Coventry University is proud to be hosting the Black Sound Project in collaboration with the Gallery of Living History and Black Sound.
Alongside an exhibition, which is open Monday to Friday (9:00–5:00) in the Delia Derbyshire Gallery, Cox Street until the 28 February 2025, we have another event, open to all and free to attend.
On Saturday 8 February, 10:00am – 18:00, we have a Heritage Collection Day, where we are inviting members of the public to bring in any object related to their experience of Black/Black music in Coventry: for example, a concert ticket, a record, a photo etc.
Their artefact will then be 2d or 3D scanned, and we will record a short audio clip of them explaining its personal significance to them. The completed scans and audio clips will then form a ‘citizen curated’ exhibition on Coventry Digital platform (https://coventry.digital).
As part of the Heritage Collection day, we also have a series of talks and live performances by local musicians from Sofar (https://www.sofarsounds.com) from 12.00 onwards.
12.00 Performance: TBC
13.00 Sofar live performance – Serena Jasmine
14.00 The Record Store and Black Music: England’s Tastemakers documentary film screening followed by a
Q&A led by Lloyd Bradley, featuring Simon ‘Schooly’ Phillips (Director) & Vejay Mistry (Producer)
15.00 Sofar live performance – John Bernard
15.30 The Importance of Archives – Ben Kyneswood Director of Coventry Digital talks about the significance of archives.
16.00 Champion Sound screening. Coventry’s DIY Culture – sound system discussion led by Lloyd Bradley: Daniella D (Sisters in Dub) + Trevor Evans (Coventry’s early sound system operator)
17.00 Sofar live performance – Daniella D
In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats is a euphoric, interactive VR adventure that transports audiences back to the West Midlands in 1989, during the early days of the Acid House movement.
From poster-strewn bedrooms to pirate radio stations, police headquarters to secret warehouses, you’ll step-into the shoes of West Midlands rave culture pioneers as you go in search of the party.
Witness this social phenomenon first-hand, in an immersive exhibition and explorable virtual world set at the end of a turbulent decade in the UK. Combining Acid House tracks with interactivity and multi-sensory simulation.
In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats brings to life the stories of the promoters, police officers, and rave-goers, whose rivalries and relationships drove a revolution in music and society.
Book your ticket back to 1989 to share in an experience that shaped a generation; to feel the anticipation, the trepidation, the excitement, and the euphoria, that was Acid House. In Pursuit Of Repetitive Beats was originally commissioned and presented as part of Coventry UK City of Culture 2021 and supported by the BFI Film Fund, awarding National Lottery Funding.
After The End Of History: Contemporary Working-Class Photography 1989 – 2024
• Friday 29 March – Monday 16 June 2024
• 10am – 4pm
• Drop in | FREE
Hayward Gallery Touring’s ‘After the End of History’ will bring together working class artists who use photography to explore the nuances of working class life in all its diversity.
The exhibition, curated by Johnny Pitts , explores the challenges, beauty and diversity of contemporary working-class life.
The collection marks 35 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the symbolic end of Communism, with the weakening of the Soviet Union prompting economist Francis Fukuyama’s widely debated claim that Western Liberal Democracy represented an ideal form of government.
https://www.theherbert.org/whats-on/1779/after-the-end-of-history-contemporary-working-class-photography-1989-2024
Meet The Curator! Paintings & Sculpture Tours
• Thursday 15 February
• 10.30am & 1.30pm
• Bookable on the day | Limited availability| FREE
• Recommended for ages 7+, but all are welcome.
Join Martin Roberts, our lead Curator at the Herbert, for a 30-minute paintings and sculpture tour, where you will discover key pieces from our spectacular collection on display.
This is a rare opportunity for family groups to gain insight into the gallery pieces and the working life of a museum curator, with an opportunity for a Q&A.
https://www.theherbert.org/whats-on/1788/meet-the-curator-paintings-sculpture-tours
CASE: Coventry Art Societies Exhibition
• 2 February – 3 March
• 10am – 4pm
• Drop in | FREE
A superb and varied exhibition of artwork by members of art societies and art groups in Coventry and Warwickshire, to include paintings, sculpture, ceramics and much more.
Most work is for sale.
https://www.theherbert.org/whats-on/1778/case-coventry-art-societies-exhibition