But not as we know it...

Feature by Ellie Hutchings

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery is marking its partial reopening (Thursday 28 April) with an array of exhibitions from some of the city’s leading arts organisations. 

Curatorial & Exhibitions Manager Rebecca Bridgman reveals how the new displays will put the people of Birmingham at the heart of the museum…

After being forced to close by first the pandemic and then essential electrical works, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (BMAG) is finally ready to open its doors again - albeit not fully. 

While the rest of the museum remains shut for the time being, the Round Room and Industrial Gallery will be brought to life by some of Birmingham’s most exciting creatives.

The closure has been a difficult time for BMAG, not least because it meant moving over 36,000 items from the museum’s collections into storage. But with co-CEOs Sara Wajid and Zak Mensah- who stepped into their roles in November 2020 - finally able to showcase their vision for the museum, the future is looking bright.

Rebecca Bridgman, Curatorial & Exhibitions Manager at Birmingham Museums Trust, says that the closure has presented BMAG with the perfect opportunity to bring something different to the people of Birmingham.

“It’s given us a real opportunity to take stock and look at the direction we want to go in. We’re working with some of the most exciting creatives in the city to put on a show that’s basically going to be like a pop-up version of the museum. This is not BMAG as we know it; it's going to be something quite different.”

With the Birmingham 2022 Festival in full swing and the Commonwealth Games on the horizon, it’s certainly an exciting time for the city. BMAG has seized the opportunity to put previously untold stories front and centre in its new exhibitions.

Among the partners working with the venue as part of the Birmingham 2022 Festival are intersectional performance & live art festival Fierce, and mobile arts organisation Flatpack.

Fierce Festival will be presenting its project, The Healing Gardens Of Bab, at various locations across Birmingham. The Gardens, developed in collaboration with LGBTQIA+ communities in the West Midlands, will provide a space in which to celebrate the many sexual identities that are not translatable into English.

For BMAG, Fierce is working with New Zealand-based artist Sistar S’pacific to create a unique installation co-curated with a collective from the city. 

Flatpack’s display, meanwhile, is part of city-wide project Wonderland Festival. The event will map the 100-plus cinemas in Birmingham - from fairgrounds and multiplexes to South Asian extravaganzas and pop-ups. Visitors can join in by sharing their own memories of cinema, watching film screenings or participating in drop-in activities.

Flatpack’s exhibition will look at the history of cinema and its importance to the people of Birmingham.
Other projects that visitors can check out when the museum reopens include a sensory exhibition, curated by Birmingham Music Archive, which celebrates iconic dance & rave venue the Que Club. Titled In The Que, the exhibition features photos by critically acclaimed photographer Terence Donovan, as well as personal artefacts, archive film footage, flyers and posters.

Kalaboration Arts will be presenting Blacklash. The project draws on the work of co-director Mukhtar Dar, an artist and cultural activist who has documented the struggles against racism of Asian and African Caribbean communities across a period of two decades.

An additional exhibition, Unprecedented Times, invites visitors to reflect on the past two years spent living with Covid, the virus’ effect on Birmingham, and the survival of the human spirit during a period of crisis.

The project has been developed in partnership with Birmingham City Council’s Public Health Division and Birmingham Museums’ Community Action Panel.

Casting light on the shared experiences of Birmingham people is a theme that runs through BMAG’s upcoming events and exhibitions. The museum’s commitment to the people it serves is perhaps what makes the venue so important to the city.

“BMAG was founded in 1885, so it has a massive historical presence in the city,” says Rachel, “but we want it to become more relevant and interesting to people going forward. We want to better reflect the people of Birmingham and highlight the stories that haven’t been told before, to give a voice to people who might not have been represented. BMAG is evolving, and we want the people of Birmingham to know that it’s their museum and their collection.

“Displaying Birmingham’s people’s collection is BMAG’s raison d’etre, and those of us who work in museums do it because we want to tell people about art and history and culture. It’ll be a pleasure to see people walk through the doors again and look at the displays we’ve been working so hard on.”

For full details of all upcoming exhibitions and events, visit: birminghammuseums.org.uk