Events

Four Stages, For People: Photographs of four venues in Ladywood by Stan and Stephen Morgan

February 2006

Venue: The Town Hall, Lee Bank Community Centre, Symphony Hall, Ladywood Social Club
www.birmingham.gov.uk/libraries

Background
The district of Ladywood, which lies at the heart of the City of Birmingham, has witnessed some of the most dramatic transformations that have taken place within the city’s built environment in recent times.

Within the last 50 years alone members of the local community have witnessed the creation of the Central Library, ICC, Centenary Square, the NIA, Brindleyplace, Victoria Square; an almost complete makeover of Broad Street: the creation of new leisure complexes in and around Five Ways and the ongoing regeneration of Lee Bank.

Throughout the process of re-invention and regeneration there have been evident tensions between the investment in flagship city-centre projects and the perception amongst people living in near-by areas that these have little or no relation to, nor any tangible benefit their communities. Despite significant efforts to address this issue and broaden the demographics of their audience (both in terms of race and class) many of these perceptions remain.

However, in the midst of all these issues and the ongoing process of change, one aspect of Ladywood’s landscape seems to have remained constant – its role as a centre for entertainment and social activity.

This project seeks to bridge the perceived divides and establish dialogues and connections between local communities and these flag-ship venues through a photography project documenting and celebrating this important aspect of social and economic fabric of Ladywood.

Project Description
This initiative will build upon the history of successful partnerships between the Central Library, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, and Symphony Hall around previous photography projects.

The project will focus on four key venues within Ladywood:
•The Town Hall
•Lee Bank Community Centre
•Symphony Hall
•Ladywood Social Club

The father and son partnership of Stan and Stephen Morgan, both of whom have been longstanding members of the Ladywood community, will be commissioned to document aspects of the architecture, life, activities, staff, performers and audiences at these four different venues.

Stan Morgan worked as a stagehand at BBC Pebble Mill. After being made redundant he retrained as a photographer, gaining a degree from Wolverhampton University. His recent exhibition – Sounds and Visions: Photographs of Pebble Mill – documenting Pebble Mill and its staff prior to its closure and demolition was shown during ArtsFest 2004 at Birmingham Central Library and The Mailbox.

Stan’s son, Stephen Morgan is an acclaimed contemporary commercial photographer based in London. He was commissioned to make a series of images about Ladywood Social Club by Colors magazine, and these were published in their special edition on Birmingham published in 2003.

The Morgans’ exhibition – I Was Born an English Catholic, was shown at The Wapping Project, London, earlier this year, and was the subject of features in Blueprint magazine, The Times and The Spectator amongst others.

Outcomes
The project will result in three significant outcomes:-
•a high profile exhibition
•content on the Digital Ladywood website
•a collection of images being deposited in Birmingham Central Library

Following the successful model of The Earth From the Air, the exhibition will consist of 48 large scale images mounted on the hordings around the Town Hall in the first half of 2006. This will ensure a massive audience for the work and offer significant opportunities for local and national publicity for the project.

The images and other associated material, will also form a vital part of the content of the Digital Ladywood website being constructed in partnership by Optima Housing and Birmingham Central Library. This content will go live to coincide with the exhibition project, thereby ensuring virtual access to the material within and beyond the city centre.

The project also opens up the opportunity for significant engagement with the local people by recording their memories about the four venues, and their place at the heart of their community.

The deposit of photographs will ensure the creation of a permanent, publicly accessible archive of the images and associated project material within the Central Library. The project will therefore serve as a means of further promoting the collections of local, national and international importance held in the Library.

The large scale public exhibition will also make a significant contributing to the marketing and promotion of the city; its cultural life, and serve as a significant visitor attraction for people from and beyond Birmingham.

For further information contact:

Pete James
Head of Photographs
Birmingham Central Library
pete.james@birmingham.gov.uk

Paul Keene
Special Projects Manger
Symphony Hall
paul.keene@necgroup.co.uk