World Premiere

Sheila Ghelani (Hathern)

Softly/Tenderly

Thursday 17 October 2024Sunday 20 October 2024

Belmont Row
Birmingham, B4 7RQ United Kingdom
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Presented with performance, possession + automation and Midland Arts Centre.

45 minutes | £15/13

Softly/Tenderly considers the history of gun-making within Birmingham which is linked to colonialism, slavery, and violence.

A shattered magnifying glass enlarges words from the page of a book including ‘gunmaking skill’ and ‘break of war’. You can also see parts of a silver chain.

Sheila Ghelani

A shattered magnifying glass enlarges words from the page of a book including ‘Bromwich’, ‘Dudderston’, ‘gunmaking skill’ and ‘break of war’. A silver tool is adjusting a silver chain which lays on top of the magnifying glass.

Sheila Ghelani

A shattered magnifying glass enlarges words from the page of a book including ‘Birmingham’. A silver chain lays on top of the magnifying glass.

Sheila Ghelani

A magnifying glass highlights a section of a book, some of the words are obscured by a silver chain, but we can clearly read ‘gun masters’ and later ‘Birmingham’.

Sheila Ghelani

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Softly/Tenderly is a participatory art-work exploring the complicated history of gun-making within Birmingham, but, as the name suggests, does so with care.

Hosted in small groups, those that experience the work get to play a part in the creation and manufacturing of a small precious metal object that they then get to keep. A gift or totem to take away, acting (perhaps) as a gentle reminder of some of the better things industrious hands can get up to – many people making together being a nod towards some of Birmingham’s more celebrated workshop industries, such as jewellery and toys.

For those able to engage with the heavier aspects of history, a piece of print accompanies the work illuminating Birmingham’s role in its lesser talked about trade.

Attentive, pleasurable, gentle and bespoke, Softly/Tenderly is – with intention – the very opposite of everything weapons stand for and do.

Credits

Softly/Tenderly is supported by Arts Council England and commissioned by Fierce and performance, possession + automation, a three-year project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)

Details

Softly/Tenderly runs every hour from 12 pm to 6 pm from Thursday 17 October to Saturday 19 October and 1 pm to 4 pm on Sunday 20 October. The performance lasts 45 minutes.

Access

This work will involve an invitation to make an item out of metal. This will be managed in a way that is safe for people. Audiences may attend and not make the item, and still enjoy the piece.

This show is currently being made. Please check back closer to the performance date for further access information.

       

 

Fierce Says

Gun proofing is a reality of life in Birmingham; every so often, you can hear them firing test ammunition in Digbeth. Softly/Tenderly intervenes in that psychic space, with the possibility of shifting the way we move through the city. Plus, a new work by Sheila Ghelani is always worthy of celebration and notice.

Details

Thursday 17 October 2024Sunday 20 October 2024

STEAMhouse