In a one-off workshop Jaskirt Dhaliwal-Boora invites you to discover and respond to the archive of German Jewish photographer Lisel Haas, who moved to Birmingham in 1938 after her studio was destroyed during Kristallnacht, and worked prolifically as a photographer, yet remains largely unknown.

In the workshop we will have an opportunity to look at Haas’s archive in the Library of Birmingham. We will then consider the importance of home and migration, and what it means to you to be a woman photographer. Dhaliwal-Boora will work with workshop participants to learn about how we can best amplify the experiences of migration and women photographers.

This workshop is aimed at womxn, and we encourage those who have experienced migration or have a history of immigration in their family to attend. 

Join us for a walk in the Jewellery Quarter exploring the traces of European Migration that has happened in Birmingham since the industrial revolution and continues to today. People from Europe have brought and still bring skills, style of architecture and food to shape this city.

Led by Art Historian Christiane Worth and Designer John Bell

Part of Birmingham Heritage Week 2024

Bertz Associates are currently working on a documentary about the history of roller skating at the Tower Ballroom. We would like to invite members of Birmingham's roller skating community to come and explore this heritage with us at the Library of Birmingham on Saturday 27 July, 11am - 4pm. The event will take place in the Heritage Learning Space on Level 4 of the library.

On 28th June 2024 the Centre for the Sustainable Built Environment at the University of Kent is hosting a 1-day symposium, which is entitled 'Built Heritage on the Margins.' The aim of this symposium to explore the social of value of significant as well as currently unrecognised forms of built heritage.

Iris will be speaking on working with heritage to dream futures, and share the stories behind many of our projects.

There are five sessions with talks and chaired discussions as well as networking opportunities over tea. There is a wide range of speakers, and these will look at the subject from a wider range of different perspectives. In addition to academics, the speakers will include heritage professionals, artists, and community activists and entrepreneurs.

'We've done a bit of match-making here, putting spoken word and film together in the same room. We hope it will be a beautiful, enduring romance rather than a shotgun wedding, but there's only one way to find out...'

Join spoken-word poet and writer Polarbear along with special guests as they dig out short films from the Flatpack vault and share their creative response. 

Bertz Associates is honoured to have our short film Rolling Out Brum selected as one of the films to be screened.

Join us for the next Ladywood Arts Forum at YA Creates in Jewellery Quarter. At the meeting, there will be introduction and networking time, as well as hearing from a number of speakers.

We will be joined by Simeon Shtebunaev who will be presenting on Urban Rooms. An Urban Room is a space where people can come together to help create a future for their local area.

We will also hear from our host Yejide Adeoye, founder of YACreates, a contemporary design business creating modern homewares, jewellery and more.

At the close of the meeting anyone who has any projects/local info they’d like to share will also have an opportunity to do so.

Everything to Everybody?" is a cinematic exploration responding to a wider project connected to Birmingham Library's Shakespeare collection.

This poetic documentary delves into Birmingham's soul, weaving a narrative tapestry that threads through the civic gospel, a cherished Shakespearean collection and the future of Birmingham's Civic Infrastructure. It attempts to capture the city's heartbeat pulsating through time.

Join us for an online screening of the film, along with a Q&A with some of the cast and crew.

Once registered, you will be emailed the link to the event.

In collaboration with Skate Buddies, Bertz Associates hosted six roller skating taster sessions at Brasshouse Community Centre.

Sessions to be lead by Empress and Arron from Skate Buddies.

About Skate Buddies: Skate Buddies enable individuals to repair, maintain, and manage their mental health and fitness through roller skating and other creative mediums.

Rolling Out Brum is celebration of Birmingham's longstanding roller skating community, which breaks boundaries in terms of culture, age and gender - a true grass roots community tethered to the inner city location of Cannon Hill Park.

Learn more about the project and view the trailer here.

Screening at Rapport Festival on Sunday 31 March. 

About Rapport Festival:

Rapport Festival is about creating an African diaspora arts movement, is a call to action, and an invitation to not only ‘take a seat at the table’, but to be integral to building the house that the table is in. To be part of the movement as an artist, arts practitioner, administrator, participator, volunteer, or audience member sign up to our mailing list.

Founded by Lara Samuels (a theatre practitioner frustrated with the lack of diversity and opportunities for African diaspora artists and practitioners), Rapport Festival has been created to redefine the artistic and cultural landscape of the UK.

By placing the spotlight on arts created by African diaspora practitioners and artists from multiple genres and art disciplines, Rapport Festival offers a unique platform that celebrates and elevates African diaspora artistic expression from across the international diaspora.

Seed lights was a light and sound event with animations, poetry, music and live performance at Winterbourne House and Garden. Now on display at Birmingham Botanical Gardens, this exhibition displays video and photographic documentation of the event, drawings, poetry, and paintings by artist Saranjit Birdi.

Join Bertz Associates to tour around the Seed Lights exhibition at Birmingham Botanical Gardens in conversation with artist Saranjit Birdi. Once registered, you will be emailed the link to the event.

"Everything to Everybody?" is a cinematic exploration responding to a wider project connected to Birmingham Library's Shakespeare collection.

This poetic documentary delves into Birmingham's soul, weaving a narrative tapestry that threads through the civic gospel, a cherished Shakespearean collection and the future of Birmingham's Civic Infrastructure. It attempts to capture the city's heartbeat pulsating through time.

Event Info

Film Trailer

Join us for the next Ladywood Arts Forum at Stryx Community Art Cafe in Jewellery Quarter. 

There'll be time for networking, discussing creative projects and upcoming plans, and a presentation by the Stryx team about their new JQ base. 

About Stryx: 

Stryx is an female artist led residency, studios and exhibition space in Digbeth, Birmingham. They recently opened a new community cafe space in jewellery quarter. they host a programme of exciting events, activities, family fun workshops and exhibitions. Stryx JQ site is also an independent gallery, artist led studio, project and exhibition space showcasing work from local and international artists.

As part of our Rolling Out project, we hosted three roller skating taster sessions in collaboration with Skate Buddies. 

These sessions provided a great way for complete beginners to try out skating, and for more experienced skates to find a community.

About Skate Buddies: Skate Buddies enable individuals to repair, maintain, and manage their mental health and fitness through roller skating and other creative mediums.

As part of our Rolling Out project, we hosted several events at MAC's Big Green Weekender:

Sticker Making Workshop

T-Shirt Screenprinting with designs by Skate Buddies

Rolling Out Brum Film Screening and Q&A

Roller Skating Performance by Skate Buddies

Discover an architectural style in the centre of Brum which reflects the new modern age of the inter-war years.

The walk was lead by Art Historian Christiane Worth & contributing writer to Brutiful Birmingham John Bell to explore the often overlooked gems of the Art Deco in Birmingham. Both are passionate about the architectural heritage of the much maligned city

This exhibition has been led by a group of sixth formers at George Dixon Academy in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Inspired by the Civic Gospel and conversation about attitudes surrounding Brum. The aim of the exhibition is to encompass our vivid communities and celebrate the figures and collectives that create our community and culture.

Featuring new work by Poet Simone Word Smith & Designer Sharonjit Kaur Sutton in collaboration with students of the schools.

Skate Buddies enable individuals to repair, maintain, and manage their mental health and fitness through roller skating and other creative mediums.

Rolling Out Brum attempts to capture the essence of Birmingham's longstanding roller skating community. The film was created as a celebration of this group which breaks boundaries in terms of culture, age and gender - a true grass roots community tethered to the inner city location of Cannon Hill Park. 

Sporting Tower is a eulogy to the Tower Ballroom that has hosted so many important sport events of people of all backgrounds. Working with a group of young people, the film celebrates the history of almost 200 years in a mediation of what the place could have been dreamed into with young people’s imagination. 

Join us for a short film and discussion with the artists, followed by a Skating Performance by the Birmingham Rollerskating Community.

Come and join us for an evening to celebrate the screening of the Sporting Tower Films & Podcast "Amplifying Voices". The result of a project with young people of Ladywood and Birmingham responding to the Sports History of the Tower Ballroom Birmingham, at the Edgbaston Reservoir. 

There will be a panel discussion with the director Yonatan Tiruneh, Facilitator Janeel Brown & project lead Iris Bertz, chaired by Sarah Ali. Sarah is a British-Pakistani Photographer whose work has been exhibited widely in the UK. Her portraiture focusses on highlighting community voices from both near and far through the medium of film throughout her time at CIVIC SQUARE where she heads up the film club. 

Led by Christiane Worth , MA Art History

Christiane makes it her mission to share her passion for Art & Architecture and make it accessible to everyone.

The idea is rather simple, what happens when we look up? What do we see? This is something we don’t do very often, especially not in a city we know well. We have our familiar routes, there is no need to notice anything. There are many other distractions, mainly our phones. The walk is an invitation to look and see new things in the city.

We are working with Eastside projects on screening three films as part of a Micro Film Tour Festival: The Same Track, Sporting Tower & Tower of Dreams - 3 exclusive films on sports and Birmingham's heritage.

Words & Walks presents, ‘Women Between The Lines’ a guided walking tour celebrating the untold stories of women in Birmingham. Explore the city through a new lens, as Words & Walks take you on an interactive tour, shining a light on the hidden voices of local real women, both past and present.

Words & Walks presents, ‘Women Between The Lines’ a guided walking tour and poetry event celebrating the untold stories of women in Birmingham. Explore the city through a new lens, as Words & Walks take you on an interactive tour, shining a light on the hidden voices of local real women, both past and present.

Join this panel discussion about the experiences of women navigating and living in the city. When cities are planned, safe environments for women are not being considered and inadvertently public spaces are created that are unsafe. With this event we want to investigate how a more inclusive approach to creating city spaces can be found and how we could make that happen.

Planning, or lack of it, impacts on urban spaces. We will explore whether female artistic responses to living, working and being in the city are uniquely different and how women who have found refuge in the city experience the city.

The event will be at the exhibition “Found Cities, Lost Objects: Women in the City” curated by Lubaina Himid and there will be time to view and reflect on the work on display.

Join us for an evening of debate and exchange of thought on the female experience of the urban environment. Host for the evening will be Danni Ebanks-Ingram who will joined by panellists Deborah Broomfield, Katy Hawkins and Anna Fawcett.

Words & Walks presents, ‘Women Between The Lines: Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery'  a guided walking tour celebrating the untold stories of women in Birmingham. Explore the city through a new lens, as Words & Walks take you on an interactive tour, shining a light on the hidden voices of women, both past and present.