Unique project aims to open keys across city

The new Key to the City exhibition aims to help people from across the region to discover the lesser known and mysterious parts of the host city of the Commonwealth Games.

People can nominate anyone they wish to receive a specially-designed key, with 15,000 keys available to give away and dozens of locations across Birmingham for people to find and explore by using the key.

The exhibition was officially launched from a booth at Birmingham New Street station, with the new Mayor of Birmingham Councillor Maureen Cornish among those to receive a key.

Creator of Key to the City Paul Ramírez Jonas said the project was one 10 years in the making and followed on from a successful project in New York, a city he said mirrored Birmingham in a lot of ways.

He said: "There are a lot of similarities, as both are shaped by immigration and history and are so diverse, with many different kinds of people in a diverse, industrious city, which is something I love.

"There are very few works of art that allow you to infuse them with a personal meaning and I like the idea that people can give someone a key for a good deed they did them or as a thank you, so it's personal and communal."

Birmingham 2022 Festival senior producer Louisa Davies said the exhibition was a fitting project that helped people to engage with the city's lesser known parts.

She said: "It's about seeing the city in a new light and looking at those places that you wouldn't normally know go to, as this is a massive city and there are so many diverse parts to it.

"It's a project about people and the person you meet when you go and unlock the door that you might not have a conversation with, so it's a voyage into the unknown."

The Keys to the City project runs until July 9 and keys can be picked up from nominees by going to the booth at Birmingham New Street each day between 11am and 7pm.

For more information on Key to the City and Birmingham 2022 Festival, go to birmingham2022.com/festival.