, rainy evening ahead of Episode 1, the >THEM. (more-than-them) collective's first event, it’s clear the raw nature ...
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How Will The Cost-of-Living Crisis Affect The Music Industry?

Writer Mark Roberts / Photographer Connor Pope Like 2020 and 2021 were the years of non-stop COVID-19 coverage, 2022 has shaped up to be all about the cost-of-living crisis, with a brief 10 days of ...
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Caught Up In Medicine Bakery With Local Indie Lad Robert Craig Oulton

Writer Reece Greenfield / Photographers Maddie Cottam-Allan & Reece Greenfield On an uncharacteristically bright afternoon, I sit down with Brum singer-songwriter Robert Craig Oulton in the Medicine Bakery for a coffee, and a revelatory mushroom ...
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ARCH FEMMESIS Are Coming Back To Brum Bishes

Writer Jasmine Khan / Photographs supplied by ARCH FEMMESIS The Sunflower Lounge is the fourth stop on ARCH FEMMESIS’ first national headline tour, following their recent EP release and support of Lancaster based rock band ...
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Reflections From The London Film Festival Screening At MAC 8-16 October

Words by Jimmy Dougan On 8 October, the week Birmingham cinephiles had been counting down to finally got underway at the Midlands Arts Centre (MAC). For the first time, the British Film Institute has gone ...
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Resistance Has A New Sound In Birmingham As ‘For Iran’ Is Sung In City Centre

Writer & photographer Pooyan Kimiyaee Resistance had a new sound across Birmingham, as the song ‘For Iran’ was heard in a demonstration on Saturday 8 October – as residents marched through town protesting Mahsa (Zhina) ...
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House Of Allure’s ‘Tower of Terrors’ Thrills In More Ways Than One

Writer Jasmine Khan / Photographer Connor Pope Before I’m greeted at the door of House of Allure’s Tower of Terrors by two haunted concierges and a glass of prosecco, photographer Connor and I endure some ...
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Reflections On Birmingham’s Silver Anniversary Sober Pride Celebrations

Writer Zenisha Peterkin / Photographer TQ Archive I stopped drinking in excess earlier this year, partly due to the feeling of regret and the crushing headache I would wake up to in the morning, but ...
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Adjei Sun’s ‘Gifted and Black’ Project Comes To Moseley Exchange On 8 October 2022

Writer Jasmine Khan / Photographer Maddie Cottam-Allan It’s 7:30pm on a Monday evening in the Custard Factory and there’s just a few punters chatting outside Auto-Brew. Apart from their gentle murmurs, poet, public speaker, and ...
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Reflections Of A Baby Gay At Birmingham Pride’s 25th Anniversary 23-25 September

Writer Laura Mills / Photographer Maddie Cottam-Allan Now for me, this is my first Pride festival so I really went into it not exactly sure what to expect, but with open eyes awaiting the celebration ...
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Birmingham Pride 2022: Celebrating 25 Years Of Pride Party & Protest

Writer Jasmine Khan / Photographer Maddie Cottom-Allan I’m wearing all black to this year's Birmingham Pride which marks “25 years of pride & protest” across our fair city. As fishy queens, fat queens, disabled queens, ...
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Is Strike Action Selfish?

Writer Reece Greenfield / Photographer Maddie Cottom-Allan & Reece Greenfield We’re all no doubt feeling a lot of fear and uncertainty over rising energy bills, inflation, and economic uncertainty. We’ve no doubt heard (and likely ...
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Bio Arts Birmingham Gets Local Artistic Babs Thinking Big (And Really Small)

Writer Emily Doyle / Photographers Mica Gray & Rob Lockley The first edition of Bio Arts Birmingham Laboratory (or ‘BAB Lab’ for short) brought together open-minded creatives from across the region to experiment with, play ...
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Global Detritus & Artistic Renewal: Abdulrazaq Awofeso OUT OF FRAME At Ikon

Writer Harry Croxford / Photographer Jessica Whitty Abdulrazaq Awofeso is a Nigerian artist and sculptor. He utilises the potential of a seemingly innocuous form of object intimately tied to globalised trade: the pallet. More precisely, ...
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Bassist Jamahl Augustine Speaks On Local Scene Development and Creative Wellbeing

Writer Jasmine Khan / Photographer Daisy Richardson Speaking to Jamahl (Jam) Augustine in one of those healthy, overpriced cafés on a side road just off Pigeon Park, I’m curious to find out about his experiences ...
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Indigo Marshall To Sing At Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony On 28 July

Writer Jasmine Khan / Photographers Paul Stringer, Golden Tie Birmingham based singer-songwriter Indigo Marshall, 25, will be stepping up to perform to hundreds of millions of people as part of the opening ceremony of the ...
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What Is ‘Bio Art’ And Who Gets To Make It? BAB Lab 2022 Has Some Ideas

Writer Emily Doyle / Photographers Matt Gale & Cal Westbrook A new arts festival is coming to various independent venues around Birmingham next month. On 8 – 12 August, Bio Arts Birmingham will present BAB ...
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Exploring Fierce Festival’s Healing Gardens Of Bab With Duckie’s Princess Picnic Promenade

Writer Beth Exley / Photographer Connor Pope For their 25th anniversary festival, Fierce has pulled out all the stops. You may have walked past the New Street Station Key Exchange for their Key to the ...
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Not Just A Gentleman’s Club Brings Glamour To Missing Bar On 1 July

Writer Beth Exley / Photographer Sarah Maiden The upstairs room at Missing Bar is a small but sparkling gem in the heart of Birmingham’s LGBTQ+ community. A baroque style ceiling covered with cherubs and sunset-hued ...
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Navigating A Mixed Existence: Unapologetically Other Exhibits At MAC Until 14 August

Writer Noah Lei Underwood / Photographer Jo Brown  TW: discussion of micro-aggressions and racial abuse Tucked away in a quiet gallery in the MAC (Midlands Arts Centre), I find myself choking up as I send ...
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Adjei Sun Talks Masculinity & Mental Health At The Moseley Hive On 27 May

Writer Jasmine Khan / Photographer Ryan Ridley I haven’t been to The Moseley Hive on Alcester Road before, so I’m particularly excited for I FEEL YOU with Adjei Sun on this sunny Friday evening. ‘Masculinity ...
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Suits in Hardhats: A Guide to Gentrification

Writer Mark Roberts From Shoreditch, to Brixton, to Peckham, London is a great example of how gentrification moves in waves. This process, which uproots local creative scenes and more importantly prices out local communities, is ...
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Music Psychologists – Where Are You?

Writer Mirab Kay / Photographer  How much does music affect you in everyday life? Whether the answer is “a lot” or “a bit”, if you’re reading this you’ll probably agree that music is a vital ...
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Elden Ring’s Roderika: Gaming’s Best Brummie

Writer Billy Beale  When I first met the armourer Yoana in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, I was shocked. This was the first midlands/brummie accent I'd come across in any video game and I was ...
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Digbeth’s Mockingbird Cinema Reopens With Fresh Interior and Second Screen

Writer Rachel Westwood / Photography supplied by Mockingbird Cinema Birmingham has long been home to some great cinema venues in the U.K., hosting a roster of iconic independent venues like The Electric, MAC, and Mockingbird ...
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Noisy Masters And Their Pastas At Muthers Studio

Writer Billy Beale / Lead photographer Joe Parkes – further images supplied by Freshlicker Before attending the Fleshlicker show at Muthers in Digbeth, I had not seen a band play there before. Some live streamed ...
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Old Bort’s Mycophilia Residency At The Hive In JQ

Writer Beth Exley / Photographer Jessica Whitty Walking into The Hive in Jewellery Quarter I’m greeted by the smell of espresso, and a few quiet crafters. The space is light, airy and has that post-industrial ...
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Why 420 Is A Protest Not A Party

Writer Jasmine Khan 1/5 people have smoked cannabis in their lifetime, that’s 20% of the population. And with cannabis being legalised in the land of (not so much) freedom and opportunity, as well as across ...
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Brighton Based Post-Punks DITZ Inspire Local Artist Lottie Canto

Writer Emily Doyle / Photographer Jess Whitty We live in heavy times, and so heavy sounds are called for. You want squalling guitars? Sledgehammer drums? Acerbic vocals? A ludicrously noisy cover of Peaches’ opus, ‘Fuck ...
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Digbeth Community Garden Reopens With More Creative Green Projects

Writer Reece Greenfield / Photographer Kalina Ciok Digbeth Community Garden is an elusive green space, tucked behind Digbeth’s Warehouse Café and Birmingham Friends of the Earth HQ. It’s the first time I’ve had a chance ...
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OPINION: When someone says rape…

Words by Ed King / Lead image provided by Getty Images I want you to remember your best sexual experience. I want you to relive it, in every detail, the most pleasurable and safe experience ...
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FEATURE: Life’s a drag at Birmingham Pride

Words by Eleanor Sutcliffe & Ashleigh Goodwin / Pics by Eleanor Sutcliffe I am not a very social individual. Approaching strangers for a conversation has always been a fear of mine; the idea of forcing ...
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