Two photographic projects celebrating the creation of Birmingham’s new £188.8 million library have been awarded thousands of pounds from Arts Council England.
A total of £62,000 is being given to Birmingham Central Library to commission a photographic project to capture to the existing building, the new building which opens in 2013, and the people involved in the design, construction, transition and relocation process.
Peter James, head of photographs at Birmingham Central Library, said: “The creation of this new, iconic cultural institution is taking place at a time when the role of public library and archive services in the UK are undergoing unprecedented challenges. We aim to create a photography project that will creatively evidence a significant moment in the city’s cultural history.
“The four innovative photographers will be granted unique access to the current building, the new site, key vantage points in the city and to staff involved in the project. Three of them will respond to the construction process and the fourth will make a series of creative portraits of the people involved the design, construction, transition and relocation process.”
The work will be shown in a large-scale exhibition in the new gallery in the Library of Birmingham and on the library’s outdoor display system. It will also be made available in a book published by the library.
Photographer Stuart Whipps, who made a separate application to the Arts Council, will also receive £8,600 towards research, production and an exhibition based on 487 boxes of documents and photographs discovered in a disused room at the former offices of John Madin – who designed the current Birmingham Central Library.
The project is based on the finding of the archived paperwork from the John Madin Design Group which highlighted a tour of libraries in the United States which John Madin made in 1964.
He will re-trace Madin’s steps and photograph buildings as part of his exhibition which will be at the Ikon Gallery from November 30 to 5 February 2012. Some of the images will then form part of the group exhibition at the Library of Birmingham in 2013.
