New exhibitions planned for reopening of museum and art gallery
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (BMAG) will partially reopen on Thursday 28 April 2022.
After being closed - firstly by the pandemic and then by essential electrical works - BMAG will open seven days a week, from 10am - 5pm.
To mark the reopening, BMAG is being handed over to some of Birmingham 's most exciting creatives. Animating the Round Room and Industrial Gallery, while the rest of BMAG remains closed for essential work, are Birmingham Music Archive, Fierce, Flatpack Projects, Kalaboration Arts and working in collaboration with Birmingham Museums - Don 't Settle in partnership with Beatfreeks.
Having been invited to respond to the theme of 'This Is Birmingham ', visitors can expect an exquisite collision of new exhibitions and live events as well as space to join in and contribute.
Bringing together a striking combination of stories that bridge popular culture and global struggles the vibrant new displays will share different encounters and experiences, playfully turning the theme of 'This Is Birmingham ' on its head by asking the question, 'What 's your Birmingham? ' Visitors will be encouraged to explore and contribute to the many different stories that make Birmingham the fantastic city that it is.
Sara Wajid and Zak Mensah, Co-CEOs of Birmingham Museums Trust, said: “The year ahead is really exciting. Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery has been closed - firstly by the pandemic and then for rewiring - and we 're going to partially reopen in 2022 in time for the Commonwealth Games, and it 's going to feel very different.
“We 've invited some of the city 's leading creatives and arts organisations to animate the Round Room and Industrial Gallery with vibrant new displays that feel much more immediate. We 'll be touching on themes like popular culture, identity and community and there will be a very warm welcome inviting everyone to join in. We can 't wait! ”
BMAG 's reopening will be launched with a radical transformation of the stunning Round Room. We Are Birmingham will reflect the people of 21st Century Birmingham. Co-curated by Birmingham Museums and a group of six young people from Don 't Settle in partnership with Beatfreeks, the new display will present a vivid celebration of the city that Birmingham is now as well as aspirations of what the city could become.
Alongside this, a sensory exhibition will celebrate one of Birmingham 's greatest music venues - the Que Club. Curated by Birmingham Music Archive, In The Que, will feature previously unseen photographs by critically acclaimed photographer, Terence Donovan.
Other exhibitions will include a collaboration between artist Rosanna Raymond and LGBTQIA+ communities in Birmingham, as well as Wonderland - an exhibition showcasing how cinema has shaped the streets, social lives and dreams of Brummies over the past 125 years.
Among others, an additional exhibition will invite visitors to take a moment to pause and reflect on all that has passed in Birmingham over the last two years of living with Covid-19. Unprecedented times will explore themes of hope and loss featuring historic objects from Birmingham 's collection alongside new work and photograph by Birmingham based artists.
Birmingham City Council 's essential electrical works programme will continue at BMAG until 2023/4. From 28 April, it is planned that only the Round Room, Industrial Gallery, Edwardian Tearooms, Bridge Gallery, Gallery 10 and BMAG shop will be open.
All other galleries can still be explored online via the BMAG virtual tour at birminghammuseums.org.uk/bmag/virtual-tour
Opening dates and events in 2022 at the city 's historic properties - Aston Hall, Blakesley Hall, Museum of the Jewellery Quarter, Soho House and Weoley Castle - are also to be announced in the new year.
For further information visit: birminghammuseums.org.uk