When We Build Again: Revisited
Event essentials
| From | 4 September 2024 at 8:00 AM |
| To | 27 September 2024 at 5:00 PM |
| Booking |
No Booking Required |
| Cost | Free |
| Location | Bournville Village Green |
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This outdoor exhibition of contemporary photography is a collaboration between the artist Stuart Whipps and the historian Matt Houlbrook.
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.
The exhibition runs on Bournville Green from 4 September - 3 October 2024 and at Shenley Court Hall (Green Meadow Road) later on in October. It is supported by and Bournville Village Trust, the University of Birmingham and Birmingham City University.
