On 12 March, following a Feasibility Study supported by Arts Council England, it was announced that Birmingham Centre for Media Arts, which currently trades as VIVID, will close in May. It was a difficult decision to take but necessary in the light of the current economic climate. The Board of Directors are working with the team to ensure that the VIVID legacy lives on through a new entity.

The Garage doors close on 2 May. We are working hard to secure a location and funding for the new project;  including assessing options for the development of  the brand, and the potential of The Garage or an alternative project space to ensure that a new entity becomes a staple of the region’s arts offering. Details of VIVID’s continued legacy will be announced in due course on the website (www.vivid.org.uk), Twitter (@VIVID_) and Facebook page (facebook.com/VIVIDbham), so do continue to follow progress.

If you want to find out more about or support the future VIVID project, please contact yasmeen@vivid.org.uk directly.

The Board of Directors and VIVID staff would like to take this opportunity to thank their funding partners and everyone that has been involved since the company opened in 1992 and they hope to continue the fantastic working relationships they have built up through future projects.

PRESS ENQUIRIES: yasmeen@vivid.org.uk

Editors Notes

Established in 1992, VIVID has become a leading organisation within the region and has achieved a strong reputation for its work with artist moving image and its track record of forging new collaborations between artists, the academic sector and industry. From the little seen work of the Film and Video Workshop Movement; to festivals about Fluxus and new shows from rising British artists such as Venice Silver Lion winner Haroon Mirza, the exhibition programme has won acclaim for juxtaposing new artist research and practice with key historical works and movements.

VIVID has also produced and toured new exhibitions of work like Richard Billingham's extensive and ambitious 'Zoo' exhibition tour to locations including London, Madrid and Melbourne, and Karen Kihlberg & Reuben Henry have over the past year taken new commissions across the UK and to Sweden and Germany. The company has also embedded itself in Europe, with three years of work supporting 16 international artists through the European Media Art Network, developing great connections in Europe and beyond. More recently, the company has introduced a very successful and much talked about series of events called ‘The Garage Presents’, which have been held at VIVID’s project space on Heath Mill Lane.