In February this year we launched our band new Faith in Birmingham Gallery, created following a year of dedicated work by our team of Faith Working Group Volunteers. Their journey in the creation of the gallery is well documented on the blog .

Since opening the gallery has received over 58,000 visitors and hosted numerous events celebrating Eid, Islamic Awareness Week, Turban Tying, Buddha Day, International Women’s Day and Inter-Faith gatherings.  Read More...

To celebrate International Women’s Day last month Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery held a very special event focusing on women and their faith practice. The event was created by working in partnership with two other organisations, the CoED Foundation and Near Neighbours , both of whom work to bring people together through compassion and understanding. Billed as ‘An evening of conversation, food and friendship-building for Women of Faith in Birmingham’, the event aimed to raise awareness of the importance of women, and the contribution women have made to religions throughout history and Birmingham today.

We began with food, drinks and informal tours of the new Faith in Birmingham gallery  accompanied by lovely music from musician Susie Minnear. The main event of the evening then featured short talks by six women from a variety of faith backgrounds on the topic, ‘Women that have inspired/shaped my faith journey’. Read More...

Several months ago we introduced a project called Faith in Birmingham to create a new gallery exploring the range of faiths practiced in the city. We have been documenting our process through a series of blog posts to share the story of the gallery’s development.

As we approach the end of the year the theoretical process of planning the new gallery has begun to give way to more practical activities. The graphic design, transportation and conservation of objects, construction of plinths, to name just a few activities, are now underway. Read More...

A few months ago we introduced a project called Faith in Birmingham to create a new gallery exploring the range of faiths practiced in the city and explored our process of partnering with our Faith Working Group. 

Since then we have been hard at work starting to bring the gallery to life. We moved our wonderful Sultanganj Buddha statue into its new space. The process of moving a statue that weighs half a ton is no mean feat! But thankfully the team of professional movers made sure the process went smoothly. Read More...

In a recent blog post; we introduced a project called Faith in Birmingham to create a new gallery exploring the range of faiths practiced in the city

We recently held our second meeting of the Faith in Birmingham: Working Group, specially established to help shape and inform the direction of the gallery. The group is made up of local individuals who practice one of the six faiths that the gallery will cover it its first year; Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Judaism. They have very generously given us their time to join us on this journey and will meet monthly until February. Read More...

In a recent blog post we introduced a project called Faith in Birmingham to create a new gallery exploring the range of faiths practiced in the city.

Last week we held our first meeting of the Faith in Birmingham: Working Group, specially established to help shape and inform the direction of the gallery. The group is made up of local individuals who practice one of the six faiths that the gallery will cover it its first year; Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Judaism. They have very generously given us their time to join us on this journey and will meet monthly until February. Read More...

Here at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery we have recently started work on an exciting new project. Opening in February 2016, Faith in Birmingham will create a new gallery exploring the range of faiths practised in the city. We say opening in a loose sense, as the gallery will actually evolve more organically than that over the next 6 months.

Birmingham is one of the most diverse cities in Europe. According to the 2011 Census, just over 70% of the city’s population indicated an adherence to a religion. The faiths that are represented in the city include some that are lesser known such as Baha’ism, Jainism and Rastafari to name but a few. In our first year the gallery will focus on the six faiths with the largest representation; Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Judaism. However, objects will change over the following two years to incorporate all the other religions, ambitions but possible! Read More...