Birmingham’s urban musical heritage revisited through new community archive project

• VIBES: Tracing the Roots of Urban Music – From the Caribbean to Birmingham will celebrate and preserve the city’s music heritage
• Three-part workshop series taking place 24 June, 25 June and 1 July
• Facilitated by oral historian Ankhobia (Sophia Carvalho).

Birmingham Museums is launching a series of workshops to explore the roots of urban music, facilitated by oral historian Ankhobia (Sophia Carvalho).

VIBES: Tracing the Roots of Urban Music – From the Caribbean to Birmingham invites residents to explore, celebrate and preserve the city’s rich musical heritage.

The three-part workshop series is taking place at Pannel Croft retirement village in Newtown on 24 June, 25 June and 1 July as part of the Voices of the City project.

Delivered by media professional, researcher and oral historian Ankhobia, the workshops will explore the roots of calypso, soca, ska, reggae, hip-hop and drum and bass through oral history, music, objects and community storytelling.

Participants will have the opportunity to contribute to a new community archive that captures personal memories, musical experiences and cultural histories connected to Birmingham’s diverse communities.

Ankhobia returns to Birmingham Museums nearly twenty years after her work on the groundbreaking VIBES! A History of Urban Music project (2004 to 2005), one of the museum’s most successful community heritage initiatives.

While working for Birmingham City Council, she played a central role in researching, developing and delivering the original project, conducting oral history interviews with musicians, producers and cultural practitioners from across the world.

Interviewees included internationally renowned artists such as Afrika Bambaataa, Toots Hibbert, Junior Murvin, Luciano, Johnny Clarke, Neville Staples, Lekan Babalola and Nana Tsiboe.

The new workshop series invites people to revisit the stories captured in the original VIBES archive, while adding their own voices to Birmingham’s continuing musical story.

In the first session, Listening to the Stories, participants will listen to original interview recordings from the VIBES archive, explore personal music journeys, share memories and contribute to the creation of a community playlist inspired by Birmingham’s musical heritage.

The second session, Reacting to the Stories, will use photographs, musical instruments and archive materials to compare different perspectives and experiences, conduct paired interviews and begin developing participants’ own stories for inclusion in the project.

For the final session, Your Story – Let’s Make an Archive, participants will be encouraged to bring photographs, objects and memorabilia connected to music and community life, culminating in the recording and preservation of their stories for future generations.

Ankhobia said:

“The original VIBES project captured an important chapter in Birmingham’s cultural history. Now, these new workshops offer a chance not only to revisit those stories but also to hear new voices and preserve memories that might otherwise be lost.

“Music has always been a powerful way for communities to connect, and I look forward to hearing the stories people bring to the project.”

Siobhan Stevenson, oral history participation curator at Birmingham Museums Trust, said:

“The Voices of the City project aims to amplify community voices by making historical community collections held by Bimingham Museums publicly available. With these sessions, we aim to preserve local heritage through collaborative storytelling and archive creation.

“By bringing together memories, music and lived experience, the project will help document the cultural contributions of Birmingham’s communities and ensure they are represented within the city’s historical record.”

The workshops are open to all and refreshments will be provided throughout the programme.

For more information and to book a place on the series, contact Siobhan.Stevenson@birminghammuseums.org.uk.