Exhibition Tour: When We Build Again: Revisited

Meet photographer Stuart Whipps and historian Matt Houlbrook as they discuss their outdoor exhibition of contemporary photography focussed on Bournville, outside Shenley Court Hall. The evening will also include a history of Bournville and how it has developed by Bournville Village Trust Heritage Manager Daniel Callicott.

This tour takes place at 5.30pm on Tuesday 5th November and lasts for about an hour and a quarter. Tickets are free.

Weather
Please keep an eye on the forecast as the tour will take place regardless of weather as long as it remains safe for staff and visitors. So please wrap up warm and bring a brolly.

Booking
Booking is essential - tickets will be available of this page soon.
The tour will begin promptly so please arrive in good time and meet outside Shenley Court Hall, Green Meadow Rd, B29 4ED.

Accessibility
The tour requires standing and walking for up to an hour and a quarter and we recommend comfortable shoes. Where there are steps on the tour, there are also level alternatives. If you would like to know more or discuss accessibility then please call the Selly Manor Museum team on 0121 472 0199.

About the exhibition:

What happens to the utopian visions of the past when the world changes around them? When We Build Again: Revisited challenges us to consider what the radical ideas for housing and community that shaped Bournville’s foundation and development should look like faced with our contemporary financial, political, and environmental crises.

Between 1939 and 1943, Bournville Village Trust commissioned the renowned photographer Bill Brandt to document housing conditions in Birmingham. Many of Brandt’s photographs were used in the 1941 report When We Build Again to advocate for better urban planning and improved housing conditions for working people.

Since summer 2023, Stuart Whipps has been photographing all aspects of Bournville life, revisiting the 1941 report as a catalyst for new work. The photographs and text presented in this exhibition are the first iteration of an ongoing effort to create a comprehensive visual record of Bournville today. They aim to prompt a conversation about what Bournville has been, is now, and might be in the future.

Stuart Whipps is an artist based in Birmingham. He has exhibited his work across the UK and internationally and is the recipient of a number of awards. He works predominantly with photography and video with occasional forays into sculpture.

Matt Houlbrook is a Professor at the Department of History at the University of Birmingham. His work focusses on the cultural history of modern Britain, with particular interests in histories of gender, sexuality and selfhood. Recent work has included the Utopias In Crisis, a joint project between Bournville Village Trust and the University of Birmingham.

A brief history of Bournville and how it has been developed will be conducted by Bournville Village Trust Heritage Manager Daniel Callicott.

Host or Publisher Bournville Village Trust