
Events

Community Choir
The Ladywood Community Choir meets every Friday morning in term time, 10.45am - 12.15pm. We are an inclusive choir led by Singing Medicine Vocal Tutor Marianne Ayling. , which forms part of the Ex-Cathedra Singing Medicine programme. Enthusiasm is all that is required. Come along and have a sing with us!

Kindred Foyer Exhibition
Does art suggest the subject, or the subject suggest the art? How does who we are affect what we create?
Cable uses a process of intuitive representation to draw out forms from his mind, interrogating and questioning them as they take shape; finding dream-like echoes of the archetypes of human and animal kin that occupy within him.

History of Lench's Trust
Lench’s Trust is a remarkable and positive symbol of continuity in a city of seemingly perpetual transformation. In 1525 in Tudor Birmingham, the wealthy and childless William Lenche decided that the income from his estates should be distributed in “warke of charyte”. Since then, generations of Trustees and officials have carried out his wishes diligently, faithfully, and thoughtfully.

President's Address: "What is Life?" With Sir Paul Nurse
In this lecture Sir Paul considers the question “What is Life?” by discussing five great ideas of biology, ranging from the ‘Cell’ to ‘the Logic of Life’. By considering these concepts a direction of travel is set towards a definition of life.

Ruskin Club
Join Ruskin Club as they partake in Thread craft with Samina.
Free for BMI members, £5 for any non-member. No booking necessary.
Ruskin Club - Heroes and Vagabonds'
Join Samina on a re-run of the ‘Heroes and Vagabonds’ walking history tour.
Meet at the steps at the front of Birmingham City Council House at 11am. The walk is under a mile in length and will take approx about an hour and a half.
This tour is free for BMI members and £5 for any non-member.
Ruskin Club - BMI Tour
A tour of the BMI and Library with Samina.
Tour will meet in Reception ready for 11am start.
This is free for all members and £5 for any non-member.

Study Day - William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure (1603/4) & Much Ado About Nothing (1598/9)
Shakespearean comedy promises ultimate reconciliation but this is never achieved without pain and suffering and never includes everyone. Measure for Measure explores the conflict between public role and private feelings that can arise in someone appointed to enforce the law. While the romantic comedy elements of Much Ado About Nothing are often prioritised, the play exposes an instinctive endorsement of stereotypical attitudes.

Oswald Mosley in Birmingham
Before ever becoming Britain’s most notorious Fascist politician, Oswald Mosley was a charismatic force in Birmingham, leading the Labour Party’s struggle to break the iron grip of the Chamberlains and their Conservative adherents. That it succeeded by 1929 was largely due to Mosley’s commitment, his money, his energy and his charm. Within years he had fallen out of love with the Labour leadership, blaming their stolid, unimaginative approach to unemployment; deserting his Smethwick supporters he set out to create a New Party and by 1931 Birmingham Labour voters reviled him and he was violently driven from the city.

Study Day - Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility (1811)
The relationship between mothers and daughters provides the starting point for the exploration of a novel that richly demonstrates a complexity far beyond any simple opposition between head and heart. Mrs Dashwood’s preference for her younger daughter shapes the future for Marianne and the elder, Elinor.

Drawing a portrait tutorial
Join Artist in Residence Peter Tinkler as he draws a portrait in pencil, and you can follow along as he takes you through each step of the process. We'll look at basic shapes, structuring the head, using some classic measuring techniques like comparative and alignment for greater accuracy, and finally placing/adding the features. It will be a head in profile, and Peter will supply the reference for it.

Study Day - W. Somerset Maugham, The Constant Wife (1926) & Edward Albee, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962)
Both plays challenge assumptions about relationships and how men and women negotiate the marital contract. The RSC has commissioned Laura Wade to adapt The Constant Wife (for summer performances in the Swan theatre) and a production of Who’s Afraid… is being staged at Leicester’s Curve theatre this October.

Study Day - The works of Stephen Sondheim
A claim that Sondheim’s achievements may one day sit alongside Shakespeare’s may be a little hyperbolic but the National Theatre’s production of his last piece, Here We Are reminds us of his originality and theatricality. Reference will be made to Follies (1971), A Little Night Music (1963), Sunday in the Park with George (1984), Into the Woods (1987) and Passion (1994).

Study Day - F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925)
The novel brilliantly exploits first-person narrative to craft a narrative which is both personal and yet also holds a mirror up to Long Island society in the jazz age. The Great Gatsby is celebrated as one of the greatest American novels and there are three major filmed versions which provide contrasting perspectives

Study Day - Euripides, The Trojan Women (415 bc)
The play foregrounds the experience of women left behind after the Trojan War. It explores their grief and suffering while exposing how, in war particularly, women are treated by men as commodities. The play is remarkable for the powerful anti-war perspective it offers. We are fortunate to have an excellent, strongly cast film, directed by Michael Cacoyannis (1971).

Study Day - William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair (1848)
The subtitle ‘A novel without a Hero’ signals the book’s position as a trailblazer for nineteenth-century writing. Set during and after the Napoleonic wars, shunning sentimentality, it traces the narratives of two women: Becky Sharp and Amanda Sedley. Their contrasting characters and perspectives upon life and love provide the mainspring of a novel which has enduring appeal.

Study Day - Shakespeare King John (1594-6) & King Lear (1605/6)
Both plays explore the vulnerability, uncertainty and perils of kingship. Instability on the throne, at the heart of government, can all too readily precipitate civil strife and rebellion. Both narratives include a son proudly proclaiming his illegitimacy. The Bastard and Edmund are empowered with contrasting motives and effects.
The Birmingham of Edward Burne-Jones, William Morris and their Circle
Anne Amison’s lifelong passion for the works of Burne-Jones and Morris was fed by many teenage visits to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. Today she continues to share her interest by volunteering as a guide at St Philip’s Cathedral. Her talk will look at how Ned Jones from Bennett’s Hill became Sir Edward Burne-Jones, artist, his lifelong friendship with William Morris, and the great contribution they and their circle made to the artistic and cultural life of Birmingham.

Ruskin Club
Join Ruskin Club as they visit the Birmingham Magistrate’s Court with Samina to view the stained glass windows.
Free for BMI members, £5 for any non-member. No booking necessary.

Creativity and neuroscience: rethinking the mind and reconnecting with the body
Neuroscientists like Lisa Feldman Barrett are challenging established ideas about the brain and how emotions work. What are the implications of these developments in neuroscience and psychology for creative work? What does regulating the nervous system have to do with writing? How might the science of stress management help us dissolve "writer's block"?

Study Day - Discoveries
Films, novels and poetry provide stimulus for a wide-ranging day in which we share works that have proved to be exciting, pleasurable and thought-provoking. The programme for the day is kept open to allow space not only for recently created works, but also to provide an opportunity to share insights that have risen from revisiting drama, rewatching films, listening again to poetry or returning to books read in the past.

Study Day - Shakespeare, Henry VIII (1615) & Julius Caesar (1599)
It is salutary to engage with Henry, this most famous of monarchs, through the lens of the play in which Shakespeare is exploring what was for him fairly recent history. The striking final tableau presents the king cradling the new-born Elizabeth. Julius Caesar is recognised as a play offering timeless insight into the moral and political challenges facing an individual as he seeks to reconcile the conflict between private feelings and public good. Can there be such a definition as an honourable murderer?

Grow your own Creative Writing
This eight-week course is for all writers over 18, whether seasoned or just getting started, who want to bring new life to their writing. The weekly workshops are designed to help you identify what stops you writing and what connects you more deeply with your innate creativity.

Grow your own Creative Writing
This eight-week course is for all writers over 18, whether seasoned or just getting started, who want to bring new life to their writing. The weekly workshops are designed to help you identify what stops you writing and what connects you more deeply with your innate creativity.

Why Don't Democracies Die? Unravelling the History of Citizenship in Ancient Greece
Political events over the last decade or more, including the rise of authoritarian states and leaders, have made one question appear very urgent, namely – how do democracies die? The history of Ancient Greece, however, suggests a different way of posing this question.

Writing Workshop: Finding your flow and building momentum
This course of eight weekly workshops is designed to help you build momentum on a creative project, work on structure, hone your style, solve narrative problems and learn to edit your own work. It's ideal for adults who are already writing - occasionally or regularly - or want to return to writing after a break.

Ruskin Club
Just the Ruskin Club as we join Nuala to share her travel writing from Africa.
Free for BMI members, £5 for any non-member. No booking necessary.

What can the National Censuses tell us?
Regular UK National Censuses have taken place every ten years since 1801 but what can they tell us about the Victorian Literati, their lives, and their households and families. Is it more than just names, ages, and addresses?

Writing Memoir: Bringing your Story to Life
Everyone has a story worth telling. This course helps you to capture the essence of important moments, whether in your life or someone else's. You’ll develop key writing skills, such as how to structure your stories and create vivid details. A friendly and supportive class for new and established writers, with online drop-in sessions between classes to help you keep writing.
Behind the Strongroom Door...
What connection does Sherlock Holmes have with Birmingham? What mysterious item relating to the Second World War wowed audiences of the Antiques Roadshow? And how is archival research misrepresented in shows like Who Do You Think You Are? Mark Eccleston, Archivist at the University of Birmingham, reveals the secrets of the archives held at the Cadbury Research Library.
Stephen Nicol Exhibition
Steve is an artist and traveller who has lived, worked in several countries for 40 years. These include the UK, USA, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Thailand, South Korea, Nepal, Cambodia and the Sudan.
The paintings on show here are oil paintings representing those countries like a travelogue.

Study Day - William Golding, Lord of the Flies (1954)
This is a seminal work. its status has been achieved as a result of the searing insight the novel offers into the ways in which human beings react when thrust into an alien, isolated environment. William Golding is a remarkable novelist and his writing is stylish, astute and powerful. Peter Brook’s film (released in 1963) is universally acclaimed and i shall also share insights into the novel, the making of the film and its aftermath revealed in a television documentary featuring its cast and director thirty-five years after the film’s creation.

How Do New Legal Rights Emerge? From Ancient Inscriptions to Modern Courts
Where do rights come from? In the modern world the idea of rights – of citizens’ rights and human rights – is ubiquitous and their source is apparently obvious.

Study Day - Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1813)
This is the first in what will be a series of Study Days looking at the roles and importance of the family in Jane Austen’s novels. This day will focus upon sisters. There will be a consideration of not only the five Bennet sisters but also the contribution made by others, such as the sisters of Bingley and Darcy.

Reality: the mind and the matter
What is reality? Is what we experience in our lives real or mere shadows?
By means of allegory, illusion and a sprinkling of quantum physics we come to realise that Plato’s Cave is an adequate metaphor, helping us realise the incomprehensibility of The Real.

Study Day - Shakespeare, Henry VI Parts I, II & III (1589-92)
The reputation of these plays has been hampered over time by their unexciting titles and the unfair perception that as plays written by Shakespeare early in his career they are less worthy of consideration. i aim to dispel this prejudice! I shall deal with each play in its own right but also i will consider the three plays as a trilogy.

Austen Chamberlain and the Burden of Expectation
From his birth in 1863 Austen Chamberlain was groomed for the highest public office by his father Joseph Chamberlain, one of the great figures of Victorian and Edwardian England.

Study Day - J.B Priestley, Time and the Conways (1937) & Harold Pinter, Betrayal (1978)
Although these two plays are very different dramatists, the plays have a striking similarity. In the construction both Priestley and Pinter have chosen to disrupt the chronology of the action which has a powerful impact on how the audience receives and responds to characters’ actions and behaviour.

A Nation Unprepared
Apprenticeship in Britain - that is, vocational education based on the learner as a junior employee - once served as the transition between compulsory schooling and adulthood. It provided new entrants to the workforce not just with specific techniques, but with broader occupational competence.

Study Day - Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights (1847)
This novel is renowned for the passion and intensity of the relationship between Cathy and Heathcliff. The environment and landscape exert a powerful influence but perhaps the novel’s greatness also lies in the skilfully layered and complex structure.

Complexity and Contradiction in Conservation
We will be joined by Matthew Vaughan of Donald Insall Associates, one of the world’s leading specialist architectural firms focused on the care, repair, adaptation and conservation of historic buildings. Established over 60 years ago the practice has pioneered a creative approach to conservation, centred on the belief that change is continuous and buildings are, in effect, ‘alive’.

William Shakespeare, Henry V (1599)
This play is frequently celebrated as a stirringly patriotic call to arms. It is quoted at moments of national crisis and on the rugby field. However, Shakespeare’s play is more complex.

Grow Your Own: a course in cultivating, nourishing and sustaining a creative writing practice.
Do you want to write, but find it hard to get started or build momentum? Maybe your writing has fallen flat and your ideas feel tired, or you've got so many demands on your time and energy that writing feels like a luxury you can't afford. Wherever you're at, this course can help. Each week we'll explore a different way into writing through practical, playful experiments. You'll learn how to dismantle blocks to creativity, how to keep feeding your imagination, how to bring new life into your writing, and how to keep your writing going.

Crafting Your Writing: a course in developing skills and techniques that bring your words to life
In this course, you’ll explore techniques that help you create compelling characters, believable settings and convincing dialogue. We’ll look at different ways of plotting, balancing detail and description, and playing with viewpoint to create different effects. We’ll consider how other writers create convincing narratives and apply what we learn to our own writing. Our classes are friendly and supportive, and we welcome new and more established writers.

Comets in Art and Science
BMI Scientist in Residence Dr James Dawson looks at the representation of comets in art, backed up with a sprinkling of science.

Sharing Your Story: A Life Writing Course
Everyone has a story worth telling. Whether you want to share yours with friends, family or a wider audience, this course helps you to capture the essence of important moments in your life. You’ll develop key writing skills, such as how to structure your stories and create vivid details. No previous writing experience necessary.

Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo (1844-46)
What is generally judged to be Alexandre Dumas’s greatest novel has generated a wide range of screen versions. Do the vicissitudes suffered by Edmond Dantes justify the theatricality of his actions? However much we may sympathise with his desire for revenge, there are challenging moral questions to be confronted.