2015:

something good

Something Good began as part of Birmingham Cathedral’s 300th anniversary celebration in 2015

Working with artists and communities of all faiths and none across the city, a three month programme of creative activity culminated in a spectacular and moving two day, outdoor arts event in Cathedral Square. Something Good included artworks by visual and graffiti artist Mohammed Ali, poet Mandy Ross, artist Jake Lever and artist inventor Gijs van Bon, together with performance of Skyline Symphony by sound designer and composer Dan Jones, at dawn, solar noon and dusk.

Here is a film about Something Good 2015, created by Joseph Potts

 

What happened?

On Friday 2 and Saturday 3 October 2015, Birmingham Cathedral played host to a unique outdoor arts event in Cathedral Square in the heart of the city. The October event was the culmination of artistic activity for three of four commissioned artists, with a further indoor installation Soul Boats taking place from the fourth commissioned artist in the Cathedral from 29 November 2015 for 3 months.

Artistic Director Orit Azaz brought together this talented group of professional artists from varying faith backgrounds (and none), and from different creative disciplines, to pursue their vision for an artistic celebration which reflected the history of the city in the 300 years since the cathedral was consecrated, and reflected Birmingham’s position as the country’s most diverse city. The artists were – Dan Jones, composer (Skyline Symphony), Mohammed Ali (NOMAD), visual artist, Mandy Ross (Light and Dark), creative text artist, and Jake Lever, visual artist (Soul Boats).

During the six months preceding the outdoor event around 30 groups of many different faith and community backgrounds took part in creative activity in neighbourhood’s and public outdoor events across Birmingham leading to the Cathedral Square event ‘Something Good’. Further groups and individuals took part in Soul Boats workshops.

www.somethinggood300.co.uk – includes more video from Soul Boats installation and stills and text from community activity.

What people are saying…

||Thank you for a magical experience this morning, hearing strange but beautiful sounds and wondering what they were and where they were from. They fed my curiosity and lead me on a path like a trail of bread crumbs into the square to find poetry in the sand spilled on the old stones and images on the lamp posts and in the trees. How lovely to find this richness amongst the shops and the consumer city, to be invited to stop and wonder, like walking through a dreamscape!||

Audience Member, Cathedral Square

“Listening to the symphony as the light was fading because there was a feeling of emotional in the square as we were all connected through either faith, peace, or both or maybe, for some, curiosity...”

Audience Member, Cathedral Square

Something Good was funded by the Jerusalem Trust, Arts Council England, Birmingham City Council and Westhill Endowment (a local private trust, who funded Soul Boats).

Take a look at some photographs from the Something Good project…