COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: Erdington Arts Forum – celebrating creativity in Erdington and beyond

Words by Hema Chumber

Musicians perform at Evening of Creativity / Pic supplied by Erdington Arts Forum

Erdington Arts Forum (EAF) has been part of Birmingham’s cultural landscape since 2011, providing a platform to support and showcase local Erdington artists – as well as bringing international artists to perform and work across the North Birmingham constituency.

Established as part of the city’s commitment to local arts, alongside nine other arts forums stretching from Sutton Coldfield to Northfield, the Erdington Arts Forum engages with the local creative community both through the opportunities it provides for people to participate in the arts and the regular programme of events it hosts.

Poet performs at Evening of Creativity / Pic supplied by Erdington Arts Forum

One of the EAF’s most recognised and longstanding activities are the Evening of Creativity showcases – a monthly smorgasbord of arts, music, poetry, and community activism, held on the third Friday of every month at Oikos Café on Erdington High Street.

Supported by hundreds of regular attendees, and thousands more watching the EAF’s live stream across the world, the Evening of Creativity events have been running consecutively for nearly eight years – having never missed a month since launching back in June 2017.

The Evening of Creativity even moved to a secure location in Erdington and conducted socially distanced live stream events, maintaining its  monthly schedule throughout the pandemic.

(l-r) Jobe Baker Sullivan and Paul Withers live streaming an Evening of Creativity event during Covid-19 lockdown / Pic by Ed King

Earning a solid reputation as a platform for creative expression in Birmingham, the Evening of Creativity events have featured many notable local acts over the years, including four Birmingham Poet Laureates and the CBSO players, as well as an array of touring and international artists.

While it primarily focuses on the local creative community, the EAF’s network extends far beyond Erdington and Birmingham – fostering links with creatives and performers from across the globe.

In recent years, the EAF has welcomed many international acts into Erdington, including Sicilian pop singer Manuel Cangemi, Portuguese violinist ‘The Tiny Violinist’, Parisian guitarist Gael Guelda, and Indonesian musician Aji Sang Ali.

These international collaborations reflect the group’s dedication to bringing a range of cultural perspectives to Birmingham.

Local artists display and sell work at Evening of Creativity / Pic supplied by Erdington Arts Forum

The EAF is also committed to ensuring any events they promote remain accessible, offering quality performances for people who may not be able to afford arts events elsewhere in the city. Pay as you feel tariffs or donations are also offered as a way to both support the events financially and keep it accessible to a wider audience.

Erdington Arts Forum has also been supporting local filmmakers in Erdington, as across the wider city the nascent broadcast content industry is seeing more investment that ever before – following the achievements and ambitions of content creators such as Steven Knight.

The EAF recently joined with St Barnabas Church in Erdington to finance a short film from local poet and spoken word artist Joe Cook, celebrating the cultural legacy of the North Birmingham suburb.

Joe Cook performing Odeington for film by Chris Neophytou – Pic by Grant Archer

Odeington was written and recorded by Cook, who was born and raised in Stockland Green, with the accompanying film shot by Erdington filmmaker Chris Neophytou. It was filmed in and aroudn Erdington and released in October 2024, in line with the St Barnabas bicentennial.

Looking ahead to 2025, Erdington Arts Forum has a busy schedule with several events lined up, including the return of its annual ‘Triangle Night’ at the February Evening of Creativity.

Held annually, the night will be headlined by local Brazilian music ensemble Forró Tempo, and each artist appearing at will incorporate the triangle into their performance.

Along with the accordion and zabumba (a bass drum), the triangle makes up an essential part of the traditional Brazilian music Forró – which dominates the cultural landscape on Northeastern Brazil and beyond.

Jobe Sullivan, Coordinator of Erdington Arts Forum, told Erdington Local: “All of us here at Erdington Arts Forum are very proud to host events like these and bring together local residents from the area and wider neighbourhoods.”

He added: “We have many bookings in the diary for the year, which we are particularly excited about, such as Forró dance classes, live music, poetry and other arts from across Birmingham City. Erdington will continue to be our focus, and our Arts Forum will continue to be our point of pride.”

Odeington – by Joe Cook / Commissioned by Erdington Arts Forum and St Barnabas Church

Erdington Arts Forum present ‘Triangle Night at the next Evening of Creativity on 21 February – held at Oikos Café, Erdington High Street. For more information and online ticket sales visit www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/triangle-night-evening-of-creativity-february-2025

To get involved with Erdington Arts Forum please email [email protected] or call 07858 219 629.

Follow Erdington Arts Forum on social media at www.facebook.com/ErdingtonArt or www.instagram.com/erdingtonarts

Watch out for more COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT features from Erdington Local, online and in our monthly newspaper.

If you are from a community group or an active volunteer anywhere in the Erdington constituency then we want to hear for you. Please email our Community Reporter Hema Chumber at: [email protected]

 

BACK TO SCHOOL: A magical journey – Discovery class attends The Nutcracker at the Hippodrome

Words supplied by Queensbury School

(Ed’s note – this BACK TO SCHOOL article was first written for the Erdington Local printed edition and published on 17.01.25)

Queensbury students sitting in the Circle at the Birmingham Hippodrome to watch The Nutcracker / Pic supplied by Queensbury School

Just before Christmas, our Discovery class had the wonderful opportunity to attend a performance of The Nutcracker at the Hippodrome.

The atmosphere at the Hippodrome was alive with excitement as the students took their seats, eagerly anticipating the start of the show. From the moment the curtain rose, they were transported into a world of magic and wonder.

It was an unforgettable experience for everyone involved. The students demonstrated exemplary behaviour, representing our school with pride and respect. They were mesmerised by the stunning performance, the artistry of the dancers, and the enchanting storytelling brought to life through music and choreography.

Queensbury students with front of house staff at the Birmingham Hippodrome / Pic supplied by Queensbury School

The trip to see The Nutcracker wasn’t just about enjoying a performance; it was about broadening horizons and inspiring new ways of thinking.

In summary, the trip to see The Nutcracker at the Hippodrome was a resounding success. It not only provided an unforgettable experience but also enriched the students’ understanding and appreciation of the arts.

This magical outing will undoubtedly remain a cherished memory for everyone involved, a shining example of how education extends far beyond the classroom walls.

For more Queensbury School visit www.queensburysch.com

For more for the Birmingham Hippodrome visit www.birminghamhippodrome.com

Queensbury School is part of the Erdington Local BACK TO SCHOOL programme, working together to celebrate school life from staffroom to classroom.

If your school would like to know more about going BACK TO SCHOOL with Erdington Local please email: [email protected]

NEWS: ‘The Game’s Afoot’ as The Erdington Players present award winning murder mystery play

 Words by Ed King / Pics supplied by The Erdington Players

Local amateur dramatics company, The Erdington Players, is set to return to the stage this November with their production of Ken Ludwig’s award winning murder mystery play The Game’s Afoot (Holmes for the Holidays).

Running from 13-16 November at the United Reformed Church (URC) on Holly Lane, tickets will be priced at £9 (adults) and £7 (children under 16). Performances will be held at 7:30pm from Wednesday to Friday, with a 2:30pm matinee rounding up the run on the Saturday.

For direct links to online ticket sales for The Erdington Players’ upcoming production of The Game’s Afoot tickets, click here.

The Erdington Players, which has operated since 1963, has pervious performed family friendly plays and musicals including Goodnight Mister Tom, Peter Pan, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Grease, and is committed to bringing “affordable theatre to the heart of the community.”

The Erdington Players rehearse The Game’s Afoot by Ken Ludwig

Written by renowned American playwright, Ken Ludwig, The Game’s Afoot has kept audiences guessing on both sides of the Atlantic since premiering at the Cleveland Playhouse, Ohio, on 25 November 2011.

The murder mystery tells the story of a famed 1930’s actor, William Gillette, housing a Christmas Eve party for his Sherlock Holmes cast members. But as life imitates art, not all of his festive guests will make it through the night – with Gillette assuming the persona of his on stage detective to solve the case.

The Game’s Afoot was nominated for and won the Edgar Allen Poe Award for ‘Best Play’ following its initial run, with The Erdington Players bringing it across the pond nearly 13 years later to the day.

The show’s director, Colin Bridle, said: “The cast and crew are working hard to deliver The Game’s Afoot, and it’s a fantastic challenge for us to bring such a strong, critically acclaimed script to life.”

The Erdington Players cast of The Game’s Afoot by Ken Ledwig

He added: “This is a show that combines a genuinely gripping ‘whodunnit’ with laugh-out-loud slapstick elements, and we’re sure that our audiences will enjoy watching it as much as we’re enjoying making it.”

While The Erdington Players focus on the upcoming performance, the group has also issued an appeal to the community for help as it looks to recruit new members.

Founded over 60 years ago, The Erdington Players is one of the longest running amateur dramatics companies in the city and want to build both cast and crew to support their aims of two annual productions.

James Cresswell, chairman of The Erdington Players, said: “Delivering quality, affordable community theatre for more than 60 years is a legacy that we’re immensely proud of, and something that we’re keen to continue to offer.

“Our latest production owes everything to the small, passionate group of volunteers that make up our group today.”

He added: “The reality is, however, that we must increase our numbers in order to deliver shows going forward.

“Therefore, we would encourage anyone who would like to join us, whether as a performer, backstage hand, or as a member of our front-of-house team, to get in touch.”

The Erdington Players present The Game’s Afoot at the Erdington United Reformed Church, Holly Lane, from 13-16 November. For a direct link to online ticke sales visit www.ticketsource.co.uk/erdington-the-players

For more on The Erdington Players visit www.facebook.com/urcplayers

NEWS: Evening of Creativity brings international music and musicians to Erdington on 17 May

Words by Lily Higgins / Pics supplied by Erdington Arts Forum

Erdington’s longstanding arts and music showcase, the Evening of Creativity, return to Oikos Café on Friday 17 May – running from 6:30pm – 9:30pm at the popular Erdington High Street venue.

Organised by the Erdington Arts Forum, the Evening of Creativity is one of Birmingham’s longest running music nights and will be approaching its seven year anniversary in June.

Sicilian singer Manuel Cangemi is travelling all the way from Germany for the event in May. His passion for music started at a young age, merging opera, classical music, and together – accompanied by his Sicilian origins. He will be singing songs by legends Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and others.

Drums Aloud will be performing rhythms which have been taught to them by master West African drummers. They will have up to eight drummers at their Evening of Creativity performance, playing on djembe – a hand drum, and dunduns which are bass drums played with a stick with a bell. Nigel Saddler of the group has been teaching drumming for 14 – 15 years.

Also performing are the two piece band Skint, from Tamworth. Skint perform country style music which they call “council estate poetry”. They will play a set of originals tracks which talk about dealing with being ‘skint’ in England in 2024, including songs ‘Cost of Living’ and ‘Cash Converter’.

When you put your hand in Grandma’s biscuit tin you never know what you’re going to get… which is how the band Grandma’s Biscuit Tin invented their named. An ensemble consisting of five 5 eclectic musicians, the band are classically trained musicians with a huge passion for jazz.

Grandma’s Biscuit Tin have been together for about a decade, who just started out as friends and family having a jam session, and their repertoire includes trad-standards with their own twist.

The International award winning Birmingham Opera company will also be performing at Oikos café.

Jobe Sullivan told Erdington Local: “I think Erdington needs to trumpet loudly what a brilliant achievement the Evening of Creativity is. Seven years, 84 events… not including all our satellite events in Kingstanding, Castle Vale, and other places in the constituency.

“It’s so great to have acts visiting us from around the world – Joana Carvalhas on her world tour, a touring group from New Zealand, an opera singer who flew in from Germany the night before.”

He added: “But our bread and butter are the community. Featuring visual artists, and encouraging choirs, bands, from everywhere – and Erdington is at the heart of it. Erdington has a huge heart, and we’ve been quietly kicking-ass here for seven years, come hell or high water.”

The next Evening of Creativity events will be held at Oikos Café on 17 May and 21 June, between 6:30pm – 9:30pm.

For more information and links to online ticket sales visit: www.facebook.com/ErdingtonArts

This content was generated and supported by GET WRITING GET WORKING and LOCAL AMBASSADORS – to get involved in local journalism and find opportunities in the creative industries email [email protected]

NEWS: Kaleidoscope fun day on Erdington High Street, outside Oikos Café – TODAY

By Erdington Local editorial team

Local families and residents are invited to a Kaleidoscope Fun Day (Saturday 16 July), being held TODAY outside Oikos Café on Erdington High Street from 1pm until 6pm.

Completely free to attend, the afternoon will see an exciting programme of live music, street games and sport, arts and craft, and food and drink available from Oikos Café – as delivered by the Kaleidoscope events team.

Kaleidoscope is the shared identity created for the recent Little Amal visit to Erdington, led by Active Arts, where the globetrotting 12m high ‘living statue’ visited the High Street in a special event to highlight the plight of child refugees and displaced people across the world.

The Kaleidoscope Fun Day is another chance for local families and residents to come together to enjoy street games, sport, music, arts and craft, and make new friends through a fun afternoon of family friendly activity.

Local arts and craft organisations will be making fantastic pictures and patterns to decorate the High Street, with UP Creative Community CIC showing us how to ‘upcycle’ old clothes and turn ‘someone else’s discarded items… into something incredibly beautiful.’

Craft workshops will held inside Oikos Café.

Live music will come from a programme of artists, including Jo Baldwin, Collective Sleep, Forro Temp, and Erdington own Cloud 9 – who will be performing a specially written track in celebration of the Commonwealth Games.

And helping to burn off some Saturday afternoon steam, whilst building your knowledge and confidence around foreign languages, the fantastic Liguasport will be hosting special sporting and language activity throughout the afternoon.

Headed up by an elite athlete who represented England in the high jump, Linguasport run sports camps and school clubs – combining sport and athletics with learning foreign languages.

An effective and fun way to learn, as well as exercise, Linguasport will be hosting inclusive sports and language games across the afternoon – with something for all ages to enjoy.

Active Arts Projects Director, Claire Marshall, told Erdington Local: “Saturday (16 July) is going to be a really exciting and special event, with lots for children of all ages to enjoy – it’s a real community celebration.

“There will be lots to keep the children entertained, from street games and sport to lots of hands-on arts and craft. We also have a brilliant afternoon of live music form local bands and musicians from across the city and beyond.

“And it’s 100% free for everyone, with lots going on throughout the afternoon. We hope people can come down to Erdington High Street on Saturday and join us for a fantastic event of fun for the whole family.”

Kaleidoscope Fun Day take place on Erdington High Street, outside Oikos Café, TODAY (Saturday 16 July), running from 1pm to 6pm – 100% free to attend and open to people of all ages.

Kaleidoscope Fun Day is funded by Birmingham City Council’s Celebrating Communities Fund – as part of celebrating the Commonwealth Games coming to Birmingham this summer.

For more on Active Arts and Kaleidoscope visit www.activearts.wordpress.com

NEWS: Evening of Creativity to headline Artume String Quartet on Friday 15 July

Words by Ed King

Artume String Quartet will be headlining this month’s Evening of Creativity event, to be held at Oikos Café on Friday 15 July – as organised by the Erdington Arts Forum.

Made up of classically trained musicians, the Artume String Quartet have been performing together for nearly seven years – since they first met and began playing together whilst studying at the prestigious Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

Now touring across the UK, playing classical concerts, weddings, and high profile corporate events, Artume String Quartet’s line up consists of Leonie Plummer and Lucy Armstrong on violin, Holly Coombes on viola, and Jo Rottenbury on cello.

Coming to headline the Evening of Creativity, the quartet will be playing music from their favourite folk repertoire; a series of original arrangements based on Nordic folk tunes.

Cello player, Jo Rottenbury, told: “We are really looking forward to performing tracks from the Danish String Quartet: ‘Wood Works’ and ‘Last Leaf’. It’s not often we get the opportunity to play folk music together amid our busy schedule.

“There’s a bit of everything in this set – some calmer pieces that build up and then just outright crazy ones. They’re so much fun to play, and we hope we can get some of you stamping along and dancing.

“We’re really excited to bring these beautiful and exciting pieces to the Oikos Evening of Creativity. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.”

The Evening of Creativity is Erdington’s long running monthly music and Art showcase, which has scene acts form all across the world come to play in Erdington.

Launched in 2017, the Evening of Creativity has never missed a month – making it one of the longest running music and arts promotions in the city.

Even during lockdown, organisers established a live streaming service and filmed the events on a closed set the Secret Art Studio Space on Erdington High Street.

Now a permanent fixture on the city’s cultural calendar, the family friendly events at Oikos often sell out – with organisers encouraging people to buy advance tickets through a special Eventbrite page: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/evening-of-creativity-july-2022-tickets-377819808217

This month’s Evening of Creativity will be held at Oikos Café on Erdington High Street from 6:30pm on Friday 15 July, with advance tickets costing £4.90 to £5.98

The event will also be broadcast live via the Erdington Arts Forum Facebook page.

Artume String Quartet showreel 2022

Evening of Creativity – promotional video

For more on the Evening of Creativity and Erdington Arts Forum visit www.facebook.com/ErdingtonArts