Banquet set to boost funds for world-class art project

A four-course Chinese banquet with wine pairings has been planned for Thursday 19 May to raise funds for the construction of an exciting and innovative public artwork in Birmingham, entitled 'Station Clock '.

Hosted at Chung Ying, Birmingham 's longest running and most authentic Cantonese Restaurant in the city 's Chinese Quarter, the evening event has been organised by Birmingham Big Art Project (BBAP) who will be working closely with Birmingham City Council and HS2 to produce and install the civic artwork.

This will be a fantastic evening of flavour and fun courtesy of the team at Chung Ying and acclaimed sommelier Tony Elvin of The Wine Events Company and president of the Solihull Chamber of Commerce.

Attendees will be greeted with a glass of bubbly upon arrival, followed by a mouth-watering four-course Chinese banquet matched perfectly with wines from around the world and after-dinner karaoke.

Glyn Pitchford, chairman of Birmingham Big Art Project said: “This will be an entertaining and informative event.

"As well as enjoying some of the best Cantonese cuisine in Birmingham with exquisitely paired wines and tasting detail from wine expert Tony Elvin, there will be exciting news of how you can become involved with the project."

Money raised from the occasion will help fund the construction of 'Station Clock ', a unique aural artwork designed by Turner Prize-winning sound sculptor Susan Phillipsz.

'Station Clock ' will be located at the entrance to HS2 's Curzon Street Terminal, and will include a sonic feature known as 'Twelve Tones ' which utilises the 12 tones of the Chromatic musical scale to sound the clock 's hours.

Played out over a 24 hour, seven-day loop, the 'Twelve Tones ' will be compiled from the voices of 1,092 Birmingham citizens who will sound notes from the scale.

To date, 60 percent of the voices have been recorded at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and will be used in different aural combinations by Phillipsz once all the recordings are complete.

Following a two-year break from recording sessions due to pandemic restrictions, the Birmingham Big Art Project is now gearing up to kickstart progress on 'Twelve Tones ' which has received support from national legal firm, Gateley PLC.

Hope for 'Twelve Tones ' recordings to conclude by the end of this year has been expressed by Gateley 's Executive Director and BBAP Chairman of the trustees, Michael Ward.

The Chinese Banquet will be an ideal opportunity for attendees to be updated on the development of 'Twelve Tones ' and is available to all members of the public via the Ticket Tailor event page where tickets can be purchased.