Do you live in Birmingham and have an interest in the history of the city?

We have the perfect opportunity to get involved in a project exploring our extensive 1980s & ’90s Birmingham archive with We Did It Together; a series of workshops led by artist Gary Stewart which will explore stories of factory workers, nurses, tradespeople and activists who fought to keep jobs during the factory closures and strikes.

Participants can bring their own stories to the workshops, connecting lived experiences and community memories with the archive films and audio recordings that resonate with them. We are particularly excited to share that Gary will introduce participants to the Materialities Montage Mixer, which was first made by the artist for The Ghosts of Songs – A Retrospective of the Black Audio Film Collective in 2007.

The workshops will take place at Northfield and Handsworth Libraries on the dates in bold below, with a focus on stories of people taking action in our streets, shaping Birmingham as we know it today.

Northfield Library:

14th, 20th & 21st January and 4th March

Handsworth Library:

9th, 11th, 30th & 31st January and 8th March

As well as exploring our archive, there will also be opportunities to share your own stories of Birmingham, while gaining new digital skills from a talented artist along the way.

To find out more and sign up for the free workshops click here, or pick up a flyer in Handsworth or Northfield library.