A new Birmingham based project will look at how corner shops in the Black Country have changed over the past decades, and turn it into art.

Volunteer researchers will be trained will interview shop owners, their families and customers about the role of their shop in the community.

The recorded stories will be used to create promenade theatre where the material will be enlivened through performances this autumn.

The team will take photographs and collect documents that will contribute to the overall project archive to be based locally in Sandwell. A regional community-touring exhibition is planned for summer 2009 and the project will have a web presence on the Connecting Histories website.

Bobby Tiwana, project co-ordinator, said: “Corner shops are changing and declining at a massive rate. The project will capture the distinctiveness and essence of corner shops in the Black Country, which will be presented in numerous ways, as well as preserved for present and future generations.”

Further details: 0121 552 0014 or bobby@bctouring.co.uk.