The Stirrer

Mullaney seeks bloggers support

http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/birmingham- ... 07091.html

How can we make sure we win it this time? And what's the evidence that we deserve it?

The first? Will there be more than one UK City of Culture in 2013?

Quite simple - We don't deserve it. Simply wheeling out the same tired old cliches, Jasper Carrott, Duran Duran, Black Sabbath and Ossy Osbourne just won't cut it when you have a City council who's idea of culture is Broad St nightlife and a City centre full of corporate chains with about as much individuality as a Paris Hilton teenyclone.

How on earth a City council who have made it their mission to eradicate all signs of independent culture in this city by bludgeoning it with noise abatement orders till it stops twitching can suggest bloggers support a bid for city of culture is beyond me.

In comparison with or nearest rival and similar city, Manchester, Birmingham is light years behind. What we lack here is a council with real vision and the guts to get behind and support the real innovators in this city, just think what kind of plce the Custard Factory complex could be with some council backing.
Look at the music venes they have demolished (Foundry, Railway), have helped go out of business (Fiddle & Bone) and want to see die (Rainbow, Spotted Dog).
The Council have a perverted & sanitised version of culture that they want to inflict on us all but I say enough is enough!

I call on Birmingham bloggers to oppose this 'City of Culture' bid and show the Council just what ordinary people think of their hatred of real independent Brummie culture.

I totally agree with GB. That list made me cringe. The council don't have a clue.

No! We shall use council elections to tell our councils what we think of them. I don't disagree that at times they have let us down when it comes to culture, but for goodness sake lets not cut our nose off to spite our face when they are actually trying do something positive for once! I fully support their bid.

As for famous Brummies, may I add Murray Walker and Tony Hancock to the list.

Fantastic.

That is pretty well a perfect summary of where Birmingham is at the moment. I support your.....er opposition.

London is the UK city of culture. Full stop.

Don't forget "we invented the balti, alroight?"

Hmmmm..... maybe.

What a joke. The Council are at this very moment condemning the organ (circa 1902, I think) at the Digbeth Civic Hall to a skip, having paid Wates to demolish it. Savages!

Is that gun culture, knife culture, drug culture or teenage pregnancy culture?

Be positive then. Add your own suggestions

Putting aside for a moment whether Brum is good bad or indifferent what is the actual point in going for this? What would it prove? What would it achieve? Where is the benefit?

Is there money in it ? That's the question.
Leisure Sport and Culture needs more income.

According to the proponents of this bid Liverpool generated millions of pound for its local economy when it became a City O Culture.So whichever City wins this bid should be rolling in it.

Here's the Council press release:

Birmingham City Council today confirmed plans to bid for the title of the UK’s first City of Culture in 2013.

Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw launched a UK-wide competition on Monday, looking to build on the success of the European Capital of Culture event in Liverpool last year.

And Councillor Martin Mullaney, Cabinet Member for Leisure, Sports and Culture, is confident Birmingham has what it takes to secure the prestigious title.

He said: "We are certainly going to bid for this and I firmly believe we have what it takes to be the UK’s first City of Culture.

“We already have an exceptional cultural offer here in Birmingham and this is an exciting opportunity to set a new, even higher, standard, benefiting a population that is amongst the youngest and most diverse in the country.

“Culture is not just a luxury on the fringes of everyday life. The art and culture of a city can play a major role in driving regeneration – look at Liverpool’s experience as European Capital of Culture.

“So I’m happy to confirm we will be working together with our partners in the cultural, private and public sectors and I am confident we can put together a fantastic package that will make us a strong contender for the title.”

I oppose the council having anything to do with this. These titles, and the contests that precede them are pathetic.

Greater Birmingham is 100% on the money.

GreaterBirmingham has a number of very good points - and I cringed at that list as well.
What's more, the responses so far provide a credible basis for a grass-roots anti-corporate-culture campaign.
In other words, any number of people feel that the Council efforts at sustaining and celebrating local culture are inappropriate, and a re prepared to set out a countervailing effort. The tagline for an organised effort could well be 'Birmingham: it's not (the Council's) shit.

On a more positive note, and in line with what Adrian says, let's have your thoughts on what exactly is important to you, locally, culturally. Is it the Saracen's Head, a canalside fishing spot, a street of locally-owned shops? Nevermind the stars and the most visible of culural offers. The things people love and appreciate on a daily basis are far more important. WHat about Moorpool? The Moseley Road baths? The spirit of invention and improvement?

For example, I appreciate the distinctiveness of so many local centres, from Kings Heath to Bearwood, Cotteridge, Erdington and Harborne. I am happy to walk along York Road and see succesful local businesses lining both sides of the street. That's a pleasant antidote to the High Street of nearly continuous chain stores. Similarly, I think of the local parks and the qualities they represent individually and collectively. Each of them is special in its own ways, and bits of all of them are unlike anything anywhere else.

Let's counter the Council's habit of ignoring or ruining so much of what's best about Brum, by coming up with descriptions from ouer own experience and values.

For me, the pride of Birmingham culture is the likes of:

Supersonic Festival

Fierce Festival

Birmingham Opera Company

CBSO

Drop Beats Not Bombs

Flatpack Film Festival

Gigbeth Conference and Festival

Moseley Folk Festival

Birmingham International Jazz Festival

Birmingham Comedy Festival

Soweto Kinch

Project X Presents

The Hare & Hounds

and of course, The Rainbow!!!!

plus, a great up and comer: Mr Elephant

and Id recommend more support for the Moseley Festival - its already strong and undergoing a renaissance - with more assistance it could be a real jewel in the cultural crown.

What we need to do is support and nurture what we already have in a sensible and organised way - not throw money at it blindly or spend millions on advertising campaigns that dont advertise anything in particular, just some brand or other nonsense jargon.

Rich
Xx

nb all the edits are me trying (and failing to make links work - see my blog post for the relevant links if you want them - http://www.richbatsford.com/?p=395)

Good list Rich. How many of those do the council support and how many do they ignore/would they like to close down?