Those Were The Decades – 2000s

2000s: The Age of Turbulence
Meeting Room 104
Conference Suite, Level 1, Library of Birmingham, Centenary Square, Broad Street, Birmingham, B1 2ND

A series of special events focusing on the five decades of Ikon’s history and the social, political and cultural context, including talks, debates and film screenings.

11am–12pm – illustrated talk
Richard House
Senior Lecturer in creative writing at the University of Birmingham, Richard House is the author of The Kills (2013), a series of four digitally augmented novels which focus on the aftermath of the Iraq conflict. Here he presents sections and short videos from the Booker long-listed project, set in Europe, America and the Middle East.

12.15–1.30pm – panel discussion
Ikon in the 2000s
Chaired by Ikon Director Jonathan Watkins, with Helen Legg, Director of Spike Island, artist Ruth Claxton and Nancy Evans, Director of Learning, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.

2.30–3.15pm – archive session
Exploring the Archives with Dr Chris Upton
Join Library Archive Manager Rachel MacGregor and local historian Dr Chris Upton, Newman University College, as they explore rarely seen material from the 2000s.

3.30–5pm – in conversation with Soweto Kinch
Award winning alto-saxophonist and MC Soweto Kinch is one of the most exciting and versatile young musicians in both the British jazz and hip hop scenes. Join him as he discusses his work over the last decade with Vanley Burke, including Birmingham-based projects The Flyover Show and The Live Box jam sessions.

7-9pm – film screening
Hidden (Caché)
Dir. Michael Haneke, France, 2005, 117 mins, cert 15.
Studio Theatre, Library of Birmingham, Centenary Square, Broad Street, Birmingham, B1 2ND
This unsettling masterpiece is Austrian writer director Michael Haneke’s merciless dissection of middle-class complacent complicity. An implacable domestic thriller, Hidden exploits contemporary paranoia around video surveillance, with tapes of their stylish Paris home delivered to the Laurent family – TV presenter Georges (Daniel Auteuil), publisher Anne (Juliette Binoche) and their twelve year old son Pierrot. The affluent intellectual couple’s relationship unravels as they wrestle with memory, guilt and denial. This event begins with an introduction by Dr Catherine Wheatley, Lecturer in Film Studies, King’s College London.

Booking information:
Book online or call Ikon Shop on 0121 248 0711 (please provide full name, telephone number and email address at time of booking). Also available on the door (cash only).

Day Passes (includes evening film screening)
£15 / £12 concessions

Evening film screening only – Hidden (Caché)
£5 / £4 concessions

Organised in collaboration with Flatpack Film Festival, The Library of Birmingham, University of Birmingham and Writing West Midlands.