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The Crack Magazine

Art

Gail Henderson: Tees Valley Response Award Self-portrait, Periskepsi

Gail Henderson makes abstract self-portraits that visualise her psychological reality. Her works Sibilla 2012 and Salmacis 2012 were acquired for the Middlesbrough Collection through the Tees Valley Response Collecting scheme. This commission was created in situ by Henderson. Each line is a performance and expression of her inner state at the time of making.

Venue:
Mima, Centre Square, Middlesbrough, TS1 2AZ
Date:
Jun 1st 2023 - Oct 31st 2023
Opening Times:
Tue-Sat 10:00 - 16:30 , Sun 12:00 - 16:00
Price:
Free

Shalom!

This new display introduces two new Jewish heritage partnerships projects in the North East, the Lahav Jewish Heritage Project and Unlocking North East Jewish Heritage. Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums are working with members of the Jewish community and Newcastle Libraries to preserve and celebrate the rich history of the Jewish community, and increase access to records and archival collections.

Venue:
Discovery Museum, (Closed on all Bank Holidays) Blandford Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4JA
Date:
Jan 26th 2023 - Oct 1st 2023
Opening Times:
Sat-Sun 11:00 - 16:00 , Mon-Fri 10:00 - 16:00
Price:
Free

Chris Killip, Retrospective

Baltic presents a full career retrospective by one of the UK’s most important and influential post-war documentary photographers, Chris Killip (1946–2020). The exhibition serves as the most comprehensive survey of the photographer’s work, with his images from the North East of England at the core. Grounded in sustained immersion into the communities he photographed, Chris Killip's photographs of those affected by economic shifts throughout the 1970s and 80s in the North of England remain without parallel. Whilst marking a moment of de-industrialisation, Killip's stark yet tender observation moves beyond the urgency to record such circumstances, to affirm the value of lives he grew close to – lives that, as he once described 'had history done to them'.

Venue:
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, South Shore Road, Gateshead Quays, Gateshead, NE8 3BA
Date:
May 20th 2023 - Oct 29th 2023
Opening Times:
Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 18:00
Price:
Free, donations welcome

Lowry at the Seaside

An exhibition inspired by seaside holidays in Berwick-upon-Tweed and Lowry's visits to the town.

Venue:
Berwick Museum and Art Gallery, The Barracks Parade, Berwick-upon-Tweed, TD15 1DG
Date:
Mar 1st 2023 - Nov 4th 2023
Opening Times:
Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 16:00
Price:
Annual pass £5/£4/under 16s Free

The Ord Cross

This new display showcases 'The Ord Cross', a unique piece of Anglo-Saxon jewellery discovered on the banks of the River Tweed in 2019.

Venue:
Berwick Museum and Art Gallery, The Barracks Parade, Berwick-upon-Tweed, TD15 1DG
Date:
Mar 1st 2023 - Nov 4th 2023
Opening Times:
Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 16:00
Price:
Annual pass £5/£4/under 16s Free

Penned and Printed

Showcasing items from Durham University's Archives and Special Collections, this exhibition explores themes of medical progress, local stories of crime and punishment, and the journey to women's suffrage. These rarely displayed collections bring together the spectacular with the humble, the local with the national, and ideas which would change the world, with small details of the long forgotten.

Venue:
Palace Green Library, Palace Green, Durham, DH1 3RN
Date:
Jun 12th 2023 - Feb 29th 2024
Opening Times:
Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

Larry Achiampong: Wayfinder

In May 2023, Baltic will present the first major solo exhibition by British-Ghanaian artist Larry Achiampong. Working in film, sculpture, installation, sound, collage, music and performance, Achiampong draws on his shared and personal heritage to explore class, gender, the intersection between popular culture and the residues of colonisation. His work examines digital identities and constructions of ‘the self’, offering multiple perspectives that reveal the deeply entrenched inequalities in our society. The exhibition in our Level 3 gallery will include the commissioned feature-length film Wayfinder (2022) which follows a young girl’s intrepid journey across England, from Hadrian’s Wall in the North to Margate in the South, and the people and places she encounters. Set in a pandemic, Achiampong’s most ambitious film to date considers class and economic exclusion, belonging and displacement, cultural heritage and the meaning of home. Other works include the largest UK presentation of the artist’s multi-disciplinary Relic Traveller project (2017–ongoing) alongside sculpture, photographs, video and a gaming room.

Venue:
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, South Shore Road, Gateshead Quays, Gateshead, NE8 3BA
Date:
May 20th 2023 - Oct 29th 2023
Opening Times:
Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 18:00
Price:
Free, donations welcome

Michael Rakowitz: The Waiting Gardens of the North

Baltic has invited Michael Rakowitz to develop a major new commission in response to the idea of conflict to be presented in the Level 4 gallery. The artist has proposed to create a sprawling, immersive interior forest of trees, hedges, herbs, and medicinal plants that will be conceived and tended to in collaboration with local organisations. The project is imagined as a “Hanging Garden”, referencing the one in Babylon that is considered among the Seven Wonders of the World. The garden will be inhabited by Rakowitz’s cardboard sculptures that attempt to reappear the archaeological cultural heritage that has been looted or destroyed in Iraq and Syria since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Venue:
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, South Shore Road, Gateshead Quays, Gateshead, NE8 3BA
Date:
Jul 15th 2023 - May 26th 2024
Opening Times:
Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 18:00
Price:
Free, donations welcome

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Blue Futures

This exhibition explores our relationship with water and the coast in South Tyneside. Blue Futures is inspired by challenges around climate change and the natural environment. It brings together three projects BE THE SEA, Renewable Blue, and Sound Dig. Artists have worked with engineers, environmental teams, former miners, residents and young people to explore our past, present and future relationship with our marine environment and waterways.

Venue:
The Word, The National Centre for the Written Word, 45 Market Place, South Shields, NE33 1JF
Date:
Jul 20th 2023 - Dec 3rd 2023
Opening Times:
Mon-Thu 09:00 - 19:00 , Fri 09:00 - 17:00 , Sat-Sun 10:00 - 16:00
Price:
Free

Re:Visits – Helix Arts @ 40

An exhibition celebrating the 40th anniversary of Helix Arts.

Venue:
Segedunum Roman Fort, 2 Buddle Street, Wallsend, NE28 6HR
Date:
Jul 18th 2023 - Sep 30th 2023
Opening Times:
Mon-Sat 10:00 - 15:00 , Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
£6.95/£5.95/Free entry to under 16s and NE28 residents

Anne Redpath and her Circle

Anne Redpath was one of Scotland’s finest mid-20th century artists, whose formative years were spent in Edinburgh but mainly in the south of France where she painted alongside Scottish Colourists Samuel Peploe and Leslie Hunter. Returning to the Scottish Borders in 1934, a single mother of three children, and penniless, Redpath never wavered from pursuing a career as an artist and was elected as President of the Society of Scottish Women Artists in 1944. Moving to Edinburgh in 1949, Redpath became a standard bearer for the group now known as the ‘Edinburgh School’, all of whom, including Redpath, had been trained at Edinburgh College of Art. In this new exhibition, curated in partnership with the prestigious Fleming Collection, works by Redpath will hang alongside fellow ‘Edinburgh School’ artists to revive the achievements of the now largely forgotten group.

Venue:
Granary Gallery, Dewar’s Lane, Berwick-upon-Tweed, TD15 1HJ
Date:
May 20th 2023 - Oct 8th 2023
Opening Times:
Sun and Wed-Sat 11:00 - 16:00
Price:
Free

Innovation Platform

Innovation Platform will inspire visitors with the inventiveness and ingenuity in rail. This exhibition highlights emerging ideas and extraordinary achievements from across the rail industry. Showcasing the latest and greatest in rail innovation, Innovation Platform celebrates the creative by focusing not only on the technology itself, but by giving just as much attention to the context in which objects were developed. Through imaginative problem-solving and original thinking, the railways are progressing, armed with technologies designed to improve all aspects of the industry. The Innovation Platform will show the very best of these to those who will feel their benefit most greatly—you!

Venue:
Locomotion, (previously Shildon Locomotion Museum), Dale Road Industrial Estate, Dale Road, Shildon, County Durham, DL4 2RE
Date:
Jan 11th 2023 - Dec 24th 2024
Opening Times:
Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

Project Art Works

A major new collaboration and exhibition with Project Art Works as part of their EXPLORERS programme. Now in its second iteration, EXPLORERS is a partnership programme of art and action that opens up routes into artistic practice for neurominorities, dismantling attitudinal and systemic barriers to representation and rights in art and society. The yearlong project will culminate in an installation of artworks and film in the Ground Floor gallery in autumn 2023. Bringing together research and learning from the collaboration, the exhibition will include a programme of workshops and events developed with neurodiverse communities, local partners and individuals.

Venue:
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, South Shore Road, Gateshead Quays, Gateshead, NE8 3BA
Date:
Sep 23rd 2023 - Feb 25th 2024
Opening Times:
Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 18:00
Price:
Free

Thread Counts

An Exhibition of artists whose work explores personal acts of disruption into the fast fashion industry. Through fashion design, photography, film, crochet, embroidery and never before seen archival material visitors to Thread Counts will be able to experience the joys of making and of individual expression and to have a go themselves through regular drop in textile themed crafting sessions.

Venue:
Palace Arts Gallery , 28-29 Esplande, Redcar, Cleveland, TS10 3AE
Date:
Aug 5th 2023 - Oct 7th 2023
Opening Times:
Mon-Wed and Fri-Sat 10:00 - 16:00 , Sun 12:00 - 16:00
Price:
Free

To the Roar of the Crowd

Gladiator fights and chariot-races were popular Roman spectator sports that still capture our imagination today. Scenes and images of the games were often depicted on everyday Roman objects. A selection of these artefacts will be displayed in this exhibition which explores the different types of gladiator and their weapons and equipment, the experiences of charioteers and the rituals of the arena and the circus.

Venue:
Segedunum Roman Fort, 2 Buddle Street, Wallsend, NE28 6HR
Date:
Apr 8th 2023 - Oct 29th 2023
Opening Times:
Mon-Sat 10:00 - 15:00 , Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
£6.95/£5.95/Free entry to under 16s

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Re-imagining Regina: Past and Present

In this installation, artist Rachel Eleanor Brook explores contemporary artistic approaches to memory, memorial and ritual. Centre stage is an original experimental film made by Rachel in response to themes arising from the diverse group activities that took place at Arbeia during summer 2022. Through moving, talking and sharing food, we can find ways to think about our relationship with the past. This is a thought provoking exploration of funerals and monuments to the dead through rituals and vessels, inspired by the collective act of thinking about the past and present, involving the international and cross generational experience in South Shields.

Venue:
Arbeia Roman Fort and Museum, Baring Street, South Shields, NE33 2BB
Date:
Mar 27th 2023 - Sep 30th 2023
Opening Times:
Sat 11:00 - 16:00 , Sun 13:00 - 16:00 , Mon-Fri 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

Theo Harper: The Liminal Guard

Theo Harper’s work comes from an interaction between clay, 3D scanning, movement tracking and digital fabrication techniques. It takes the form of physical and digital sculpture, installation, film and drawing. In this exhibition Harper shows a selection of his ‘sculptural guardians’ that have been discovered and evolved through his research.

Venue:
National Glass Centre, Liberty Way, Sunderland, SR6 0GL
Date:
Mar 25th 2023 - Oct 14th 2023
Opening Times:
Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

People Powered: Stories from the River Tees

In partnership with the National Portrait Gallery, this exhibition features an action-packed programme of events focusing on histories and folk tales exploring how the magnificent River Tees has shaped the region. Explore untold stories from the River Tees, poetry, portraits from the National Portrait Gallery and unseen works from the Middlesbrough Collection, along with some old favourites.

Venue:
Mima, Centre Square, Middlesbrough, TS1 2AZ
Date:
Jul 22nd 2023 - Jan 7th 2024
Opening Times:
Sun 12:00 - 16:00 , Tue-Sat 10:00 - 16:30
Price:
Free

Tunstall and the Tudors: The Calculating Bishop

Meet Cuthbert Tunstall: bishop, scholar, diplomat, builder, and author of England’s first maths book, celebrating its 500th anniversary this year. He might just be the most important man in Tudor England that you’ve never heard of. Cuthbert Tunstall was Prince-Bishop of Durham from 1530 to 1559. He lived through a time of religious and political chaos as a sometime friend, sometime enemy of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I. Visit the exhibition to find out how he survived and thrived in this turbulent period using compromise, persuasion, a shrewd sense for danger and a little bit of luck.

Venue:
Durham Castle, Palace Green, Durham, DH1 3RW
Date:
Jul 31st 2023 - Mar 26th 2024
Opening Times:
Sun 12:30 - 17:30 , Mon-Sat 07:30 - 18:00
Price:
£5/£4.50/under 16s Free

Throwing it Out There: the Archaeology of Ritual, Rivers and Rubbish

Have you ever thrown a coin in a wishing well? You might not know it, but that is a kind of ritual! This exhibition will explore the rich ritual history of the rivers of County Durham, showcasing local objects from the Bronze Age to the medieval period and beyond. Throwing it Out There: the Archaeology of Ritual, Rivers and Rubbish will allow visitors to uncover a story of thousands of years from the River Wear and the River Tees. These rivers hold everything from Roman ritual and medieval pilgrimage, to tales from daily life in the past of love, loss and the occasional dropped children’s toy.

Venue:
Museum of Archaeology, Museum of Archaeology, Palace Green Library, Palace Green, Durham, County Durham, DH1 3RN
Date:
Jun 16th 2023 - Nov 12th 2023
Opening Times:
Mon 12:00 - 17:00 , Sun and Tue-Sat 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

Sin: The Art of Transgression

Sin has permeated life since the earliest days, but until now the story of its relation to art has never been told. Bringing together works of art that span centuries, this exhibition explores the concept of sin in art in a truly unique presentation. This exhibition looks at theological ideas and depictions of ‘sinful’ everyday behaviour that blur the boundaries between religious and secular art. A concept that is universal, but at the same time highly personal, the exhibition asks you to define your own meaning of ‘Sin’. The exhibition includes eight exceptional paintings from the National Gallery’s collection as well as works on loan by Tracey Emin and Ron Mueck.

Venue:
Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland, County Durham, DL14 7NR
Date:
Jun 17th 2023 - Oct 1st 2023
Opening Times:
Sun and Wed-Sat 11:00 - 15:00
Price:
£10/£5

The Magic of the Silver Swan

This landmark exhibition celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Museum’s most iconic object alongside the beauty and artistry of automata. With inventiveness and playfulness at its core, this show will feature objects, artefacts and artworks from the collection as well as moving objects and images and kinetic artworks by artists, makers, designers and inventors. Part of the Museum’s year of Movement, you can see work by contemporary artists including the Turner Prize nominated Yinka Shonibare CBE, North East based Helen Pailing and Kinnari Saraiya, Tobias Bradford, Bruce Lacey, Rebecca Moss, Martin Smith and Cabaret Mechanical Theatre.

Venue:
The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham, DL12 8NP
Date:
Jul 8th 2023 - Jan 7th 2024
Opening Times:
Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
£17.50/under 18s Free

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The Wonderful World of Ladybird Book Artists

Uncover the story of the talented artists who illustrated Ladybird books for more than 30 years. This beautiful and colourful exhibition puts on display an unparalleled collection of books, original artwork and artefacts and shows how the numerous, talented Ladybird illustrators played such an enormous role in the extraordinary success of the company in the 20th century.

Venue:
Bailiffgate Museum, 14 Bailiffgate, Alnwick, Northumberland, NE66 1LX
Date:
Jul 8th 2023 - Nov 5th 2023
Opening Times:
Sun and Tue-Sat 10:00 - 16:00
Price:
Adults £5/conc £4/children £1

Martin Smith

Visitors to The Bowes Museum can see three artworks by the UK-based artist, Martin Smith. Sited in the Museum’s grounds throughout the Summer, Kinetic Arboretum’s (2018) three metal trees will respond to the elements with gentle, rhythmical movements. Inside the Museum, Bird Wave (2007) and Wishing You Well (2019) draw people’s attention to the parts of the functional objects we rarely see, highlighting rather than hiding, the moving mechanisms.

Venue:
The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham, DL12 8NP
Date:
Apr 3rd 2023 - Feb 25th 2024
Opening Times:
Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
£17.50/under 18s Free

Larry Achiampong: Gaming Room

This room is a collaboration between Larry Achiampong, Turner Contemporary in Margate, gaming enthusiasts and industry experts. A letter from Larry Achiampong: "To one and all, greetings! The games in this room were chosen to take you on a journey, to travel and to wayfind, across multiple landscapes and virtual dimensions. In one way or another, through visual, audible, play-based tendencies and more, games are significant in the stories I tell as an artist, and I wanted to find a way to share that with you in this space."

Venue:
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, South Shore Road, Gateshead Quays, Gateshead, NE8 3BA
Date:
May 20th 2023 - Oct 29th 2023
Opening Times:
Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 18:00
Price:
Free

Jill Tate: Peripheral Visions

Jill Tate’s paintings of simplified architectural scenes are based on scale models she has constructed and photographed. She is interested in our experience of home and its existence at different levels, such as the mind, the houses we inhabit and our shared planet. Using natural, warm colours and evoking the softened geometry of raw earth buildings, her monochromatic paintings dig down to the underlying unity at the root of all things, contemplating the physical and psychological structures that surround and shape us. Light plays a crucial role in her work, illuminating form and offering hope through the darkness.

Venue:
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, South Shore Road, Gateshead Quays, Gateshead, NE8 3BA
Date:
Jul 19th 2023 - Nov 1st 2023
Opening Times:
Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 18:00
Price:
Free

The Middlesbrough Model by Stephen Waller

This scale model recreates the St Hilda’s district, Middlesbrough in the 1950s and shows it’s Victorian architecture. Stephen Waller recreated the historic centre of his hometown, once the civic centre of the town, using blueprints from the 1830s. Waller carved the townscape from soft balsa wood and every detail including the roof tiles and cobbled streets are meticulously crafted over a decade. Waller has spent up to twelve hours a day crafting this model town and describes it as a ‘snapshot in time’.

Venue:
Mima, Centre Square, Middlesbrough, TS1 2AZ
Date:
Jul 13th 2023 - Oct 12th 2023
Opening Times:
Sun 12:00 - 16:00 , Tue-Sat 10:00 - 16:30
Price:
Free

Jade Sweeting: 900 miles (from my home)

900 miles (from my home) is the first UK solo exhibition by Middlesborough born and Newcastle based artist-photographer, printmaker and researcher Jade Sweeting. The exhibition visually represents strong, confident women who ride motorcycles – inspired by, and dedicated to every woman who rides, who gets their hands dirty and who wants to be free. 900 miles showcases a new series of intimate 8×10 black and white photographic prints spanning the central space. The photographs, at once detailed and abstracted, document personal items such as biker jackets, motorcycle parts and clothing. Imbued with individuality and pride, community and solidarity they speak to a subculture born from the freedom of the open road and resistance to the mainstream. The prints sit within an immersive soundtrack of the artist’s much loved Ironhead bike.

Venue:
Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, c/o National Glass Centre, Liberty Way, Sunderland, SR6 0GL
Date:
Sep 16th 2023 - Jan 21st 2024
Opening Times:
Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

Mike Nelson: Hybrid Scripts

Hybrid Scripts is the first solo exhibition in the North East in nearly 30 years by internationally acclaimed British artist Mike Nelson. Nelson produces immersive worlds which draw on international political movements, science fiction, counter culture, film and literature. His monumental installations invite the viewer to step into an alternate reality filled with a vast array of objects and personal effects which convey human presence while presenting a world eerily familiar to our own. The exhibition comprises two seminal early sculptural installations Taylor and Lionheart in direct dialogue for the first time. Both works reflect on Britain’s colonial past, migration, trade and travel.

Venue:
Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, c/o National Glass Centre, Liberty Way, Sunderland, SR6 0GL
Date:
Sep 23rd 2023 - Jan 21st 2024
Opening Times:
Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

Kristina Chan: Fault Lines

An exhibition that celebrates the power and beauty of traditional printmaking techniques. ‘Fault Lines’ offers a rare opportunity for audiences to discover the meticulous techniques employed by Kristina Chan and see firsthand the warmth and humanity that her work brings to the art world. Kristina Chan is a London-based artist working between printmaking, photography and public installation. Inspired by post-impressionism, Japanese prints and contemporary photography, her work explores the colliding narratives that affect our interpretation of space.

Venue:
Hancock Gallery, 2 Jesmond Road West, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4PQ
Date:
Jul 8th 2023 - Sep 30th 2023
Opening Times:
Mon-Fri 10:00 - 18:00 , Sat-Sun 11:00 - 16:00
Price:
Free

Powering the Future: South Tyneside and Beyond!

Throughout Spring 2023, school pupils from across South Tyneside were invited to take part in an invention challenge with Little Inventors, a creative education organisation that stimulates children’s imaginations by taking their ideas seriously and bringing them to life. Inspired and funded by Dogger Bank Wind Farm, the challenge explored the role of wind and other forms of renewable energy in helping address climate change. Hundreds of ideas were submitted and six were chosen by a panel of young inventors and industry representatives to be brought to life and displayed at the Word.

Venue:
The Word, The National Centre for the Written Word, 45 Market Place, South Shields, NE33 1JF
Date:
Jul 20th 2023 - Dec 3rd 2023
Opening Times:
Mon-Thu 09:00 - 19:00 , Fri 09:00 - 17:00 , Sat-Sun 10:00 - 16:00
Price:
Free

A Collector's Story: A Private Collection of Vivienne Westwood

Discover a snapshot of the late Vivienne Westwood’s career through the eyes of collector, Peter Smithson. Peter has collected Westwood clothing and accessories for more than 25 years, focusing on Mini-Crini (1986) to Storm in a Teacup (1996/7). Westwood was inspired by art, fashion, culture and social history. This capsule display features items from the Museum’s collection that echo and contextualise the historical references in Westwood’s work, allowing visitors to examine materials and techniques.

Venue:
The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham, DL12 8NP
Date:
Jul 22nd 2023 - Feb 4th 2024
Opening Times:
Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
£17.50/under 18s Free

Beverley Bennett: Simon Says/Dadda

The NewBridge Project is delighted to present Simon Says/Dadda, an exhibition by artist Beverley Bennett, exploring father/daughter relationships among Black and Asian women and non-binary individuals, highlighting the deep impact that structural inequalities have within wider society. At the NewBridge Project, Beverley will bring together for the first time the newly commissioned 3-channel film installation with a single screen film work, introducing the artist’s own voice to a constellation of testimonies and footage made over the past five years.

Venue:
The NewBridge Project, Shieldfield Centre 4 - 8, Clarence Walk, off Stoddart St, Newcastle, NE2 1AL
Date:
Sep 15th 2023 - Nov 4th 2023
Opening Times:
Daily 12:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

Kith and Kinship: Cornish and Lowry

Experience rarely seen and often overlooked works by Northern artists, Norman Cornish and L S Lowry, in this powerful exhibition celebrating the region’s distinctive industry, emotive landscapes and playful recreation activities. Over 50 of the artists’ paintings, drawings and sketchbooks spotlight their friends, neighbours, passers-by and relatives in familiar scenes from across the region. Working with people from the communities they depicted, the Museum will build new and varied interpretations of the works; bringing to life the relevance of these pieces today and how they resonate with a sense of place, hope and aspiration.

Venue:
The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham, DL12 8NP
Date:
Jul 20th 2023 - Jan 19th 2024
Opening Times:
Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
£17.50/under 18s Free

Valérie Wartelle - 'Closer Still'

A celebration of traditional craftmanship with contemporary design, by the talented artist Valérie Wartelle. This show is a must see for any textile collectors, appreciators of contemporary textile design or those interested in the process of wet felting.

Venue:
The Biscuit Factory, 16 Stoddard Street, Newcastle, NE2 1AN
Date:
Sep 2nd 2023 - Oct 8th 2023
Opening Times:
Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

The Northern Photography Prize

An exhibition of the finalists in the Northern Photography Prize 2023 featuring breath-taking images capturing the essence of the North East of England. The Northern Photography Prize is a popular competition, founded by the best-selling author LJ Ross, which encourages amateur photographers to enter images capturing 'The Heart' and 'The Spirit' of our region. From sea-swimmers to childhood sweethearts, stunning skyscapes to monuments of industry, the exhibition celebrates the people and places that make the North East so special.

Venue:
The Biscuit Factory, 16 Stoddard Street, Newcastle, NE2 1AN
Date:
Sep 16th 2023 - Oct 15th 2023
Opening Times:
Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

Middlesbrough Collection: Soft Structures

Soft Structures reflects on the invisible threads and undocumented connections that underpin creative lives and communities. Through drawing, painting, video, installation, textile and ceramics, the exhibition presents newly commissioned artwork by Fiona Larkin and Ian Giles and pieces from the Middlesbrough Collection cared for by MIMA.

Venue:
Mima, Centre Square, Middlesbrough, TS1 2AZ
Date:
Sep 19th 2023 - Mar 31st 2024
Opening Times:
Sun 12:00 - 16:00 , Tue-Sat 10:00 - 16:30
Price:
Free

Hassina Khan

Hassina Khan completed her MA in Glass at the University of Sunderland in 2022 and returned in 2023, taking part in a residency kindly funded by the Glass Society. Hassina uses glass to express English words written in Urdu text, mimicking her experience as a bi-racial, English-Pakistani person. An example of Hassina’s new work has been acquired by National Glass Centre adding to the international remit of our collection.

Venue:
National Glass Centre, Liberty Way, Sunderland, SR6 0GL
Date:
Sep 16th 2023 - Mar 10th 2024
Opening Times:
Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

Bernard Lloyd Collection

In 2022 Bernard Lloyd donated his substantial collection of Studio Glass to National Glass Centre. This presentation of selected works from the collection continues the theme of internationalism drawing attention to the significant variations in style and technique adopted by artists working in different countries at different times.

Venue:
National Glass Centre, Liberty Way, Sunderland, SR6 0GL
Date:
Sep 16th 2023 - Mar 10th 2024
Opening Times:
Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

MA Glass and Ceramics Students’ Showcase

University of Sunderland MA Visual Practice, Glass and Ceramics students will exhibit their final degree show in the NGC Gallery.

Venue:
National Glass Centre, Liberty Way, Sunderland, SR6 0GL
Date:
Sep 23rd 2023 - Oct 1st 2023
Opening Times:
Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

The Pre-Raphaelites: Women in the Picture

Women were the heartbeat of the Pre-Raphaelite movements. Through Tullie House’s superb collections they explore how women were the objects of the artists’ gaze often becoming a symbol for morality. Featuring favourite works by Gabriel Dante Rossetti, Elizabeth Siddal, Edward Burne-Jones, Phoebe Anna Traquair and Arthur Hughes, they look at the pioneering nature of the Pre Raphaelites, asking the question: when before had gender been so central to art?

Venue:
Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle Street, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA3 8TP
Date:
Sep 1st 2022 - Sep 1st 2025
Opening Times:
Mon-Sat 10:00 - 16:00
Price:
£10/under 18s Free

Graft & Glory

An exhibition which tells the story of our region’s engineers. They invented, innovated and campaigned to make mining safer, not only in the North East, but also around the world. It is the story of our region’s graft and glory: our responses to challenges facing industry, past, present and future.​

Venue:
The Common Room, Neville Hall, Westgate Road, Newcastle, NE1 1SE
Date:
Jul 17th 2023 - Sep 29th 2023
Opening Times:
Mon-Fri 09:00 - 17:30
Price:
Free

Matt Rugg: Connecting Form

The first major retrospective of the work of the British abstract artist and teacher Matt Rugg (1935-2020). The exhibition will display previously unshown work alongside well-known pieces and provide a platform for an outreach and learning programme exploring radical shifts in art education.

Venue:
Hatton Gallery, The Quadrangle, University of Newcastle, 6 Kensington Terrace, Newcastle, NE1 7RU
Date:
Sep 23rd 2023 - Jan 13th 2024
Opening Times:
Mon-Sat 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

Essence of Nature: Pre-Raphaelites to British Impressionists

This significant exhibition traces radically different approaches to landscape painting, starting with the Pre-Raphaelites’ ideal of ‘truth to nature’, represented by such artists as William Holman Hunt, John Ruskin, William Dyce, John Brett and Anna Blunden. Rustic Naturalist painters, including George Clausen, Henry La Thangue, Edward Stott, and Isa Jobling, also painted on the spot. However, they turned away from hyper-real detail, aiming to capture the character and atmosphere of rural working landscapes. Light and colour characterise British Impressionist pictures by artists such as Wynford Dewhurst, Henry Scott Tuke, Ethel Walker and Philip Steer. This group of pictures also includes outstanding British Impressionist compositions by George Clausen and Henry La Thangue. Sketching in front of their subjects, they produced beautiful pictures of sunny hillsides, orchards and gardens, balancing scenes of relaxation with working farmland. Newlyn artists similarly took their easels to beaches and sunny uplands, and the exhibition includes lovely scenes by Laura Knight, Samuel John Lamorna Birch, and Elizabeth Forbes.

Venue:
Laing Art Gallery, New Bridge Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8AG
Date:
May 27th 2023 - Oct 14th 2023
Opening Times:
Mon-Sat 10:00 - 16:30
Price:
£8/£7.20/under 12s Free

Creative Calligraphy: Inspired by the Lindisfarne Gospels

This exhibition has been created by a group of talented amateur calligraphers, who are part of two groups who meet weekly at Mortimer Community Centre in South Shields. The groups were given the opportunity to attend the Lindisfarne Gospels exhibition at the Laing Art Gallery in September 2022, and then spent several weeks creating individual responses to the exhibition, based on the question: What do you take as Gospel? The exhibition features calligraphy, illuminated lettering, Celtic knotwork, handmade books, photographs and draft pieces, to show the work that went on behind the scenes.

Venue:
South Shields Museum & Art Gallery, Ocean Road, South Shields, NE33 2JA
Date:
Apr 22nd 2023 - Sep 30th 2023
Opening Times:
Mon-Fri 10:00 - 17:00 , Sat 11:00 - 16:00
Price:
Free

New to Us

See some of the Museum’s recent acquisitions in this beautiful new display in the Art Gallery. Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens continues to grow its collections through the generous support of benefactors, bequests and funders. New commissions cast a new light on areas of our historic collections, and they showcase both new and established artists.

Venue:
Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, Mowbray Gardens, Burdon Road, Sunderland, SR1 1PP
Date:
Jun 19th 2023 - Dec 30th 2023
Opening Times:
Sat 10:00 - 16:00 , Mon-Fri 09:30 - 17:00
Price:
Free

A Common Thread - A Retrospective Exhibition by Clare Satow

Clare Satow arrived in Bill Quay, Gateshead by boat in 1979 and settled there on dry land in 1981, bringing up two boys and working in community arts and education across the region for over 30 years. Clare’s work has ranged from working with school and community groups, through to her own independent design and production of furnishing fabrics. This exhibition is a retrospective, sharing and celebrating some of the wonderful work Clare Satow has created over the last three decades as a respected and inspiring member of the Gateshead artist community.

Venue:
Gateshead Central Library, Prince Consort Road, Gateshead, NE8 4LN
Date:
Jul 22nd 2023 - Oct 7th 2023
Opening Times:
Sat 09:00 - 13:00 , Tue-Wed and Fri 09:00 - 17:00 , Mon and Thu 09:00 - 19:00
Price:
Free

SCRAN! A history of Food & Drink in South Tyneside

Food and drink is the mouth-watering theme for South Shields Museum’s latest exhibition. The exhibition charts the story of food and drink across South Tyneside and celebrates the traditional cuisine of the North East, from regional favourites such as stottie cakes and leek pudding, to singing hinnies and panaculty. In this exhibition, visitors can discover South Tyneside’s evolving food and drink story, from Roman times up to the present day, and learn of the origins of some of the borough’s most iconic eateries, including Colmans fish and chips, Dicksons pork butchers and Minchella & Co’s ice cream.

Venue:
South Shields Museum & Art Gallery, Ocean Road, South Shields, NE33 2JA
Date:
Jul 18th 2023 - Jan 25th 2024
Opening Times:
Sat 11:00 - 16:00 , Mon-Fri 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

Portrait Mode

A collection of portraits have been displayed, to celebrate the reopening of The National Portrait Gallery in London. The South Shields Museum & Art Gallery collection includes a number of portraits. Some are on permanent display in the galleries downstairs, including paintings of William Wouldhave, who played a key role in the invention of the lifeboat, and Alderman John Clay, the First Mayor of South Shields Borough Corporation. Others have been specially selected and displayed here as part of the national and international Portrait Mode initiative. Come and celebrate the enduring power and appeal of portrait paintings.

Venue:
South Shields Museum & Art Gallery, Ocean Road, South Shields, NE33 2JA
Date:
Jul 18th 2023 - Oct 7th 2023
Opening Times:
Mon-Fri 10:00 - 17:00 , Sat 11:00 - 16:00
Price:
Free

From the Painter’s Soul

The Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh said that ‘Paintings have a life of their own that derives from the painter’s soul.’ Here South Shields Museum & Art Gallery present a selection of some of the art works from the collection that demonstrate, through a variety of subjects and styles, something of this power and poetry of art. They have included some of the popular favourites, such as Harold C Harvey’s Blackberrying and John Wilson Carmichael’s Westoe Village, as well as some lesser-known works that have not been shown recently, or are new to display, such as Frank Thomas Carter’s The Head of the Lake (Derwentwater), and the sketchbook and book of Instructions on Sketching and Painting by James Miller Brown, who painted many of his works from a studio in South Shields.

Venue:
South Shields Museum & Art Gallery, Ocean Road, South Shields, NE33 2JA
Date:
Jul 18th 2023 - Oct 7th 2023
Opening Times:
Mon-Fri 10:00 - 17:00 , Sat 11:00 - 16:00
Price:
Free

The Quest for the Perfect Shirt

The Quest for the Perfect Shirt by artist/tailor Richard Bliss is an attempt to understand masculinity by making shirts. The exhibition includes text, a soundscape and film, all contributing to the sense that visitors have walked into world where they are surrounded by multiple masculinities. Bliss is attempting to generate conversations about masculinity and the show is presented in a way that enables people to move amongst the shirts, as if they are moving through a crowd.

Venue:
Bishop Auckland Town Hall, Market Place, Bishop Auckland, DL14 7NP
Date:
Sep 13th 2023 - Dec 2nd 2023
Opening Times:
Mon-Sat 10:00 - 16:00
Price:
Free

The Tiger Who Came To Tea

Queen’s Hall is delighted to present an exhibition that will explore the life and celebrate the work of one of Britain’s best known author-illustrators for children, Judith Kerr. Commemorating the centenary of Judith Kerr’s birth and celebrating her incredible contribution to children’s literature, The Tiger Who Came to Tea the exhibition, originated by Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children’s Books, features high quality facsimiles of Judith Kerr’s original illustrations from the Seven Stories collection and promises to re-introduce the beloved picture book to a new generation.

Venue:
Queen's Hall Arts Centre, Beaumont Street, Hexham, NE46 3LS
Date:
Sep 23rd 2023 - Nov 18th 2023
Opening Times:
Mon-Sat 10:00 - 16:00
Price:
Free

Elmer and Friends, the Colourful World of David McKee

Elmer and Friends is a major retrospective of the late author and illustrator David McKee. See striking illustrations and celebrate over 30 years of Elmer the Patchwork Elephant, McKee’s most well-known creation. First stop is Elmer’s world, where visitors can walk through Elmer’s jungle, encountering characters and stories along the way. As well as illustrations from the Elmer series there’s original artwork from McKee’s other children’s classics Not Now, Bernard, Mr Benn, and King Rollo plus the opportunity to visit the fancy dress costume shop featured in Mr Benn.

Venue:
Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, Mowbray Gardens, Burdon Road, Sunderland, SR1 1PP
Date:
Sep 11th 2023 - Jan 6th 2024
Opening Times:
Sat 10:00 - 16:00 , Mon-Fri 09:30 - 17:00
Price:
Free

Mike Attewell - Embellished Fiction

View paintings by Mike Attewell, celebrating Embellished fiction and a lifetime of creativity at Ushaw Historic House, Chapels & Gardens, near Durham. Training as an artist at King’s College, Newcastle, Mike allows his imagination to run riot, with themes from pre-war childhood memories, myths and legends, Shakespeare plays, plus depicting dreams and nightmares.

Venue:
Ushaw: Historic House, Chapels and Gardens, Woodland Road, Durham, DH7 9RH
Date:
Sep 9th 2023 - Nov 5th 2023
Opening Times:
Mon-Sat 11:00 - 16:00
Price:
£8 for Adults - £5 for Children (18-5)