University News Last updated 11 October 2011
Cultural leaders from some of the most important arts and cultural organisations in the region gathered at Birmingham City University to drive forward a campaign to ensure the city is recognised as a world-class centre of excellence in culture and creativity.
Organisations attending the summit being hosted in partnership with the University and Birmingham City Council included:
The Arts Council England, the BBC, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), Birmingham Royal Ballet, Birmingham Opera, Birmingham Rep, Birmingham Jazz, Big Brum, Thinktank, The Drum, Stan’s Café, Capsule, Ikon, Vivid, Hippodrome, Sampad, 7 Inch and local universities and media companies such as Ember TV.
Birmingham is home to some of world’s finest cultural artefacts – including the largest collection of pre-Raphaelite art in the world and the Anglo-Saxon Staffordshire Hoard – and in response a strategy blueprint is being designed to ensure the city becomes a global showcase.
The Big City Culture event was hosted at the internationally renowned Conservatoire and formally opened by Vice-Chancellor Professor David Tidmarsh.
Keynote speaker Andrew Erskine, Senior Associate at Tom Flemming, a creative consultancy specialising in supporting the cultural and creative industries sector, helped stimulate debate and critical thinking. He said a city with global ambitions needed “confidence, connectivity and creativity”.
The forum coincided with the start of work on phase one of the University’s new City Centre Campus at Eastside, which will create a state-of-the-art facility to directly support creative and cultural excellence in the region. Council leader Mike Whitby said the campus scheme would help Birmingham achieve its global city status.
“Birmingham City University is hosting the Big City Culture event to reinforce its important position as a major cultural contributor,” said Joanna Birch, Head of Enterprise Development, at Birmingham City University.
“The event is about building on the Big City Culture Strategy and follows the major shift in economic focus of the region and the removal of many public funding bodies to provide a sustainable means to develop culture for the long term.”
The Big City Culture strategy blueprint identifies four key themes:
- A ‘Great International City’, ensure Birmingham’s world-class excellence in the arts, culture and creativity is fully recognised
- ‘Next Generation’, investing in the next generation of young talent
- ‘Culture on Your Doorstep’, developing a cultural infrastructure that reaches beyond the city centre and into the wider community
- ‘Creative and Cultural Industries’, focussing on high growth areas and the conditions required for development.