I don’t feel at home in this world anymore

Capsule and Vivid Projects present a night of amazing footage from the Alan Lomax archive and Mississippi Records, featuring rarely seen film shot during Alan Lomax’s North American travels between 1978 to 1985 and Mississippi Record’s own enormous library of folk blues, gospel, esoteric, international and punk music. I DON’T FEEL AT HOME IN THIS WORLD ANYMORE takes place on Wednesday 26th June at Vivid Projects.

Eric Isaacson of Mississippi Records will be present and will screen a film of musicians associated with the Mississippi Records label such as one man band Abner Jay, angel channeling Bishop Perry Tillis, Rev. Louis Overstreet and his four sons, legendary folk singer Michael Hurley and many more. Each film segment will be introduced with brief stories about the musicians. There will also be a short slide show that tells the story of the underground music industry and Mississippi Records.

Alan Lomax (January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was one of the great American field collectors of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a folklorist, ethnomusicologist, archivist, writer, scholar, political activist, oral historian, and film-maker. Lomax also produced recordings, concerts, and radio shows in the U.S and in England, which played an important role in both the American and British folk revivals of the 1940s, ’50s and early ’60s. During the New Deal, with his father, famed folklorist and collector John A. Lomax and later alone and with others, Lomax recorded thousands of songs and interviews for the Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of Congress on aluminum and acetate discs.”

“Eclectic independent record label named after the record store located in Portland, Oregon,Mississippi Records specializes in vinyl reissues of American roots, blues, gospel, art punk, and world music, among other recorded obscurities. “

This event takes place on Wednesday 26th June at Vivid Project. Tickets are £5 and available via

First plans for the Library Discovery season

Highlights of the new Library of Birmingham’s four-month Discovery Season, which will run from the opening on Tuesday 3rd September until 31st December, are announced. The season is curated and produced by Capsule, Arts Council England support for the Discovery Season was confirmed earlier this year.

Taking its inspiration from the Library’s internationally-important archives and special collections, the Discovery Season will include:

Playground of Discovery – a specially-commissioned Cabinet of Curiosities created by multi-award- winning artist, Morag Myerscough, housing a rolling programme of creative residencies throughout the Season. Capsule are taking applications for the residency programme until Monday 29th April, learn more here. The Commentators from Stan’s Café, the Birmingham-based artists’ group, will be broadcasting from the Playground of Discovery, as the first of the creative residencies, in the opening week.

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Artist Opportunities

Capsule have announced two call outs for artists to produce exciting work for the Library of Birmingham opening season. We are looking for artists/organisations to take on week long residencies within an exciting space designed by Studio Myerscough (draft image above), and we will also commission an artist/illustrator to create new work to sit in the new Children’s Library.

See below for more information and details on how to apply. You can learn more about the opening season for this exciting new public space in Birmingham via www.capsule.org.uk/project/library-of-birmingham-opening-season

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Curators’ Introductions

Curators’ Introductions
Thursday 21 March, 6.30–8pm
Eastside Projects, 86 Heath Mill Lane, Birmingham, B9 4AR

Join Celine Condorelli, Tom Bloor and Elinor Morgan for an informal introduction to, and conversation around, our new exhibitions‘Puppet Show’ and ‘While it Lasts’.

In ‘Puppet Show’ Eastside Projects is finally revealed as a ‘puppet state’, an art organisation taken over by impersonators, impostors and transvestites, a collection of characters that criticise, debase, mock, undermine or protest in the place and voice of others.

The second gallery hosts ‘While it Lasts’ a screening programme curated by Elinor Morgan. Selected films explore: the production of digital realms, film as a space in which sculptural forms can be presented and the impact that the internet has had on the way that we interact with information, imagery, one another

Film Toolkit: fun with file types

Film Toolkit: fun with file types
Tuesday 26 March, 6.30-8pm
Eastside Projects, 86 Heath Mill Lane, Birmingham, B9 4AR
£4 / £2 conc. / Free to ESP members

Are you having problems with losing quality when you export your digital films? Do your works come out squashed or widescreen when you burn them to DVD and you have not idea why? If so this is the workshop for you…

Artist Reuben Henry (of Karin Kihlberg & Reuben Henry) who has experience of making large-scale artist video commissions will lead this practical workshop on the technical aspects of importing and exporting digital video. He will cover: file types, formats, bit-rates, compression and export settings and will explore what video codecs are and which to use for different scenarios. Henry will share tips and discuss good practice in making and showing digital films, and how to get the best out of your footage whether for a mobile device or the big screen.

This session will be guided by you and what you want to find out, so come armed with your questions and confusions.

Exhibition Launch : Puppet Show

Exhibition Launch
Friday 22 March, 6–8pm
Puppet Performance 7pm
Eastside Projects, 86 Heath Mill Lane, Birmingham, B9 4AR

Please join us to celebrate the launch of ‘Puppet Show’ a group exhibition which sees Eastside Projects finally revealed as a ‘puppet state’ and includes work by film-makers and artists including Edwina Ashton, Spartacus Chetwynd, Geoffrey Farmer, Pedro Reyes, Pierre Huyghe, Simon Popper and Simon Starling.
In the second gallery ‘While It Lasts’ brings together moving image works by David Raymond Conroy, Benedict Drew, Hannah Perry, Matthew Ferguson, Joanne Masding and Matthew Noel-Tod.
For the third iteration of Flatfile Meghan Allbright and Emily Musgrave have been invited to make a new collaborative work in response to this unique space.

A special performance of ‘Empire of Dirt’ by Heather & Ivan Morison will start at 7pm.

Flatpack 7 goes live!

The moment has arrived…

The Flatpack Festival programme has gone live and tickets are now on sale!

It’s time to feast your eyes on the full 11 days of films, exhibitions, installations, shorts, animations, AV spectaculars, live music, restored classics, claymations, parties, walking tours, local history, world premieres, music videos, documentaries, 3D thrills…and…well, what are you waiting for? See for yourself!

The programme is available online HERE

See you there!