We would like to invite you to: TELL US YOUR BIRCHFIELD STORY
Following a successful pilot in 2017, the Birchfield Jazz Festival is back, but will be accompanied by an exciting local arts project prior to the event itself.
Re-imagining Birchfield aims to encourage elders within the community to talk freely on their life experiences, with particular focus on their time within the Birchfield area, passing on cultural knowledge and learnings through their stories.

Through the sharing of these stories to a younger generation, the intention is to promote understanding and learning whilst giving the elders a much-needed voice. The young people a given a unique opportunity to interpret what they hear via a number of creative, thought provoking, educational and exciting ways.
Using drama, storytelling, writing, songs, rap, visual art, film and photography to explore the stories, the Ifa Yoruba Contemporary Arts Trust (IYCAT) intends to foster an interest in the young people in their wider community and encourage them to ask questions about their elders and of the surroundings they inhabit.
We’d love you to get involved.

There are a number of ways for you to tell us your Birchfield story – you just need to pick one which suits you…

EMAIL YOUR STORY to iycat@gmail.com and we’ll publish it on our blog on our this website.
Share your stories at our community gathering on Monday May 7th April at the Grosvenor Road Studios in Handsworth where we’ll record them*.

One to One Interviews
Meet us at Grosvenor Road Studios for a one to one video interview on one of the following dates:
Tuesday 8th May – 11am- 1pm
Wednesday 9th May – 6pm – 8pm
Thursday 10th May – 1.30pm-3pm

Invite us to listen
We can come to you – simply call IYCAT Co-founder Kate Luxmoore on 07989 983188 and we’ll arrange a suitable date and time to come and interview.
If you’d like to get involved with this unique project, just let us know how you’d like to share your story and we’ll take it from there.
If you’d like to know more about who the Ifa Yoruba Contemporary Arts Trust are and what we do, please visit www.ifayorubacontemporaryarts.co.uk or call Kate on 07989 983188.

* Please note that we intend to keep all the stories in an online archive as part of the project and we may also use some recorded material in our performances with young people.
We will need your permission to do so. We may also use some recorded material in our performances with young people.