masses at the mac

Over the weekend I spent some time at Birmingham's mac, which is the most visited arts centre in the Midlands with over 500,000 visitors a year. This comes as no surprise when you know that at the mac you can enjoy theatre performances, music, comedy, plays for children, literature and poetry events, courses, family shows, films and free exhibitions. All within a mile of Birmingham City Centre and adjoining the open green space of Cannon Hill Park with its nature centre, play areas, café, shop and bar. Both the mac and the park were full of local people on Bank Holiday Monday; a real example of providing art for the masses that other local authorities would do well to follow.

Currently at the mac are three varied exhibitions:

• Images 31 is the Association of Illustrator’s annual jury-selected illustration award and exhibition. It features the most influential and innovative contemporary British illustration and provides an overview of the wealth and variety of contemporary illustration produced in the UK today, from traditional line drawings to the newest digital techniques by established and new talents of British illustration.
• Beyond the Page explores how historical miniature painting from the Mughal courts has been transformed into a contemporary art form by a new generation of Pakistani artists. Inspired by the traditional art of miniature painting, eight artists have created stunning contemporary work that reflects their country’s turbulent history and their feelings of national identity.
• Time tells you is an installation by Rachel Marsden which investigates the ritual of work, our attitudes towards it and the power of the workplace through clocking-in and out machines, cards and hand written text. Viewers are encouraged to engage and participate with the project by ‘clocking-in’ on an installed machine and writing how work makes them feel on a clocking-in card. These cards are then displayed alongside a photographic series of now redundant machines, in order to represent the contrast of what work was then and is now.