Home of Metal – Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery Alongside world renowned design team Studio Myerscough, Capsule transformed the Gas Hall of Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery to create a multi faceted exhibition. After devising the narrative, sourcing the collection and making invaluable connections with dedicated fans through to corporate sponsors, Capsule curated and produced Home of Metal – 40 years of Heavy Metal and its unique birthplace.
As well as featuring key pieces from music history, the exhibition explored the social history of the region, from its metal bashing industries to the post war home life of working class families, beginning the story of Heavy Metal to exploring the DIY movement of the 80’s and the birth of Grindcore.
Damien Deroubaix and Napalm Death founder Nicholas Bullen collaborated on an installation referencing ‘Scum’
Capsule explored the impact Heavy Metal has had on visual art with You Should Be Living: The Visual Language of Heavy Metal. Inviting international artists and commissioning a dynamic new piece of work by Napalm Death founder Nicholas Bullen and French artist Damien Deroubaix, Capsule highlighted the impact of Heavy Metal motifs on contemporary visual culture.
Mark Titchner at New Art Gallery Walsall
An artist hugely inspired by Heavy Metal, Capsule invited former Turner Prize nominee Mark Titchner to talk at the Metal Symposium in 2007 and have maintained a strong relationship with this artist throughout the Home of Metal project. BE TRUE TO YOUR OBLIVION was a major solo exhibition that explored this influence and showcased new works by the internationally renowned artist.
Home of Metal proudly hosted the UK’s very first Heavy Metal conference. International leaders in the field of Metal studies gathered in the genre’s birthplace for the first time. Delegates travelled from Europe, South America, USA and the Middle East.
Throughout 2011’s season of events, Home of Metal has been enthusiastically reaching new audiences. The project is aimed at a broad audience, from music fans, social history enthusiasts to cultural tourists. Key to this, Home of Metal produced a number of educational projects aimed at young people and families.
Working with highly regarded artist duo Juneau Projects, Home of Metal hosted a number of quality projects for families to play music, make costumes and learn something new about their hometown.
Home of Metal proudly celebrated the heritage of the region; important to this was spreading the message to many audiences. The project was hugely successful in reaching both an international and regional audience.
Capsule built on 13 years experience of developing audiences to craft a project that maintained the fans at the very core; informing the archive, events and collections on display. Key to Home of Metal’s success has been the authenticity of the project, coupled with its inclusiveness.
Home of Metal was not only unique in its content, but also in its delivery. For the first time, each public museum and art gallery in the Black Country joined up to deliver a shared season of events. Capsule liaised with multiple, diverse partners to produce a season that drew on different elements of Heavy Metal.
