October ended with a bang and a wail as we threw a devilish halloween fest on Friday 30th...

Two hundred creatives were let loose with a gluttony of wine and pizza, an outlandish band and 200 creatives who didn't disappoint in tjhe costume department. For pics of the night visit our image gallery

DEVELOPING BIRMINGHAM'S DIGITAL DISTRICT - 9.15 - 1pm
followed by a networking lunch

When Lord Carter visited Birmingham the day after the Digital Britain report, Birmingham City Council announced its intention to build upon the hive of digital activity already in Digbeth to create a 'digital district'. But what are the critical success factors for a digital district? How does it look and feel? How can it help boost economic growth and fight the recession?

This event provided a chance for the region's policy makers and stakeholders to quiz other European cities that are further along the journey of developing a digital district.

the event featured speakers from:

Berlin
Barcelona
Birmingham City Council
Digital Birmingham
Birmingham City University
University of Birmingham
Fazeley Studios

STYLE IN THE CITY DESIGNER SHOWCASE: IN ASSOCIATION WITH AREA MAGAZINE - THURS 27 AUGUST 6 - 8PM

A special fashion showcase in a stunning setting!

Our fab Fazeley tenants Furore PR treated guests to a preview of the new ready to wear collection from Birmingham based designer, Sulaimi Brookman.

They enjoyed an exclusive preview of the city's brightest new fashion talent from Birmingham City University and watched the fashion panel unveil the winner of the 2009 Designer of the Future.

BIRMINGHAM JAZZ AUTUMN LAUNCH - WED 16 SEPTMEMBER 7.30 PM

Birmingham Jazz's  very special free party was held at their beautiful new home at Fazeley Studios.

Their fab Autumn Season 09 Programme launched with great live jazz from the Hans Koller Trio.

To see the full programme CLICK HERE

SOCIAL MEDIA CAFE IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE GUARDIAN: APIs, DATA MASHUPS AND CHILLED OUT NETWORKING

Wed 19 August - 6.00pm to 9.00 pm

People are finding increasingly innovative uses for data. More companies and organisations are seeing the benefits of making their information available to others. Various campaigns are demanding that many more organisations follow suit. People are flinging around terms like API, visualisation and mash-up more and more often - do you know what they're talking about?

This social media evening attempted to explain all with a series of expert talks, including the Guardian's web team, along with some networking and free food and wine.

If you missed it never fear as there is a great round up by Chris Unitt on the Birmingham Social Media Cafe blog includingslides by many of the speakers

You can also see what was said on twitter by looking at the hash tag #dmapi

THURS 30 JULY: CREATIVE INVESTMENT ROADSHOW, 2pm -6pm

IT CAN BE DIFFICULT TO UNDERSATND THE INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE TO CREATIVE BUSINESSES.

To help companies looking to grow their business in challenging times Business Link West Midlands, Screen West Midlands and Advantage Proof of Concept designed a series of FREE seminars to provide information on the range of funding support available in the region. Fazeley Studios was first stop on the tour.

The day involved presentations, a chance to talk to people who run the funds, speed networking and then some chilled out banter over some wine and beer.

WED 12 AUGUST 2009 - 10am - 5pm
Be2Camp BIRMINGHAM: EXPLORING WEB 2.0 AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT:

Be2camp was a place for people interested in how the latest web applications and web design techniques (eg: RSS, blogs, Twitter, Wikis, Google Maps, Second Life and Mash Ups) can help build a better, more sustainable built environment - from planning and design through construction to occupation and management of buildings, infrastructure, landscape, etc.

Be2Camp 2008 was the UK's first unconference focused on Web 2.0 and the built environment, held in London in October 2008. Now Fazeley Studios has been home to the first ever Midlands branch of the event, with an unconference and networking.

Visit the Be2Camp website for more details or see what people said on twitter: hash tags #be2campbrum and #catchusifyoucan

TUESDAY 29 JUNE 2009

DIGITAL MISSION ON TOUR ...

Digital Missions are a series of trade missions organised Chinwag and UK Trade & Investment (UKTI). They are specifically designed for UK-headquartered digital SMEs.

The missions encourage overseas expansion, help companies gain a thorough understanding of the local market, attract investment and promote themselves to key players on the international digital scene.

Now Digital Mission is touring the regions. It's a fantastic opportunity to get an overview of how the missions work, gain advice on how best to prepare for a mission and how/when to apply. And of course it will be finishing up with some top notch networking.

Mon 8 - Thurs 18 June:

FAZELEY DIGITAL '09 FESTIVAL

We held a jam packed fortnight of all things digital including talks, debates, un-conferences, swap shops and parties.

Highlights included the Digital Britain Unconference (#dbuc09): a day for grassroots creative companies to debate the Digital Britain report the day after its release. This included a visit from the author of the report, Lord Stephen Carter himself, who held a Q & A session in the Fazeley Studios conference room after being whisked off for a grand tour of the building. It was particularly a highlight for us when he walked through the doors and said: "what a fantastic place to work, I wish I worked somewhere like this".

'My Dad's on Twitter but he Doesn't Know Why' (#mdot). This was an experimental collaborative mindmap event, involving both a physical audience and an online auience who participatd through live blogging and videostreaming. The result was a giant ideas-wall exploring how and why we use social media and how we could use it better in the future (click here for blogs)

Other events were:

• DIGITAL MEDIA DAY: A debate on Birmingham's arthouse cinema scene followed by talks by Paul Bradshaw (making money from online content), Nick Booth (Help Me Investigate) and Iwona Tempowski (The Advantage Proof of Concept Fund)
• HOW TO SELL CREATIVE PRODUCTS:
• CREATIVE SWAP SHOP WITH CREATIVE REPUBLIC: A chance for companies to embrace bartering and swap the skills and products they have for the skills and products they need
• SELLING CREATIVE PRODUCTS: A talk by Steffan Aquarone on how he won national contracts with companies such as Unilever, Vodafone and American Express as director of film company Fullrange.

 The whole event was rounded off with a grand high tea for creatives:

Details of the Fazeley Digital 09 events, including ongoing discussions from various panels and debates, can be found at www.fazeleydigital.com

Friday 22 May:

POST DIGITAL DAY: THE LAUNCH OF MUDLARK

 
Mudlark is a boxfresh new cross platform production company launching in Birmingham with a day of talks from interesting ‘post-digital' people.

As brands and organisations begin to develop and discover a new digital space inhabited by communities and conversations, how do we look beyond the now, to a world where plants are talking to bridges, and anyone can integrate a digital inventory system to see when the robot will pick, pack and send your book?

And importantly how do we live in this space, how do we react and how can we make it enjoyable?

Our newest tenant Toby Barnes explores.

See www.wearemudlark.com/postdigital for details.

Friday 28 May 2009

SCREEN WEST MIDLANDS PRESENTS: POST CARD FROM THE USA

27 February - 3 April

MUZIK KINDA SWEET (Mon - Fri 9am - 5.30pm), Studio 18/19

Fazeley Studios is thrilled to be hosting Muzik Kinda Sweet, an exhibition of photography by Birmingham filmaker, artist and photographer Pogus Caesar.

37 unseen images of iconic black music artists from the Oom Gallery Archives, including rare shots of Stevie Wonder's 1989 sessions at Central Television's Music Studios, Will Smith's visit to Broad Street, Jimmy Cliff at the Academy and the opening night of Grace Jones's UK tour at Symphony Hall Birmingham.

E-MAIL: enquiries@oomgallery.net
WEBSITE: http://www.oomgallery.net
TEL: + 44 0121 456 5534

27 February
THE GRAND LAUNCH: FAZELEY FILM FASHION AND FOTOGRAPHY FEST:

500 of the cream of Birmingham's creatives gathered for our big VIP launch, which included a champagne reception followed by a fashion show from Harvey Nichols and Sulaimi Brookman.

Also on the programme were:

- Muzik Kida Sweet: a photography exhibition by Pogus Caesar, featuring artists from Stevie Wonder and Grace Jones to Jay-Z

- Fashion by illustrious designers Gavin Douglas and Jacob Kimmie

- Warking Warhol's: an exhibition of one off shoe commissions by Rachel Simpson inspired by Warhol's art and displayed among her own vintage rang

- Film by Ikon Eastside Gallery

- A screening by independent producer Rachel Carter, fresh from the world's largest film festival in Clermont

- Installations by Plus International Design Festival.

Thanks to our fab tenants Fullrange we will soon be posting a film of the action, but until then flick through the pics in our image gallery to see what went on.

Also a big thank you to our sponsors who made the evening possible: Harvey Nichols, East Birmingham North Solihull Regeneration Zone (ebns), Barefoot Wine, Adage Models, Furore PR and Lisa Shepherd Hair.

3 March
THE ART OF PLACE MAKING: AN AFTERNOON OF SEMINARS AND CELEBRATIONS IN HONOUR OF THE RIBA’S 175TH AND MADE’S 5TH BIRTHDAYS:

We hooked up with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and Midlands Architecture and the Designed Environment (MADE) for their joint birthday celebrations.

160 architects and planners turned out to see talks by Ted Cullinan (director of the award winning London based Edward Cullinan architects) Dhiran Vagdia (regional chair of the RIBA) and Glenn Howells (Chairman of MADE).

December 2008

TENANTS CHRISTMAS PARTY

A candlelit reception, live music and flowing food and wine. We celebrated our first Christmas with our earliest tenants including Big Button, Capricorn Studios, Rice Media, Substrakt, Fullrange, Adage, Podnosh and Adhere Creative.

PAST EVENTS

27th November 2008

CREATIVE REPUBLIC: MASTERCLASS WITH MICHAEL WOLFF

Creative Republic at Fazeley Studios presented a rare opportunity to work with one of the country’s leading design brains.

Michael Wolff is a big name brand expert, co-founder of iconic brand consultants Wolff Olins. During his career, Michael has been involved with a wide range of global brands and household names including - to name just a few - Audi, VW and Renault and, in the 90’s, working with Neil Kinnock, Philip Gould and Peter Mandelson on the re-branding of the Labour Party. The list goes on.

Last year, as part of the Plus International Design Festival, Michael Wolff gave an interview to The Birmingham Post during which he opioned that, Birmingham needed a creative director to help boost the city's reputation for culture and art.

This November he returned to the city to host an interactive workshop at Fazeley Studios to discuss the brief, the process and the immediate priorities of marketing the creativity of the city.9 September 2008

5th -8th November 2008
PLUS INTERNATIONAL DESIGN FESTIVAL

Fazeley Studios played host to almost 3000 designers from across the world as part of this fab four day festival.

The space was transformed with a series of installations, workshops and lectures. Special guest speakers included Ian Anderson, founder of The Designers Republic, Jeff Willis of Perks Willis Design and Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell. Meanwhile, 9 exhibition rooms showcased the work of the city’s most creative, influential and innovative agencies.

It was also a chance to showcase the city’s newest creative cluster to the national design press, who attended the exclusive evening parties.

CREATIVE REPUBLIC: CREATIVE DIRECTOR WORKSHOP

The paint was still drying on the walls when we gave our first sneak preview of the space to the city’s cultural movers and shakers. We played host to the lobbying/networking body, Creative Republic, for an in depth workshop on the merits of a Creative Director for Birmingham. See our ‘coming soon’ section for a chance to attend the follow up event – a debate with big brand expert Michael Wolff!

24th October 2008
HELLO DIGITAL FILM FESTIVAL: HELLO WORLD AFTERPARTY

From 23 - 26 October 2008, Birmingham launched Digital Film and media festival, 'Hello Digital', the first of its kind in the UK. We hooked up with them to create a glittering Friday night VIP party with flowing food and wine and a private veiwing of Ikon Eastside’s exhibition “The Eternal Now: Warhol and Film ’63-‘68”.

IKON EASTSIDE EXHIBITIONS:

04 September – 19 October 2008
Andy Warhol: The Eternal Now: Warhol and Film '63-'68

This extremely popular exhibition focused on the period of Warhol’s expansive studio renamed the ‘Silver Factory’, displaying key films by Warhol and his collaborators from the earliest period of the Factory.

From 1963 when Warhol bought his first 16mm movie camera, to 1968 when he started to ‘retire’ from film-making, these works chart an extraordinary period of invention. Unedited, filmed in real time, the action unfolds in front of the cameras, the duration of each work corresponding to its subject – for example almost eight hours with Sleep (1963). In these black and white, silent films, challenging notions of how and what could be made and received conventions of cinema, themes emerged around ideas of documentation, most clearly seen in Empire (1964) lasting 8 hours and 5 minutes. Other films shown included Kiss (1963) and Eat (1964).

The exhibition also included the Screen Tests series, portraits of Factory visitors produced from 1964–1966 which became a major element of Warhol’s production at this time. These short four-minute pieces showed individuals such as Lou Reed, Marcel Duchamp, John Cale, Edie Sedgwick, Billy Name, Lucinda and Ondine.

09 July – 24 August 2008
I am what I am

The first exhibition in the UK for Mexican collective Tercerunquinto (a third of a fifth). Artists Julio César Castro Carreón, Gabriel Cázares Salas and Rolando Flores Tovar focused their attention on the porous relationship between inside and outside, smashing through the gallery walls to open up a view of the urban landscape beyond.

During a residency in Eastside in 2007, the artists documented traces left on recently abandoned buildings by former occupants, honing in on bricked-up entrances, marks remaining after the removal of old signage or fissures caused by decay or vandalism. The inscription of language onto buildings particularly corresponds with Tercerunquinto’s established interest in institutional self-definition through architectonic modes.

At Ikon Eastside, the cuts in the walls spelled out the phrase ‘I am what I am’, an open yet ambivalent statement of identity. On the one hand an honest, even humble declaration it might equally be considered an unwillingness to bend. Tercerunquinto’s cutting through the gallery shell also revealed the fragility of an otherwise seemingly tough space. This gesture signalled a broader rupture between art and society inherent in modernity itself, while asserting the possibility of a very fluid exchange between institutions and their surroundings.

27 May – 22 June 2008
SOI PROJECT

Established in 2003 by Japanese architect Jiro Endo and Thai artist Wit Pimkanchanapong, Soi Project is a group of artists, musicians, architects and designers engaging audiences in interactive and social situations. Soi launched Ikon’s new Eastside space in May 2008 with a three-dimensional island,an imaginary land mass made from a composite of satellite images drawn from Google Earth™. The passage of time on the island was simulated through the use of lighting that gradually shifted from night time darkness through brilliant daylight over a 24 minute cycle. Visitors were encouraged to influence the landscape and occupy areas of their choice by attaching templates of buildings, swimming pools and beach umbrellas.