BOM – Birmingham Open Media

Ohhhh, well now. This is exciting. The first thing I love about Birmingham Open Media is the fact that it’s known as BOM Lab. I’m sorry, but it’s so great to see peoples faces when you tell them your popping there… A mixture of stress and confusion contorts their features until you explain what IT ACTUALLY IS.
So, BOM opened fairly quietly in November 2014. It’s a collaborative space with a focus on art, technology and science. A very cool mix indeed. One of their current focuses is «Hacktivism» (ethical hacking to prove the flaws to public system) and they’ve got a great exhibition on around that at the moment.
The BOM centre comprises of a coffee shop (
), photography studio (currently hired by Fotofilia
), an open gallery space, co-​working space and several different rooms which can be hired out for events, showcases and festivals.
It seems to attract an interesting, arty crowd (as you might expect) and has a chilled out and friendly vibe to it. It’s very unpretentious in terms of design and the interior features bare wood and cream coloured neutral walls (perfect for showcasing art).
This is a great area for the centre to take over. Just around the corner from the Bullring, but with very little around it — I recommend you pop in once in a while and check out the exhibitions and grab a coffee for a chilled and arty experience…

I was taken on a Director’s Tour of Birmingham Open Media today.
It’s in the shadow of Bullring Link and TkMaxx both on the other side of the road if you look up! In the past it would have been right opposite the entrance to the Birmingham Bus Station, but we have no such thing today.
There’s a new breed of urban creative spaces in Birmingham and this is the most teccy of them.
We toured the main gallery area at the entrance learning about digital fingerprint issues through art installations. Lots of unfinished wooded struts really adds to the creative vibe of this space.
There’s a Urban Coffee branch here and if you are out having tea or coffee in Birmingham urban coffee should be on your list to try.
Upstairs the «fellows» work in their private area. With the sounds of the Urban Coffee shop from below and there’s a private snug area that they can go and think in.
The basement is Fotofilia who were out of office today so we got a 2 second peek into the huge studio space!
Go for a coffee and check out the concept for yourself

BOM is a new space for art, technology and science. It launched on Friday night (14÷11÷14) with a bang. The aroma of emotion paint wafted over people happily sipping Prosecco. Attendees were invited to walk around the space to see the fruits of their hard work. In many areas the space still feels like a blank canvas, ready for transformation into a bustling community hub.
Downstairs is Fotofilia’s large photography studio, whilst upstairs there’s a bank of laptops, a dark room and a chill-​out space with beanbags. For the opening night they also had Birmingham Camera Obscura on hand showing off their mobile low-​tech, pre-​photography ‘optical device’. The ground floor boasts exhibition space as well as Birmingham’s latest addition to the Urban Coffee chain (bringing UC up to 5 in total).
It is early days for BOM, so it is difficult to see how the space will develop, and be used. In their upcoming programme they have live hacks, ‘Maker Mondays’, kids workshops, talks, and a ‘Crap Camera Challenge’. I’m sure there will be a whole plethora of future events.
What really makes this place stand out is its location. It’s the kind of space one would expect to be in deepest Digbeth, down a back street surrounded by industry or empty former industry units. BOM have secured an old shop unit just around the back of the Electric Cinema and New Street Station’s grand new (soon to be open) entrance on the corner of Station St and Hill St. It’s location will certainly attract locals, as often it can feel like a daunting trek down to Digbeth when one is having pre ‘art show’ drinks at a bar on John Bright St. BOM won’t suffer from this as it is just around the corner from major transport links, thus will benefit from people being able to ‘pop-​in quickly after work’. Although will they suffer from being slightly distanced from Birmingham’s close art scene in Digbeth? Probably not, but it’s interesting to speculate.
I will certainly be back to check out some of the forthcoming events.