I dislike groupings of things, I like to be able to pick an choose my own stuff – be that food from a buffet, items from a website via RSS feeds, or cultural events. Festivals work well when they’re curated by someone with a clear vision, not when they do a land grab and pull anything vaguely related that might have been happening anyway under their cloak. Flatpack doesn’t attempt to include the new Spiderwoman film at the ODEON in their programme, Supersonic doesn’t list every metal gig in the Midlands as part of the fest. That works. The idea of having a “London 2012 Open Weekend” where things unrelated to sport, or to London, or to each other are on doesn’t for me. Especially as they may well have been happening anyway. That sort of annoys me, because individually they’re all interesting things. So here they are, don’t let Sebastian Coe and Boris Johnson put you off: Made in Birmingham: 24 – 26 July 2009 – all day. Exhibition exploring Birmingham’s Victorian manufacturing heritage. Venue: Centenary Square, Broad Street, Birmingham, B3 3HQ. Tickets: Free Admission. Amplifying the Map : 25 July 2009, 11am – 1pm. Rediscover familiar places...
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