Jan 21 2010: Aerosol Art and Poetry Come Together for Radical Show

Writing on the Wall flyer

Mohammed Ali (aka Aerosol Arabic)’s Writing on the Wall will see the renowned graffiti artist join forces with leading international poets in front of a live audience for a special one-off show at Birmingham Repertory Theatre on Thursday 21 January 2010.

Having established himself in the arts scene for the past decade, Mohammed Ali’s latest project sees an idea thought up four years ago coming to life. With the guidance of legendary Hip Hop theatre director Jonzi D, Ali will accompany three internationally renowned poets on stage for a radical live art show.

The line-up for Writing on the Wall includes Zena Edwards, who has been performing as a professional poet for the last nine years, manipulating the boundaries of language and experimenting with the ways people hear and interpret the spoken word. She will be joined by American poet Amir Sulaiman who has twice featured on HBO’s Def Poetry programme, and Dreadlock Alien, who was Birmingham’s Poet Laureate in 2006. During the two-week lead-up Mohammed will also be working with local visual artists to create unique images, before embarking on the one-night-only performance on Thursday 21 January 2010 in Birmingham Repertory Theatre’s scenic workshop.

Inspired by the theme of ‘3’, the production will build towards a show that interweaves sights and sounds to inspire the audiences’ imagination, provoking thoughts and creative fires. During the performance, live poetry and painting will blend seamlessly in front of and all-around the audience.

Mohammed Ali returns to his hometown following numerous commissions around the world, including New York, Sydney and Kuala Lumpur. He has also gained worldwide media recognition from CNN, BBC Newsnight, Aljazeera and Reuters, and received an award from the hugely respected ITV Southbank Show.

Mohammed said,
“I have been fortunate enough to create art in major cities across the globe, but here in the UK we have our own issues, ranging from the economic crisis to the problems that face multi-cultural societies.

“I’m hoping to create art that will inspire people with hope and positive change by bringing a bit of colour into some of the ugly conditions that exist in the world today, using the arts as the new language for change. People should not underestimate the power of the arts in bringing people together.”

Writing on the Wall is taking place at Birmingham Repertory Theatre on Thursday 21 January. To book tickets contact Birmingham Repertory Theatre Box Office on 0121 236 4455 or visit www.birmingham-rep.co.uk. For more information, visit http://soulcityarts.wordpress.com/

You can also see Mohammed’s art in the workshop for free after the event during public viewing slots:

Fri 22 Jan 4.30 – 6.30pm
Sat 23 Jan 12.00 – 2.00pm
Tue 26 Jan 4.30 – 6.30pm

and hear what he has to say about his work during
In Conversation With Mohammed Ali:
Fri 22 Jan 6.45 – 7.45pm

Although FREE, tickets for the public viewing slots and the ‘In Conversation’ are limited and MUST be booked via Box Office on 0121 236 4455.

Free Gaza Graffitti Mural in Birmingham

Callout: Volunteer Youth Leaders

Fancy making a difference?

Want to gain new skills?

Or use the ones you already got?

Need something for your CV?

Got an idea but no way to channel it?

Then why not become a volunteer!

MYDP Birmingham is looking for young people aged between 16-25 from Muslim backgrounds with a minimum of 2 hours to spare for volunteering activities in the city.

Attached is a brief description of what we are looking for. If you think you have what it takes to become a Volunteer Youth Leader or even if you are curious about volunteering – then get in touch today!

We are hoping to have an informal chat with anyone interested on Monday 29^th December from 2-4pm. There will be Youth Workers and experienced Volunteers available to talk to you about your ideas and more importantly to meet you.

Please email mydpbrum@gmail.com for further information.

Kind regards,

Taslim Rashid
Volunteer Link Worker – MYDP BRUM

BACKGROUND

Britain has a rich tradition of volunteering. It is not odd to find people from all walks of life and ages giving up their time to assist others, campaigning for a cause, improving their community or offering support to someone with a problem. In a given year up to 23 million people will volunteer and research shows that 80% of people would volunteer if asked.

Birmingham is no exception in this regards. Earlier this year a campaign was launched to encourage teenagers to discover the benefits which lie in volunteering. With this in mind the Muslim Youth Development Partnership (MYDP) aims to train local Volunteer Youth Leaders (VYL) who will work with local volunteers to organise and deliver youth activities. The VYLs will use a youth-lead approach and be supported throughout by a Link Worker.

MYDP consists of Catch-22, the Karimia Institute and Muslim Hands, funded by v, the national youth volunteering charity. The MYDP is committed to developing and supporting the provision of voluntary youth work and is working in five cities in England.

–
MYDP Birmingham

volunteer-youth_leader

PVE: Islamophonic: Preventing violent extremism

From the Guardian, the latest issue of the Islamophonic podcast asks some hard-hitting questions about PVE projects in Birmingham, and Nottingham.

“Riazat Butt travels to the Midlands to investigate the government’s £86m fund to prevent violent extremism.

In the November edition of Islamophonic, we’ve travelled the length and breadth of the country – well, Nottingham and Birmingham – to look at the government’s preventing violent extremism agenda. £86m has been set aside for the scheme, but who’s getting the money, why are they getting it, and what are they doing with it?

In this podcast, I speak to members of the public, local councillors, community leaders, ministers, and security experts to find out whether the PVE strategy is working – or if it’s just an expensive way of buying people’s loyalty?”

PODCAST LINK

PODCAST PAGE

Islam Awareness Week 2008: Celebrating the Best of Britain- Promoting Shared Values

The theme for this years Islam Awareness Week 2008 is Celebrating the Best of Britain- Promoting Shared Value.

For a full updated list, please see the Islam Awareness Week events page for Birmingham

http://www.iaw.org.uk/this-years-theme/2008-events-1/2008-events#Birmingham

MONDAY 17th NOVEMBER

Launch of Birmingham IAW
Venue: Birmingham Central Library Theatre
By Invitation only
For more information contact Dr Shamim Sonday on 07931 360 499, shamim63@hotmail.com

Presentations on Aspects of Islam and Healthcare
Venue: Board Room, Ground Floor, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Metchley Park Rd, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TH

12:15    Improving Healthcare for Fasting Muslim Patients    Abdul Satar Itrakji, Cardiac Surgeon
1:15    Transplantation and Muslims                Majid Mukadam, Cardiac Surgeon
2:15    Death and Dying – A Muslim Perspective        Rasha Salih, Oncology Registrar
3:15    Bereavement Care and Muslims                Taslim Kosar, Bereavement Care Officer

Traditional Eastern refreshments will be made available. Just come along – all welcome!
Contact the Chaplaincy Team on 0121 472 1311 Ext 3437, chaplaincy@uhb.nhs.uk

Play by Children on Charity and Giving
Venue: Muslim Students House, 517 Moseley Road, Balsall Heath, Birmingham, B12
Time:  6.00pm – 7.30pm
Light refreshments will be available.  For further details contact Rawaad Mahyub, Event Organiser, on
0121 440 6094 or 07877 114 052, rmahyub@yahoo.co.uk

(Fuller list after the jump)

HMYV Volunteers needed

Hear MY Voice is looking to expand its network in Birmingham and is looking for young female volunteers over the age of 16 to get involved in community based projects in your locality. The project we are recruiting for is the Silver Lining Project which provides after school support to young people in the Small Heath area. We are looking for volunteers who can contribute a minimum of 2 hours per week to HMYV projects and provide mentoring and training to exceptionally bright young children as well as those who are struggling in their academic achievements. You will be working with a team of young dynamic Muslim young women and it will give you a chance to gain invaluable experience in the education sector.

When you become a HMYV member you will:

* Gain member access to our website
* Attend and participate in our residential’s
* The chance to be part of a peer support network made up of  Muslim young women all from Birmingham
* Have the opportunity to contribute to national and local debates affecting Muslim Young People
* Have fun by taking part in many activities
* And much much more

If you are interested in knowing more about HMYV, our projects or to get involved please contact Tasneem Mahmood on 07971 930 655 or email on tasneem@hmyv.org.uk , www.hmyv.org.uk

Tasneem

Heard and Not Seen…

Heard and Not Seen is

an arts project, led by Sandra Hall and Mitra Memarzia with Friction Arts.  The project aims to create a unique, safe space for people to meet and ask questions with each other, of each other; particularly about faith, religion and spirituality.

The exhibition takes the form of a series of freestanding sculptures displaying responsive video projections, photographs, and installations all contained within a surround sound audio environment and based on months of interviews and workshops with a range of citizens

The exhibition opens at the Mailbox on the 7th of November, running until the 28th, before touring to galleries and community venues regionally, nationally and internationally

Muslim community projects under scrutiny

Is the money that goes to local councils to prevent violent extremism being spent properly? Zubeida Malik reports on the groups and projects in Birmingham that have been receiving part of the government’s £80m fund.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7688000/7688135.stm

Guild room 7

At the University of Birmingham?

An invaluable service awaits thee..

guild room 7 is the name of the blog of the Muslim Chaplains at the University of Birmingham.

A fortunate place where both a male and female are available for contact.

(hat-tip to tranquilart for the link)

Ramadan and the Force of Luke Skywalker

Thanks to ME for this….

By Roshan Doug on Sep 24, 08 10:44 PM

http://blogs.birminghampost.net/news/2008/09/ramadan-and-the-force-of-luke.html

I was talking about religion to a friend of mine whilst watching one of my favourite Star Wars films (The Empire Strikes Back). I was telling her that a few years ago someone set up a website petition (somewhere in Australia, I think) asking readers to join a new religion – Jedi! Apparently there’s a certain number of people required to state they belong to Jedi after which it becomes an ‘official’ religion – which means authorities have to acknowledge it as such.

So in the last census (2001) thousands of people wrote Jedi as their religion. Me included!

She thought this was ridiculously stupid and, naturally, wasn’t too impressed. Instead she got me back on track to the seriousness of faith.

Apparently – if my Muslim friend’s knowledge is anything to go by – the last day of fasting is this coming Tuesday (30th September). Now having being accused of being Islamaphobic or downright ignorant, I thought I should educate myself and take part in a cultural/religious awareness building exercise.

So I’ve decided to fast for the final moments of this Ramadan month.

Muslims – like my friend – believe that fasting should make you charitable, appreciative of the plentiful food we take for granted.

This is particularly true of living in the West where, according to reports and surveys, we throw away at least one third of what we buy. We have, for instance, the unimaginable, luxurious supply of water accessible in all homes (and yet, like spoilt children, still we buy bottled water). And, unashamedly, we also have vast, innumerable supermarkets providing us with products like wheat, rice, fruits and vegetables from all over the world – all to satisfy our insatiable hunger – or greed – for variety and quantity.

Essentially in terms of food and drink we’ve got the world at our feet.

What fasting does, as my friend said, is to remind us of how lucky we are to have so much choice and the ability to afford so much. When we’re fasting we remind ourselves of just how much we take for granted, how we owe thanks to the divine being – that ultimate force – that governs and dictates the movements of the universe call it Allah, God or Krishna!

Or as in my case, the Force, Luke Skywalker!

But I’ve decided that I’ll give it a go. So on Monday I’m going to do a proper fast and see how I get on… And I promise to report back during the day and tell you how I’m doing.

Unless I die of dehydration in the process….