Brum’s heavy heart revealed in new exhibitions

IT’S possibly Birmingham’s biggest cultural contribution to the world... heavy metal music.

Now a series of exhibitions showcasing the impact of the Second City’s unique brand of rock is to return this summer after eight years.

The centrepiece of the ‘Home of Metal’ events will be a dedicated show detailing the history of iconic Brummie band Black Sabbath, fronted by singer Ozzy Osbourne and guitarist Tony Iommi.

‘Home of Metal: Black Sabbath – 50 Years’ will run at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery from

June 22 until September 29.

It will reveal the impact and cultural legacy of Black Sabbath from the perspective of their fans.

The show will contain memorabilia, collections and personal stories demonstrating the extraordinary scale of Sabbath’s fan base.

Home of Metal has been conceived by Lisa Meyer, founder and artistic director of Digbethbased event producer Capsule.

It is returning to Birmingham after an eight-year hiatus, with four other venues also hosting their own exhibitions that will demonstrate heavy metal’s reach into all corners of culture:

The New Art Gallery, in Walsall, will host ‘Alan Kane: 4 Bed Detached Home of Metal’, bringing together personal collections from metal fans and work by leading UK artists. It runs from June 22 to September 1.

MAC, in Cannon Hill Park, Edgbaston will host ‘All This Mayhem’ by artist and craft-maker Ben Venom from June 15 to September 8. The show will use traditional quilting and heavy metal aesthetics and work with repurposed materials to create textile-based pieces.

‘Hell Mouth 3’ by British artist Monster Chetwynd will run at Eastside Projects in Birmingham city centre from May 18 to July 27 where she will centre a large-scale sculpture.

Completing the line-up is Centrala, in Digbeth, which will present two exhibitions and a programme of talks from June 22 to August 11 by award-winning Polish artist Przemek Branas.

He will create a new installation and performance in response to the themes of Home of Metal alongside an exhibition featuring materials such as letters and cassette tapes collected by Polish fans.

Tickets will be available from mid-March and fans can pre-register their interest online at the www.homeofmetal.com.

>Tony Iommi tries out the new Black Sabbath bench which will be installed on Broad Street over the canal. The bench was revealed on Saturday to a select audience of the band’s fans who flew in from across the world