Number 11: Know Your Place Exhibition

Based on our approach to the landscape, this WMNP exhibition sponsored by the British Academy is framed around Birmingham’s Number 11 bus route, Europe’s longest circular urban bus route, journeying through 27 miles of changing topography, cultures, communities, environments, land-use and history. A cultural icon of the city, used daily by thousands, it is a sustainable and experiential showcase of the natural and cultural landscape of Birmingham, and an ideal reference point for audiences to engage with the social and cultural infrastructures highlighted by our research.

Our exhibition seeks to reclaim and reposition the phrase ‘know your place’ as a catalyst for people to discover a sense of pride, belonging and curiosity in the everyday landscape of their city. To know one’s place is to feel a connection to it, to place our individual story within the narrative of that place’s long history, to resonate with the lives of people who have lived and worked in that place, and to be inspired to care for, value and reimagine the city.

The Library of Birmingham is hosting an exhibition in their publicly accessible, free to enter ground floor foyer gallery, showcasing the idea of getting to ‘know your place’, linking the number 11 bus route with archival material that grounds it in a living cultural, social, natural and historical landscape. The exhibition shows the bus route and selected bus stops with street portraits and archive material displayed alongside, so visitors can make links between geographical location and its cultural, historical, social or natural significance. 

Organised by Kathryn Moore and Alex Albans

Find out more about the No.11 Bus Route: Know your place project