Soho Settlers
A joint partnership with Black Heritage Walks Network, China Plate Theatre & Overhear In honour of all of those who have chosen the Soho Road and Handsworth, Birmingham, as their home,
Black Heritage Walks Network have invited residents to join them on curated walks of the area – highlighting the local heritage and landmarks – whilst asking them to consider their own connection to that place. Subsequent memory sharing and creative writing workshops led by Overhear will give participants the opportunity to co-create and transform their stories into a collection of audio poems. These have been digitally pinned to real-life locations using the Overhear app, that users can collect by exploring Handsworth and its history of migration (think ‘Pokemon Go’ for poetry!)
Whether experiences in a park, a housing estate or a bus stop, audiences will be encouraged to pause, listen, reflect, and ultimately celebrate the vibrant super-diverse community that calls Handsworth home.
For more information about the Birmingham 2022 Festival, please visit: birmingham2022.com/festival/ Generously supported by Arts Council England and The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, Birmingham City Council, Garfield Weston Foundation, Transport for West Midlands and National Express West Midlands.
Overhear App
How to download and use the Overhear App?
- Head to the App Store or Google Play Store and download the free Overhear app
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FROM THE APP STORE
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FROM GOOGLE PLAY
- Open the app to discover all the amazing audio pinned to locations near you. Tap the ≡ icon in the top left to focus on Soho Settlers
- To listen to the Soho Settlers pins located in and around the Soho Road, you will need to travel to each of their locations to collect them.
- Once you’re near a pin, look out for the on-screen pop-up to let you know that the pin has been collected and dropped into your library automatically.
- Next go to your Library, listen and enjoy!
- To continue collecting audio and building your pin collection, follow the onscreen instructions when prompted to make a free Overhear account – this will allow you to keep the recordings in your library to be listened to at your leisure anywhere.
For more information about Overhear, please visit: www.theoverhear.app/
To find out more about the residents and community groups of Handsworth, whose stories and memories have inspired these audio pieces, please visit: tothestreets.co.uk/soho-settlers/
Commissioned Poets
Five poets; Charis McRoberts, Rick Sanders, Ryan Sinclair, Adjei Sun and Cassandra Wiggan – each of whom have a personal connection to Handsworth – were commissioned to write and record audio pieces for Soho Settlers, by responding to the stories and memories shared by residents, during curated walks and workshops with Black Heritage Walks Network and Overhear.
To find out more about each of the poets, please visit: tothestreets.co.uk/sohosettlers
Guided Heritage Walks
When are the walks taking place?
Black Heritage Walks Network will be hosting four exclusive free heritage walks of Handsworth on the following dates:
- Friday 19 August 2022 (10am-12pm) – Ahead of the To The Streets! performance
- Saturday 20 August 2022 (10am-12pm) – Ahead of the To The Streets! performance
- Saturday 3 September 2022 (1pm-3pm)
- Saturday 24 September 2022 (1pm-3pm)
The walks are FREE to join but booking is required below via bookitbee.
CLICK HERE TO BOOK YOUR PLACE ON A WALK
For more information about Black Heritage Walks Network, please visit: www.blackheritagewalksnetwork.com/
To find out more about the residents and community groups of Handsworth, whose stories and memories have inspired these new walks, please visit: tothestreets.co.uk/soho-settlers/
