Blast! Festival
Blast! Festival of Photography, Talks & Walks (24 May – 29 June 2019) invited 40 international and local artists, photographers and curators to showcase work, develop projects and collaborate with communities to present stories about every day life.
With exhibitions, film screenings, events, family friendly activities, performances, talks and walks, Blast! was presented on the streets, the Metro line, in shops, libraries and pubs, on historic buildings and in the community spaces of Sandwell. The festival took place over 6 weeks in each of Sandwell’s 6 towns: West Bromwich, Tipton, Rowley Regis, Oldbury, Smethwick and Wednesbury; it was free and open to everyone. We presented 34 exhibitions; held 48 events /workshops; and had an audience of 47,370.
The festival showcased a range of new commissions by diverse contemporary photographers and artists working at the intersection of social practice and documentary photography, made in collaboration with local communities.
At the heart of the festival was the Sandwell Pride of Place Project exhibition by The Caravan Gallery (also known as Jan Williams and Chris Teasdale) who worked with local people to create a portrait of each of Sandwell’s six towns. The exhibition took place in a converted former Poundland shop right in the centre of West Bromwich. Over six weeks visitors made a mark on The People’s Map of Sandwell and contributed to the exhibition by adding their own Sandwell related contributions. All mediums were accepted, including stories, poetry, fascinating facts, memorabilia along with drawings, photographs and sculpture. The response to this exhibition was overwhelming; it was open 4 days a week for 6 weeks and became the central hub to the whole festival, underlining the need for creative spaces within our communities. Watch this space as we’ll be sharing more photos from this exhibition soon.
Blast! Festival Artists & Curators
Andrea Fernandes, Anneka French, Annegien van Doorn, Billy Dosanjh, Brendan Barry, Brian Homer, Craig Ashley, Chantal Rens, Czesław Siegieda, Dawinder Bansal, Emma Case, Emma Purshouse, Erik Kessels, Graham Peet, David Attie, Inka and Niclas Lindergård, Iona Fergusson, Jan McCullough, Janine Wiedel, Jaskirt Boora, Jennifer Pattison, Jocelyn Allen, John Myers, Jon Tonks, Laura Pannack, Liz Hingley, Mahtab Hussain, Martin Parr, Niall McDiarmid, Robert Clayton, The Caravan Gallery, Uzma Mohsin.
Community Partners and Venues
‘Celebrate Sandwell’ via Sandwell Networkers Group; CHAS; Cradley Heath Creative; Dudley College; Guru Nanak Gurdwara (Smethwick); Haden Hill House; Langley Park Lodge and Park; Lightwoods House and Park; Living Memory Project; Sandwell College; Sandwell Libraries; Sandwell Youth Service; Smethwick Heritage Centre; Tibbington Residents’ Association (TRA); Tipton Community Association; The Vine; Wednesbury Museum & Art Gallery; Wednesbury Market; West Bromwich Indoor Market; West Bromwich Town Hall; and Why Not Coffee.
Festival Partners
With thanks to our partners: Sandwell Council; Sandwell College; Creative Black Country; Cradley Heath Creative; Flatpack Film Festival; Centrala; GRAIN; British Gypsum; Canal & River Trust /Birmingham Canal Navigation Society; University of Wolverhampton; Urban Audio Productions / CPL; Hill Shorter; West Midlands Metro; Exterion Media; Taydec; Interbold Ltd.
Blast! Festival was funded by Arts Council England and the National Lottery, through their Strategic Funds Ambition for Excellence programme.
Visit the website; view the festival brochure; and see the evaluation report here.
Mark Murphy Mark Murphy
For a rainy Saturday we have the perfect solution- come to Langley Park Lodge in Oldbury to watch the fantastic documentary Faces Places at 6PM! . Nominated for Best Documentary Oscar, Faces Places follows iconic filmmaker Agnès Varda and street artist & photographer JR as they embark on a road trip like no other, to explore what it means to make a meaningful piece of art. The duo travel across rural France creating portraits of the people they meet, in what is a deeply charming look into the power of community. . Book your tickets on the event section of the blast website. . . . . . . . For a rainy Saturday we have the perfect solution- come to Langley Park Lodge in Oldbury to watch the fantastic documentary Faces Places at 6PM! . Nominated for Best Documentary Oscar, Faces Places follows iconic filmmaker Agnès Varda and street artist & photographer JR as they embark on a road trip like no other, to explore what it means to make a meaningful piece of art. The duo travel across rural France creating portraits of the people they meet, in what is a deeply charming look into the power of community. . Book your tickets on the event section of the blast website. . . . . . . .
Here’s a few pics from the Fun Day on the Tibby, a community day featuring bubble football, a BBQ, kids’ activities and an evening screening of Laura Pannack’s photography project ‘The Cracker’ made with and for teenagers of Tipton. Thanks to our partners Sandwell Youth Service (Just Youth Sandwell), Sandwell Council and the TRA who helped make this happen. . . Thanks also to all the people who took part in the project. If you have been involved, free copies of the magazine featuring photos and text are available to pick up from the TRA, located opposite the Play Park on Tibbington Estate. . . Here’s a few pics from the Fun Day on the Tibby, a community day featuring bubble football, a BBQ, kids’ activities and an evening screening of Laura Pannack’s photography project ‘The Cracker’ made with and for teenagers of Tipton. Thanks to our partners Sandwell Youth Service (Just Youth Sandwell), Sandwell Council and the TRA who helped make this happen. . . Thanks also to all the people who took part in the project. If you have been involved, free copies of the magazine featuring photos and text are available to pick up from the TRA, located opposite the Play Park on Tibbington Estate. . .
Laura Pannack found herself drawn to an area of scrubland in Tipton and the teenagers who hangout there. She was fascinated by how this unassuming space has taken on a greater meaning for the young people that live nearby. ‘The Cracker,’ as it is referred to locally, is a youth club without walls and without rules. “Through a narrow alleyway you enter ‘The Cracker’; rolling grass lined with blackberries and stinging nettles. Motorbikes, peds and quads bark loudly at all times of day. The boys race them until they burn out, perfecting the art of the wheelie. The girls nestle around small fires despite the baking summer sun. Here, everyone knows each other.” Laura Pannack . . . . . . . Laura Pannack found herself drawn to an area of scrubland in Tipton and the teenagers who hangout there. She was fascinated by how this unassuming space has taken on a greater meaning for the young people that live nearby. ‘The Cracker,’ as it is referred to locally, is a youth club without walls and without rules. “Through a narrow alleyway you enter ‘The Cracker’; rolling grass lined with blackberries and stinging nettles. Motorbikes, peds and quads bark loudly at all times of day. The boys race them until they burn out, perfecting the art of the wheelie. The girls nestle around small fires despite the baking summer sun. Here, everyone knows each other.” Laura Pannack . . . . . . . 
Head over to @magentafoundation to see @laurapannack’s Instagram takeover. First photo tells the story behind this image, taken as part of her commission ‘The Cracker’. “We met at ‘The Dipper’, (an anxiety provoking dip in the land laden with bike tracks from brave souls who dared to ride down and lose their stomachs)” The Dipper Laura Pannack . . . . . . . Head over to @magentafoundation to see @laurapannack’s Instagram takeover. First photo tells the story behind this image, taken as part of her commission ‘The Cracker’. “We met at ‘The Dipper’, (an anxiety provoking dip in the land laden with bike tracks from brave souls who dared to ride down and lose their stomachs)” The Dipper Laura Pannack . . . . . . .
Asian Women & Cars: Road to Independence, 2019 / Dawinder Bansal © Mrs Suraksha Asar Asian Women & Cars: Road to Independence, 2019 / Dawinder Bansal © Mrs Suraksha Asar
Forge Programme
Multistory offered 12 West Midlands based artists the opportunity to make new bodies of work for the festival. Chosen through an open call, the Forge artists were invited to create work that reflected the community of Sandwell. They took part in a mentorship programme during 2018, attending masterclasses led by our major commission artists along with practical sessions on fundraising and marketing. They Forge artists were: Anand Chabra, Andrew Jackson, Bethany Kane, Faye Claridge, Kate Jackson, Mark Murphy, Nilupa Yasmin, Rob Hewitt, Sound Kitchen, Stephen Burke, Trevor Pitt and Vicky Roden.
The Forge programme allowed my work to reach a bigger and different audience from what I was exposed to. It allowed me to connect with other artists and practitioners in the field who are in various stages of their arts career. I was able to learn from them as well as bounce off my own ideas and opinions in a positive environment. Making work with, and for, the market place has been a very rewarding process. I had many conversations with the Multistory team regarding how and where I would display my final outcome. Making work that is, firstly, for the people and to tell their stories allowed the sense of belonging, I wanted my work to have.
Nilupa Yasmin
Image: Where can I find this? © Nilupa Yasmin
Press
The Caravan Gallery – BBC Midlands Today
Dawinder Bansal – BBC News Online
Erik Kessels – BBC News Online
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