Grand Union has taken the time to reflect on the concerns relating to the spread of COVID-19, and has decided to pause the The Empire Remains Shop–Birmingham and postpone all upcoming events until further notice.

We want to protect the health and wellbeing of our visitors, staff and partners, and think that this is the best way to care for our community, especially to those more vulnerable than us.

We are committed to honouring any invoices and payments for freelancers and artists currently working with us.

We aim to present an artistic programme online to ensure our audiences can still engage with our work over the coming weeks. For those who would like to see and find out more about Alberta Whittle’s current display No Mudder Country Here, please watch her recent interview with Grand Union.

Let’s use this time to stay connected. We plan to arrange online reading groups and film screenings so please watch this space for more information. We realise that a lot of people access our space socially, and therefore would like to extend the offer to contact us for anything that you might need. If you just want to have a conversation, please do get in touch.

We will try to support people locally, aiming to share information about how you can take positive action to help out in Birmingham and further afield. 

We thank you for your understanding and we urge you all to act collectively. For any questions, please contact us via birmingham@empireremains.net or via our social media channels:

Instagram: @granduniongallery

Twitter: @grandunionltd

Facebook: @GrandUnionBirmingham

If you are interested in helping others here is a list of groups and organisations that are looking for support locally and remotely:

Mutual Aid Groups across the UK

West Midlands Artists Impact Fund

Cooperation Birmingham – Mutual Aid Kitchen

Guide for freelancers (mostly USA, but a good UK section)

Queercare COVID-19 food networking