Mac is back as Midlands Arts Centre prepares to reopen
Mar 7 2010 By Lorne Jackson
Video cameras can be installed in the various studios. Linked up to the plasma screens, they will be able to show exhibitions being installed, or what fun is being had in a pottery or dance studio.
Wi-Fi is available, too, allowing the world of the internet to enter the Mac.
One part of the building which I was very anxious to look round was the revamped film screening area. Unlike most major cities in the UK, Birmingham is not blessed with a truly great independent cinema.
The Mac has always had its screen, but in the past I was never that impressed by its choice of viewing material. The cinema is in the same place, but it has now been re-seated, and sound isolation has been added.
But will the viewing options be more varied and interesting than before?
Dorothy nods: “It’s going to be dedicatedly independent,” she says. “Indie, art house...”
And that’s not all.
Plays are going to play a big part in Mac movies.
Major theatrical productions at the National Theatre and other centres of dramatic excellence will be videoed, then broadcast here. Dorothy has more innovative ideas for the big screen.
“I’m interested in exploring things that traditionally happen on small screens,” she says. “For instance, I want to use our screen here to play computer games on a very large scale. Youngsters who play these games usually do so in isolation, in their bedrooms.
“I’d like to bring the games out in the open, so that they can be played as part of a group, while creating a closer sense of community, not isolation.”
Most of the money that has been invested in the Mac was spent on infrastructure.
Top line Apple Macs are also available, for computer programming and design.
The Midlands Art Centre is entering the technological age with a cyber sprint, another aspect of the new openness, of course.
“The internet means you can do anything, anywhere,” says Dorothy.
Next, Dorothy takes me to the gallery, which is imaginatively called The Gallery. “I used to be able to put my hand on the ceiling,” she recalls. “But the new gallery is much higher, which allows us to bring in natural light from the windows.’’
In the Mac’s theatre, everything is new, and seating capacity has been expanded from 220 to 300. It’s a warm and intimate space, even with 80 more seats.
The re-imagined Mac is certainly impressive. Now, at last, it can be the art centre it always should have been. More good news is that the project hasn’t strayed over its £15m budget, and is only three months behind schedule.
Even so, should money be spent on improving an arts venue in a time of deep economic crises?
Dorothy disagrees. “We had reached a point where this building was well past its sell-by date,” she says. “If we hadn’t been able to bring the plans for the building to fruition, it would have closed within two years.”
She adds: “The Mac was much loved, but it was also well-fingered. I was staggered that we managed to sustain an audience when there were so many deficiencies in the building. Now we hope that we can embrace our loyal audience once again, and expand upon that audience, too.
“Our ambition is to reach even more people, in parts of the city that traditionally have no connection with the arts, where the locals believe it isn’t for them.
“The technology that is now at our fingertips can be used as part of our outreach scheme. We can use YouTube and web sites to broadcast trailers outside of this building. Our creative ambitions don’t need to be limited by walls.
“Hopefully there will be many more people coming to the MAC, now it’s new and spangly. The concept of the building is its openness. Nothing here will be closed off or intimidating. People of all ages will be able to try new things without fear of being mocked.
“The intention isn’t just to bring the park into the Mac. Most important is to bring art into more people’s lives.”
The Midland Arts Centre reopens on May 1, with a programme of events. For more details visit www.macarts.co.uk
