For Birmingham's Artsfest 2006, on Saturday 9 September 12-6pm, VIVID is introducing two international artists to the region.

Canadian based artist Germaine Koh invites local communities to operate Spot Radio – a low power FM radio station stored in a suitcase to provide a mobile tool for the public to air their views and opinions.

If you would like to share your thoughts you can find out more in advance by calling 0121 766 7876 or emailing kaye@vivid.org.uk . Spot Radio will be set up in Eastside Green throughout the day with listening stations at both Curzon Street Station and VIVID. After the event broadcasts will be downloadable here.

The faded grandeur of Curzon Street Station provides an elegant backdrop to a darkly humorous work by German artist Eva Meyer Keller. In this video version of her performance, Death is Certain, the artist systematically subjects cherries to a variety of torturous acts, using everyday household objects such as thumbtacks, irons, plastic cups and balloons, to administer a series of deaths. The brutality of the killing is balanced by the absurdity of the act itself and draws upon the viewers' memories of torture and killing witnessed in movies and the media.

VIVID’s venue on Heath Mill Lane will also be open - a good place to shelter if the weather takes a turn for the worse. Here you will find another listening post for Spot Radio’s FM broadcast and Eva Meyer-Keller’s Death is certain video work. VIVID’s new flexible artist studio pod will also be on display alongside its architectural models and drawings.

Artsfest Background

Artsfest is Birmingham's free annual celebration of the arts. Events, exhibitions and performances take place throughout the city in established venues and public spaces. This year the festival is being extended further across the city to incorporate Birmingham's rapidly developing cultural quarter - Eastside-  which is now home to key regional organisations like VIVID, Ikon, Capsule and Craftspace Touring. The Eastside artsfest programme demonstrates the wide range of artists and cultural organisations that have been developing in the area.

Artsfest Eastside programme

Eastside Green, near Millennium Point, will be the location for the arts picnic. This family event will be open throughout the day including a programme of delightful activities such as a digital coconut shy, table tennis, maritime storytelling, Thai massage, origami and a knitting tea party. Members of the public are invited to bring food, drinks and blankets to while away the afternoon in the company of the artists including Johnny White, Captain Ed, Peter Liversidge, Sir Real, Jacques Nimki, Surasi Kusolwong, DJ La Culpable with Simon & Tom Bloor, Stitches and Hoh, plus highlights from the Mitchell and Kenyon Collection, a treasure-trove of historic films, recently restored by the British Film Institute.

An events map will be available from the Artsfest website shortly, please follow the link beneath the images on the left.