There’s a large new digital commission… “inspired by Tolkien, Birmingham & fantasy, to be located in Birmingham city-centre. Open to “all artists” but the outcome must be digital and they anticipate some sort of… “gateway between our fantastic city and the fantasy worlds it opened up”. The aim is to attract tourists from across the region, presumably on the back of the new politically-correct Amazon TV series. The commission is an open call in the first instance. Deadline: 16th February 2022.

At the lower end of a budget I guess a well-produced audio walking-tour, with some VR for the kids, might fit the bill. The key city-centre locations would then be: 37 New St. (site of Cornish’s Bookshop); the site of Barrow’s Tea-Rooms; and the Burne-Jones collection at the Museum. The site of his school was (in his words) desecrated in a “ghastly” manner and is not now somewhere to send people. The Oratory and the Catholic Cathedral are sites, but outside the city-centre and too far to walk. Also too politically incorrect for arts managers to approve.

At the higher end of an overall budget, one might tap into the window-dressing expertise of the big dept. stores, the costumes expertise of the theatres, and the city’s digital expertise, to create a range of (somehow digitally) interactive Tolkien-themed window displays in the big show-windows.