A photo of Michael Keaton as a BRMB DJ, Mike Skinner’s pencil case from school and a filled shopping bag from Woolworths on the ramp. What do they all have in common? Well, these uncanny items all feel like they could be real, but coming from the brand-new ‘fictional museum’ devoted to Birmingham, it’s impossible to say.
The Museum of BAM is a new exhibition opening at nook gallery in Kings Heath filled with photographs, films, found objects and fabricated artefacts. Some exhibits are authentic, others have been created to leave you guessing where Birmingham’s archive ends and its mythology begins.
What is ‘The Museum of BAM’?
Blending fact and fiction, visitors to The Museum of BAM will encounter everything from “home videos, bus tickets and family photographs to fabricated museum pieces, fictional archive material and unexpected connections between Birmingham and popular culture.”
Running from August 7 to 30, 2026, the exhibition includes VHS of Birmingham’s first recorded bab (The Original Bab, Birmingham, 1990), a dolphin ornament that may or may not have been donated by Joe Lycett; and a box of 35mm slides of historic and famous Birmingham landmarks and celebrities, including an ‘Escaped Lion at the Lickey Hills’.
You will also find limited edition prints of famous Birmingham films such as Alien, The Exorcist and Batman—but expect the whole exhibition to be full of references to Pigeon Park, Mr Egg, the Balti Triangle, The Ramp, the number 11 bus, SNOBS, ‘Mom’ and all that’s uniquely Brummie.
Working with photography, film, found objects and graphic design, Birmingham-based creative duo BAM! BAM! has scoured lofts, drawers, family archives and charity shops across Birmingham to create this collection designed to blur the line between documented history and local mythology.
You will be able to buy postcards, badges, prints and a limited edition catalogue that each features a one-off Museum of BAM artefact different to those in other catalogues. But the Museum of BAM is completely free to visit itself, so there’s no excuse not to head down and figure out the truth yourself.
You will find ‘The Museum of BAM’ at nook gallery, 25c Institute Rd, Kings Heath, Birmingham, B14 7EG.
