This week we hosted a screening of Dawinder Bansal’s film ‘Asian Women & Cars: Road to Independence’ for Sandwell Visually Impaired (SVI), and discussed issues around driving, transport and independence from the perspective of visual impaired people. SVI first experienced the film whilst on a guided tour of Blast! Festival this summer. The group suggested a second screening so that they could discuss in depth the impact their sight has had on their ability to travel.⁣ ⁣ ⁣ ⁣ This event is part of a programme exploring the priviledges of being able to drive, and the freedom that it brings.⁣ ⁣ .⁣ ⁣ .⁣ ⁣ .⁣ ⁣ .⁣ ⁣ .⁣ ⁣ .⁣ ⁣ .⁣ ⁣ .⁣ ⁣ #BlastPhotoFest2019 #DawinderBansal #SandwellVisuallyImpaired #SVI #Sandwell #filmscreening

Head over to @womeninphoto to see @jaskirtboora in conversation with @tania_b.radilla and @hayleighlongman for #FFconversations – Fast Forward: Women in Photo. Each conversation is held between 3-4 artists from various countries, and takes place over Instagram. . . Jaskirt’s project Mitti Di Khushboo – The Smell of the Land was part of #blastphotofest2019 . . . . #womeninphoto #fastforward #FFconversation #FFconversations #jaskirtboora

Thea Brown presenting her practice-led PhD research into informal arts education at our first Blast! Creative Meet-Up We’re looking forward to seeing how this network develops!

We’re pleased to say, tomorrow there is another opportunity to see Dawinder Bansal’s new film commissioned by Multistory. Do you miss driving, or wish you had been able to drive? What does being able to drive mean to you? #SVI, and arts organisation #Multistory are delighted to invite you, your family and friends to a special, free screening of the short film ‘Asian Women & Cars – Road to Independence’. This will be followed by a discussion about what it means to drive or not drive, along with refreshments. Date: Monday 14 October 2019, 1pm to 3pm Venue: Community Room in the Central Library, High Street, West Bromwich, B70 8DZ The film by British Asian artist, @dawinderbansal, celebrates the hidden stories of Sandwell and Black Country, first generation, South Asian migrant women and their cars. It is narrated throughout and lasts about ten minutes. This is another rare opportunity to see the film after it’s first screening at Blast! Festival. During the event there will be a panel discussion that includes Sandra Troth (SVI) and Karren Visser (photographer). The discussion will then be opened up to the audience, where you can talk about what impact your sight has had on your ability to drive and opportunities for greater independence. Everyone is welcome. To book your place for this thought-provoking event, please contact Susan Latham: Tel: 0121 525 4810 Email: Susan_Latham@sandwell.gov.uk Photo Dee Patel, Outroslide

Fantastic day on the #thestateofphotographyiii panel with @grain_projects discussing socially engaged photography and working with communities. @mybcu ⁣ ⁣ Reposted from @grain_projects

⁣Working in the same place for a long period of time and being able to invite photographers to visit several times is an important part of Multistory’s process – photography captures a moment in time, and long-term projects act as a powerful tool for social commentary. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ For Estate Return, we invited photographer Robert Clayton to return to Lion Farm Estate in Oldbury, where he completed his seminal social documentary project ‘Estate’ as a student in 1991. Almost three decades have since passed and Robert’s new body of work continues to explore this working class community.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ “The estate was both familiar, in the sense I grew up in a large low-rise council estate in the Midlands, and exciting, as it was unfamiliar, new to me, strange and offered much to explore. When commissioned by Multistory to photograph the area a generation later, I was determined to document again, in a balanced, inquisitive, and respectful manner, a visual representation of the under-represented.” Robert Clayton⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ The project culminated in an exhibition as part of Blast! Festival and a limited edition newspaper publication is on sale @bop_bristol⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Caption: Estate Return, 2018 Robert Clayton⁣ ⁣ Head over to @bop_bristol for more takeovers in the run up to the festival

⁣ A Room of Their Own is a visual narrative combining photographs, first hand testimonies and original art works. It was created through a series of collaborative workshops with Magnum photographer Susan Meiselas and women in refuge, in the Black Country, over 2015 and 2016.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ A Room of Their Own shares women’s experiences of domestic abuse and the process of entering refuge alone, or with their children, to the collective life within, to then becoming resettled in their own home. The visual narrative emphasises absence in order to protect the women’s identities and, progressively, their presence becomes more visible with the inclusion of their stories and artwork and, in some instances, portraits.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ To mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November 2017, and 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence (25 Nov to 10 Dec 2017) Multistory collaborated with Susan to develop a pop-up exhibition at West Bromwich Indoor Market accompanied by a programme of events, workshops and an artist talk at West Bromwich Town Hall.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ The book was designed by Ben Weaver and published by Multistory.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Captions: A refuge in the Black Country, UK, 2015 Susan Meiselas / Magnum Photos⁣⁣ The photo in the workshop with the hands is: Visual diary workshop, 2015 Alex Nelson⁣ ⁣ Head over to @bop_bristol for more takeovers in the run up to the festival

Visual storytelling can offer a voice to the unrepresented and raise awareness of social issues, acting as a commentary on what’s happening in our daily lives and offering us alternative perspectives.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Out of the Shadows: The Untold Story of People with Autism or Learning Disabilities contains intimate and powerful photographs by photographer Polly Braden, stories written by journalist Sally Williams and first hand accounts. People with learning disabilities and with autism who are in the criminal justice system are seven times more likely to come into conflict with the police than the general population, and account for a third of young people in custody, while they make up 10% of the adults in our prisons. Out of the Shadows offers a side to their stories that is not communicated through statistics.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ The project was commissioned by @multistory and is co-published with @dewi_lewis_publishing – the book was designed by @lorenzklingebiel⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ An exhibition was produced in partnership with @mac_birmingham from 8 September – 11 November 2018.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Captions: Lindsey, Out of the Shadows, 2018 Polly Braden⁣ Wayne, Out of the Shadows, 2018 Polly Braden⁣ ⁣ Head over to @bop_bristol for more takeovers in the run up to the festival.