Artist and Curator Mohammed Ali – Soul City Arts has created two new graffiti murals in the heart of Sparkbrook and Balsall Heath as part of the ‘Everything to Everybody’ Project.
Created through a five-week project with pupils from Montgomery Primary Academy, Sparkbrook and Percy Shurmer Academy, Balsall Heath, with a permanent mural appearing at each school, the project has encouraged these young people to ‘Tell Your OWN Story,’ remaking Birmingham’s uniquely democratic Shakespeare heritage in the process and exploring video, poetry, manga and mural painting in a series of dynamic workshops.
The new murals tell the stories of the vibrant and diverse, communities of Sparkbrook and Balsall Heath featuring their unique narratives and local industrial history and allowing them to claim “a place in the story” (Antony & Cleopatra) of Birmingham’s pioneering Shakespeare heritage.
Mohammed Ali, Artist and Curator and founder of Soul City Arts said: “We are aiming to empower children to boldly express themselves and their stories in an increasingly polarised society. Let’s face it, our society isn’t one where ‘everything is for everybody’ and we need to make a head start with young children to confront the inequality we see around us today.”
Mohammed attended Montgomery Primary Academy himself. He went back to school with ‘Everything to Everybody’ to explore questions around exclusion and inequality as well as to raise awareness of Birmingham’s unique Shakespeare heritage and open it for all, including the children at these schools.
