Digbeth in Birmingham has some of the best street art in the UK.
Last year, on my first visit to the UK’s 2nd largest city, I backpacked and toured the canals of Birmingham in cold but glorious weather.
This time, I came for a change of scenery before going home, back to Miss CDMX in Mexico, and I explored the district of Digbeth with its amazing Street Art or Graffiti Art, as many call it.
Digbeth was Birmingham’s Industrial heartland. Companies such as the Birmingham Battery and Metal Company, Typhoo Tea, Bonser & Co., iron merchants and Birds Custard all had factories here.
The area between Bordesley Street and the High Street, extending southeast from the Bullring towards Bordesley Circus, is occupied by small industrial units. Many of the abandoned buildings are used as music venues. The former Birds Custard Factory hosts workspaces for 400 small businesses and cafes, bars and music venues.
Most of the buildings in this area are adorned with some of the best Street Art in the UK. I spent a good few hours exploring all the streets on my own little Graffiti Art Tour.
I have identified some of the artists and have tagged them with their Instagram handles so you can go and have a look at their accounts and follow them. Identifying them is a WIP. These murals are from September 2024. If you can help me identify some of them or if I have mis-tagged any, please let me know.
I was lodging at the Birmingham Central Backpackers on Coventry Street.
The first mural is on Coventry Street, exactly opposite the hostel, Inspector Gadget:
Next on Milk Street at the end of Coventry Street, by ZINER – @zinzinah and GENT – @gent48:
Under the arches on Trent Street:
This was painted by Birmingham artists Hoaxer and Tempo33 to honour the sad passing of Jungle and Drumming n Bass M.C. Skibadee in 2022. Instagram – @therealskibagram:
Then, on the corner of Milk Street and Rea Terrace are 2 murals by @voidoneuk:
At the other end of Milk Street are murals by @gent48:
Then, turning left down Moore’s Road onto Floodgate Street, a whole series of amazing murals:
Then it got a bit confusing, trying to remember where I was exactly, but in the streets (Gibb Street, Heath Mill Lane and Lower Trinity Street) near the old Birds Custard Factory, there are many murals:
Graffiti Art by “Hull Graffiti” in Digbeth, Birmingham
Painted for the High-Vis Festival 2018. Instagram – @n_4_t_4:
Mural on Hack Street by Philth, Instagram – @philthblake:
This piece was painted back in 2018 at the High-Vis Festival. Instagram – @philthblake
Painted for the 2021 High-Vis Fest. Instagram – @mose78uk
Portrait on Hack Street in Digbeth, Birmingham:
Street Art by @graffoflarge on Gibb Street:
On Adderley St:
On Lower Trinity Street, Graffiti Art by Broken Fingaz:
Trinity Street Car Park, the Spiderman Mural by @jimvision and some other artists at work:
I stopped off at the Friendly Neighbourhood Coffee Shop “Baked in Brick” opposite the Birds Custard Factory for tea to wait out the rain.
Next to the UK’s first self-service bar Auto Brew, is a mural of Ozzy Osbourne by Robbie Jeffcott Instagram – @rjeffcott
Then I walked over to the Digbeth Coach Station and the final mural of the day:
This Black Sabbath mural was painted by N4T4 with help from @wingy.uk and supported by National Express as part of High-Vis Festival 2019 in Birmingham to coincide with the band’s 50th anniversary. Instagram – @n_4_t_4
Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. Other groups from Birmingham include Judas Priest, UB40 and ELO.
Here is the final photo, on the bench on Broad Street and Black Sabbath Bridge:
Other murals by @liskbot:
