Exhibition: We built this city

Growing up and living in innercity Birmingham I have always been aware of the industrial past and monumental pieces of architecture and structure which carved the infrastructure of my city. Currently Birmingham is undergoing a new wave of redevelopments, gone is the brutalist architecture, with more steel and glass apartment blocks or office space appearing all over the city. It appears the only historic gems near the city centre that remain, are the Jewellery Quarter and the Grand Hotel on Colmore Row which is being renovated to its former glory, ironically as office space. Linking in with the cities redevelopment there is a very interesting exhibition I attended at the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. 'We Built This City' explores resurgence through the 60's and 70's and the Irish community who helped construct and give the city its new identity. A series of stories are told through video footage and historical items on display. The personal lives of the men and women who came to Birmingham are displayed with full time lines, from initially being recruited back home in Ireland to day to day life and the dangers of construction during that era.

The exhibition runs to 28th of May at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery