Art - What’s On | The Crack Magazine

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

Hannah Perry: Manual Labour

A major body of new work that considers labour, motherhood and class. British artist Hannah Perry works across installation, sculpture, film and printmaking. Perry continuously generates and manipulates materials to develop a sprawling network of references. The result is an often candid, and personal exploration of mental and emotional health in our contemporary, hyper-networked society.

Venue:: BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, South Shore Road, Gateshead Quays, Gateshead, NE8 3BA
Date:: Jun 22nd 2024 - Mar 16th 2025
Opening Times:: Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 18:00
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 2025
Opening Times:: Sat 11:00 - 16:00 , Mon-Fri 10:00 - 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 2024 - Jan 19th 2025
Opening Times:: Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:: £17.50/under 18s Free

Len Tabner: Elements of Darkness

This new exhibition brings together a selection of Len Tabner’s drawings and paintings of Boulby Potash Mine on the North Yorkshire coast – the deepest mine in Britain. Len explored the unfamiliar underground world of the miner in the early 1980s, drawing and painting in situ in the mine.

Venue:: Mining Art Gallery, Bishop Auckland, County Durham
Date:: Nov 1st 2023 - Oct 27th 2024
Opening Times:: Sun and Wed-Sat 11:00 - 16:00
Price:: £6/£3 child

Humanimals: An Exhibition of Interactive Sculptures

An exhibition of interactive sculptures by Amanda Wray and Johnny White, contemporary artists based in Derbyshire. The family-friendly display will include a number of large-scale pieces and will be supported by a range of fun activities and workshops.

Venue:: Ushaw: Historic House, Chapels and Gardens, Woodland Road, Durham, DH7 9RH
Date:: Jun 29th 2024 - Sep 1st 2024
Opening Times:: Mon-Sat 11:00 - 16:00
Price:: Adult £10/child £6/under 5s Free

BUILDING: An exhibition under construction

The Farrell Centre presents BUILDING: An exhibition under construction which will transform the exhibition galleries into live making spaces in an exploration of the process of building. Rather than open fully-formed, the public will witness the exhibition taking shape over four months via two live build projects, installations created by students and apprentices, audience participation, and a programme of workshops and events for all audiences.

Venue:: Farrell Centre, The Sir Terry Farrell Building, Eldon Place, Newcastle, NE1 7RD
Date:: Apr 3rd 2024 - Aug 18th 2024
Opening Times:: Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 17:00
Price:: Free

Carboniferous Monsters: 100 million years before the Dinosaurs

Step back to the Carboniferous period, 100 million years before the dinosaurs. Visit tropical forests and swamps teeming with bizarre and ferocious ancient monsters, some of which had larger teeth than T. rex. Meet the dinosaurs’ distant ancestors, the very first reptiles, the largest creepy-crawlies ever to live, and prehistoric animals unlike anything you’ve ever seen before! Come face-to-face with scorpions the size of dogs, millipedes the length of crocodiles, and giant meat-eating dragonflies the size of seagulls. This blockbuster national touring exhibition features stunning 350 million year-old original fossils, reconstructed giant prehistoric animals, and skeleton casts from museums around the world, many of which have never been displayed in the UK before.

Venue:: Bishop Auckland Town Hall, Market Place, Bishop Auckland, DL14 7NP
Date:: Jun 10th 2024 - Aug 31st 2024
Opening Times:: Mon-Sat 10:00 - 16:00
Price:: Free

Steam to Green: A North East Energy Revolution

Discovery Museum’s major new exhibition will tell the story of energy and the climate crisis in the North East by looking back to the industrial revolution, and forward to the pioneering contributions in green technologies happening now across the region. With exciting new displays, science and engineering objects from the museums’ historical collections, and new interactives, Steam to Green will demystify new technologies and showcase how the North East is leading the way once more.

Venue:: Discovery Museum, (Closed on all Bank Holidays) Blandford Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4JA
Date:: Jul 20th 2024 - Jul 20th 2026
Opening Times:: Sat-Sun 11:00 - 16:00 , Mon-Fri 10:00 - 16:00
Price:: Free

Turner: Art, Industry & Nostalgia

Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire (1839), on loan from the National Gallery, will be the centrepiece of the exhibition, which explores the rise of steam power and industry in Britain. Turner: Art, Industry & Nostalgia will include over 20 works by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), one of Britain’s greatest and most prolific painters. The Fighting Temeraire, one of the artist’s best-known works, is a tribute to the ship HMS Temeraire, which played a distinguished role in The Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The painting shows the final journey of the ship as it is towed along the river Thames by a modern paddle-wheel steam tug in 1838, towards its final berth in Rotherhithe to be broken up for scrap.

Venue:: Laing Art Gallery, New Bridge Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8AG
Date:: May 10th 2024 - Sep 7th 2024
Opening Times:: Mon-Sat 10:00 - 16:30
Price:: £5/£4/under 21s Free

Sonia Burn: Solo Exhibition

An exhibition of new work by County Durham-based artist and art group leader Sonia Burn.

Venue:: Ushaw: Historic House, Chapels and Gardens, Woodland Road, Durham, DH7 9RH
Date:: May 25th 2024 - Aug 26th 2024
Opening Times:: Mon-Sat 11:00 - 16:00
Price:: Adults £10 / Children £6 / under 5s free

The Last Cage Down

Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the Miners’ Strike of 1984-85, this exhibition brings together works of art that portray the declining years of the coal mining industry, as mining artists sought to record an industry and way of life before it was lost forever. It offers an insight into the impact of closures on communities and landscapes, and reveals the Miners’ Strike from the perspective of coalfield artists who witnessed it.

Venue:: Mining Art Gallery, Bishop Auckland, County Durham
Date:: May 3rd 2024 - Oct 6th 2024
Opening Times:: Sun and Wed-Sat 11:00 - 16:00
Price:: £6/£3 child

Gail Curry: 300 miles of colour

Road trip landscapes.

Venue:: Wild & Free Gallery, 3A Ilfracombe Gardens, Whitley Bay, NE26 3ND
Date:: Jun 30th 2024 - Jul 31st 2024
Opening Times:: Wed-Sat 09:30 - 17:00
Price:: Free

MOTHEROTHER

Evolving from the MOTHEROTHER project this exhibition explores the relationship artist mothers have with themselves, their children, society, politics and the artworld. MOTHEROTHER offers a variety of perspectives on the parenting experience offered by artists attempting to navigate their caregiving roles within systems which often overlook, exclude, censor, minimise or legislate their experience.

Venue:: The NewBridge Project, Shieldfield Centre 4 - 8, Clarence Walk, off Stoddart St, Newcastle, NE2 1AL
Date:: Jun 8th 2024 - Aug 10th 2024
Opening Times:: Daily 12:00 - 17:00
Price:: Free

Baltic Open Submission 2024

An exhibition of 100 artworks showcasing painting, sculpture, photography, video and more by artists, makers, self-taught creatives and hobbyists based in North East England, alongside several works by established artists. Works will be selected by a panel including North East musician and lead singer with Maxïmo Park, Paul Smith; artist Jasmina Cibic; Leo Fenwick, Strategic Partnerships Director, Fenwick; Niomi Fairweather, Baltic Curator; and Rose McMurray, Baltic Curatorial Assistant.

Venue:: BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, South Shore Road, Gateshead Quays, Gateshead, NE8 3BA
Date:: Mar 16th 2024 - Sep 1st 2024
Opening Times:: Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 18:00
Price:: Free

Joanne Coates: Middle of Somewhere

Joanne Coates is a working-class visual artist working in the medium of photography who lives and works across the North East of England. Her work explores rurality, hidden histories and inequalities relating to low income through photography, installations, and audio. Coates uses photography to question the concepts of power, identity, wealth, and poverty, by exploring the social histories of land, gender, and class to narrate stories that have long been forgotten – or simply never told.

Venue:: BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, South Shore Road, Gateshead Quays, Gateshead, NE8 3BA
Date:: May 11th 2024 - Nov 17th 2024
Opening Times:: Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 18:00
Price:: Free

Franki Raffles: Photography, Activism, Campaign Works

The first major retrospective exhibition of feminist, activist, social documentary photographer Franki Raffles (1955–1994). Raffles documented the lives of women in the UK, predominantly in Scotland, and during travels with her family in the 1980s across the Soviet Union (Russia, Georgia and Ukraine), China, Zimbabwe, the Caribbean, Israel and Palestine. In Edinburgh she worked as a freelance photographer with schools and women’s groups. Her photography focused attention on women’s lives and their work, addressing issues such as inequality, gendered violence, disability, activism and sisterhood.

Venue:: BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, South Shore Road, Gateshead Quays, Gateshead, NE8 3BA
Date:: May 11th 2024 - Mar 16th 2025
Opening Times:: Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 18:00
Price:: Free

People’s Art

This exhibition will celebrate art created by unnamed artists. Objects referred to as Popular Art or Folk Art were often beautiful, functional and part of daily life. They reflect our economic and social history and were often remarkably well made, evidenced by their survival for decades or more through constant use. Despite the historic and aesthetic importance of these objects we rarely ask ‘who was the artist?’, or consider their importance within the history of art and design. People’s Art will aim to elevate the profile of popular art by commissioning five contemporary artists to respond to selected objects loaned from Compton Verney’s Folk Art collection and from a private collection. The newly commissioned works will be shown alongside the loans, encouraging the visitor to think about the principles we apply when considering the value of art.

Venue:: National Glass Centre, Liberty Way, Sunderland, SR6 0GL
Date:: Mar 23rd 2024 - Sep 8th 2024
Opening Times:: Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:: Free

Redcar Summer Exhibition

Multi-artist exhibition featuring installation, video, sculpture, performance photography, print, textile, painting and drawing.

Venue:: Redcar Contemporary Art Gallery, 13 West Terrace, Redcar, TS10 1DS
Date:: Jul 13th 2024 - Aug 31st 2024
Opening Times:: Wed-Sat 11:00 - 16:00
Price:: Free

Fantastic Beasts

Discover a range of fantastic and surprising beasts from Ushaw’s Library collection. Enlarged reproductions will be shown alongside some of the original and rare books.

Venue:: Ushaw: Historic House, Chapels and Gardens, Woodland Road, Durham, DH7 9RH
Date:: Jun 29th 2024 - Sep 1st 2024
Opening Times:: Mon-Sat 11:00 - 16:00
Price:: Adults £10 / Children £6 / under 5s free

Take a Stitch 2 Durham

A group exhibition of new textile art by members of Take a Stitch 2. Many of the works are for sale.

Venue:: Ushaw: Historic House, Chapels and Gardens, Woodland Road, Durham, DH7 9RH
Date:: Jun 22nd 2024 - Sep 8th 2024
Opening Times:: Mon-Sat 11:00 - 16:00
Price:: Adults £10 / Children £6 / under 5s free

Jeremy Deller: The Battle of Orgreave (An Injury to One is an Injury to All)

To mark the 40th anniversary of the 1984 Miners’ Strike, which had and still has a profound impact on Sunderland and the North East of England, NGCA Collection Space is screening ‘The Battle of Orgreave’ Mike Figgis’ film of Jeremy Deller’s re-enactment, originally shown on Channel 4. The violent confrontation between police and miners outside the coking plant at Orgreave in South Yorkshire was one of the crucial episodes in the 1984 Miners’ Strike. Made 17 years later in the same village, ‘The Battle of Orgreave’ centres on a re-enactment of the brutal confrontation made with the participation of many relatives of former miners as well as re-enactment specialists. Mike Figgis’s film combines footage of the day’s event with interviews with several key protagonists.

Venue:: Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, c/o National Glass Centre, Liberty Way, Sunderland, SR6 0GL
Date:: Jun 18th 2024 - Nov 3rd 2024
Opening Times:: Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:: Free

Ian Macdonald: Shooting Time

A retrospective exhibition across two venues – Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens and Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art – exploring 40 years of work by renowned British photographer Ian Macdonald. Ian Macdonald has spent four decades recording life, working class communities, industry (and its decline) and the landscape of the North East of England since the late 1960’s. A master printmaker, Macdonald has sensitively documented the overwhelming pace of change faced by the North East during a sustained period of deindustrialisation and social upheaval which accelerated through the late 1970s and 1980s.

Venue:: Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, Mowbray Gardens, Burdon Road, Sunderland, SR1 1PP
Date:: Jul 20th 2024 - Feb 1st 2025
Opening Times:: Mon-Fri 09:30 - 17:00 , Sat 10:00 - 16:00
Price:: Free

Flora: Plants in Roman Life

The Romans not only used plants for food, medicine, and dyeing, but also in religious ceremonies and as decoration. They wore wreaths of flowers and leaves during dinner parties, and decorated buildings and military standards during annual Rose Festivals. This exhibition explores the importance and everyday use of plants in Roman life.

Venue:: Arbeia Roman Fort and Museum, Baring Street, South Shields, NE33 2BB
Date:: Mar 25th 2024 - Sep 29th 2024
Opening Times:: Sat 11:00 - 16:00 , Sun 13:00 - 16:00 , Mon-Fri 10:00 - 17:00
Price:: Free

Space Investigators North East

This immersive exhibition takes you on a multi-sensory journey into the hidden worlds of the Universe. There's so much to learn about how advances in technology are constantly unveiling new areas of the universe for us to investigate. With every advance, we learn more and more about how our beautiful planet sits amongst the endless beauty and wonder of space. Whilst on your 'galactic voyage' through this exhibition you can discover some of the objects of astronomical importance that were designed and made right here in the North East, as well as learning about the cutting-edge astronomy research that still takes place in the region today. This exhibition has been designed and curated in collaboration with a team of Astrophysicists at Newcastle University.

Venue:: Great North Museum: Hancock, Barras Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4PT
Date:: Mar 30th 2024 - Sep 1st 2024
Opening Times:: Mon-Fri 10:00 - 17:00 , Sun 11:00 - 16:00 , Sat 10:00 - 16:00
Price:: Free

The Forgotten Battle

In April 1942 the 2nd Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry were sent from the UK to ‘Destination X’. Little did they know that their service in South-East Asia would later see them involved in one of the most severe and brutal conflicts of the Second World War. The story of the Battle of Kohima and its legacy, highlights how our local regiment connects County Durham with a far bigger story, spanning continents, decades, and generations.

Venue:: The Story, Mount Oswald, South Road, Durham, DH1 3TQ
Date:: Jun 14th 2024 - Oct 1st 2024
Opening Times:: Sat-Sun 10:00 - 17:00 , Thu 00:00 - 19:00 , Mon-Fri 00:00 - 17:00
Price:: Free

Rome Transformed

Immerse yourself in a series of epic 3D visualisations and embark on a time-travelling journey alongside experts at Newcastle University. Follow the journey as archaeologists delved deep into the Ancient City of Rome, uncovering the grand tapestry of history, marked by seismic shifts in politics, armies, and religion using cutting edge technology. Their quest posed critical questions about investigating ancient cities, exploring suburban mysteries, and discerning the ripple effects of Rome's transformations on a broader scale from 1st to 8th centuries CE. This is the story of Rome Transformed, where history comes to life through the lens of innovation and exploration.

Venue:: Great North Museum: Hancock, Barras Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4PT
Date:: May 25th 2024 - Sep 1st 2024
Opening Times:: Mon-Fri 10:00 - 17:00 , Sun 11:00 - 16:00 , Sat 10:00 - 16:00
Price:: Free

Collecting the Past

The aim of many of the local museums set up in the nineteenth century was to have ‘the world under one roof’, so they collected a wide range of objects from around the world, including archaeological pieces. This exhibition looks at some of these objects and explores what we know – or don’t know – about them now.

Venue:: Segedunum Roman Fort, 2 Buddle Street, Wallsend, NE28 6HR
Date:: Mar 23rd 2024 - Nov 2nd 2024
Opening Times:: Mon-Sat 10:00 - 15:00 , Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:: £6.95/£4.95/u-21s Free

Streets Above

Housing built for ship-workers in the late nineteenth-century once covered the whole site of the Roman fort and the surrounding areas. Most of these streets were demolished in the 1970s and 1980s, and the area was transformed. These photographs are records of those streets, and how this area once looked very different.

Venue:: Segedunum Roman Fort, 2 Buddle Street, Wallsend, NE28 6HR
Date:: Mar 23rd 2024 - Nov 2nd 2024
Opening Times:: Mon-Sat 10:00 - 15:00 , Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:: £6.95/£4.95/u-21s Free

Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art Collection Display

On display across National Glass Centre are a selection of photographic works taken from Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art’s Collection (NGCA). The photographic works were originally exhibited as part of exhibitions held at NGCA during its existence at Fawcett Street, Sunderland and now National Glass Centre. They delve into extraordinary worlds, mapping the contours of Alpine glaciers, a 3D model of a tree surrounded by a blanket of millions of individual crystals and document the lives of stage entertainers across the world from Las Vegas to India to Blackpool. Artworks on display by Michelle Allen, Alice Hawkins, Dan Holdsworth, John Kippin, Tim Mitchell, Kelly Richardson and Simon Roberts.

Venue:: Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, c/o National Glass Centre, Liberty Way, Sunderland, SR6 0GL
Date:: Jan 16th 2024 - Dec 31st 2024
Opening Times:: Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:: Free

Ian Macdonald: Fixing Time

A retrospective exhibition across two venues – Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens and Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art – exploring 50 years of work by renowned British artist and photographer Ian Macdonald. Macdonald, boasts a rich and prolific career spanning five decades behind the lens. His photographic journey has been dedicated to documenting life, the evolution of working-class communities, and the rise and fall of industry in Teesside and Cleveland, located in the North-East of England. Macdonald’s extensive body of work aligns with the tradition of British documentary photography that emerged during the mid 1970s and into the 1980s, a period marked by political shifts and social upheaval.

Venue:: Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, c/o National Glass Centre, Liberty Way, Sunderland, SR6 0GL
Date:: Jul 20th 2024 - Nov 3rd 2024
Opening Times:: Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:: Free

Oliver Kilbourn: My Life as a Pitmen

A special collection of paintings made by Ashington Group artist Oliver Kilbourn. The collection forms a comprehensive record of Kilbourn’s 50 year career underground, offering valuable insight into the working environment of a Northumberland coal miner during the mid-20th Century. This collection will be on special display as part of the Ashington Group 90 programme so don’t miss your chance to view these unique artworks.

Venue:: Woodhorn Museum , Queen Elizabeth 2nd Country Park, Ashington, Northumberland, NE63 9YF
Date:: Mar 29th 2024 - Sep 15th 2024
Opening Times:: Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 16:00
Price:: £9.50/£8.50/under 18s Free

Drawing attention: emerging artists in dialogue

Experience some of the most compelling artists in the field of contemporary drawing, displayed alongside highlights from the British Museum collection. Works using make-up on face wipes by Sin Wai Kin, to a drawing made with chalk collected from the White Cliffs of Dover by Josephine Baker are paired with artists such as Andy Warhol and Barbara Hepworth. Newly created artistic responses from Northern School of Art students, along with a range of pieces from Hartlepool’s own fine art collection chosen and reinterpreted by the Hartlepool Young Producers, complete the line-up.

Venue:: Hartlepool Art Gallery, The Tourist Information Centre, Church Square, Hartlepool, TS24 7EQ
Date:: May 18th 2024 - Aug 24th 2024
Opening Times:: Tue-Sat 10:00 - 17:00
Price:: Free

A Century of Wedding Gowns

Over 70 wedding dresses, including replicas of well-known royal wedding gowns, stunningly displayed throughout Ushaw’s magnificent and architecturally significant Chapels.

Venue:: Ushaw: Historic House, Chapels and Gardens, Woodland Road, Durham, DH7 9RH
Date:: Mar 23rd 2024 - Aug 26th 2024
Opening Times:: Mon-Sat 11:00 - 16:00
Price:: Adults £10 / Children £6 / under 5s free / annual memberships available

European Masterpieces

This exhibition explores rarely seen masterpieces by Dutch, Flemish, Spanish, French, and Italian artists, illuminating the surprising connections between seventeenth century European artistic communities. Featuring masterpieces by masters such as Rembrandt, David Teniers and Paulus Potter.

Venue:: Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland, County Durham, DL14 7NR
Date:: Jul 6th 2024 - Oct 6th 2024
Opening Times:: Sun and Wed-Sat 11:00 - 15:00
Price:: Castle admission £18/£9 child

Dave Tweedy: Filling in the Gaps

These works examine memory, disguise, transformation, ritual and revelation in both personal and political arenas. They call on and use imagery from the media and other printed sources.

Venue:: Abject Gallery, 47 Fawcett street, Sunderland, SR1 1RE
Date:: Jul 18th 2024 - Aug 10th 2024
Opening Times:: Wed-Sat 11:00 - 17:00
Price:: Free

Shells, shores and beyond: A global collection of a Georgian lady

See an extraordinary 18th century shell collection on display at Chesters Roman Fort. It was believed to be lost, but was returned to English Heritage after being saved from a skip. There are spectacular shells on display, including an extinct species and several shells believed to have been sent back from Captain Cook’s ill-fated third voyage.

Venue:: Chesters Fort and Museum, on B6318 nr. Chollerford, nr. Chollerford, Northumberland, NE46 4EU
Date:: Mar 12th 2024 - Nov 3rd 2024
Opening Times:: 12th Mar - 3rd Nov 2024 10:00 - 17:00
Price:: From £8.60

Conor Rogers: Renegade

Rogers reclaims derogatory concepts through selected works that prioritise council estates, domestic spaces, and communities that are often misunderstood. Within his approach to the gallery exchange, Rogers has created a site-specific work that explores the local history and landscape of its Shieldfield estate and community.

Venue:: Slugtown, 44 Wretham Place, Shieldfield, Newcastle, NE2 1XU
Date:: Jul 19th 2024 - Aug 3rd 2024
Opening Times:: Fri-Sat 12:00 - 18:00
Price:: Free

Bobby Chainbridge and Margarita Frančeska Ieva Loze

Bobby Chainbridge (some say the he’s the alter ego of artist Andrew Mitchell, but who really knows?) catalogues the People, Places and Pints of the North East's greatest clubs; both past & present. His work captures the “alone, but together” conviviality that made and makes social clubs a staple of Northern life. Margarita Frančeska Ieva Loze's work is an exploration of the subtle beauty of life’s moments and a celebration of the poetics of the ordinary. Her recent work combines textile production with the use of found objects. Through her experimental narrative approach, Margarita makes a dreamlike ontology, to capture the nuances of spatial, temporal and poetic navigation.

Venue:: OWTSIDE Gallery, No More Nowt, Community House, Yoden Road, Peterlee, SR8 5DP
Date:: Dec 12th 2023 - Oct 31st 2024
Opening Times:: 12th Dec 2023 - 31st Oct 2024 TBC
Price:: Free

Lily Senner: Tyneside Dreaming

A new lightbox commission created by Lily Senner who's paintings of otherworldly landscapes are created through memory and imagination. You can find this artwork displayed on the right-hand wall as you enter through our main doors.

Venue:: BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, South Shore Road, Gateshead Quays, Gateshead, NE8 3BA
Date:: Mar 17th 2024 - Sep 1st 2024
Opening Times:: Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 18:00
Price:: Free

Lowry and the Sea

Lowry and the Sea explores the artist’s connection to Berwick and his lifelong fascination with the sea. The exhibition includes works on loan from The Lowry, Salford, The Arts Council Collection and several private collections, and is the first curated exhibition of his works in the town for 10 years. Lowry is one of Britain’s most recognisable artists, best known for his industrial landscapes. However, the sea was a constant presence in Lowry’s life. During his childhood he enjoyed regular family holidays on the Lancashire coast. Later he travelled extensively throughout the British Isles and regularly visiting the North-East and its coast. He first visited Berwick upon Tweed in the mid-1930s and continued to visit the town until his death in 1976, perhaps drawn by its clear air and views out to the North Sea.

Venue:: Granary Gallery, Dewar’s Lane, Berwick-upon-Tweed, TD15 1HJ
Date:: May 25th 2024 - Oct 13th 2024
Opening Times:: Sun and Wed-Sat 11:00 - 16:00
Price:: £5/concessions Free

Illuminated Sheep

Illuminated Sheep by artist Deepa Mann-Kler was inspired by the Gospels’ themes of light and pilgrimage. The flock of life-sized sheep lit up in bright colours with a mesmerising soundscape have already visited some of the region’s most iconic locations including Alnwick Garden, Bamburgh Castle, Vindolanda and Woodhorn Museum.

Venue:: Queen's Hall Arts Centre, Beaumont Street, Hexham, NE46 3LS
Date:: Jul 22nd 2024 - Aug 31st 2024
Opening Times:: Mon-Sat 10:00 - 16:00
Price:: Free

The World of Childhood

An exhibition for all ages providing fun and thought provoking childhood experiences. It will provide the visitor with an insight into how experiences have changed over time, by using images, literature, activities and information. The exhibition has been locally curated drawing inspiration from playful histories. Come along and gain a new perspective on childhood through this exciting exhibition, providing visitors with an opportunity to engage in childhood games and a range of activities. Leave your mark on the exhibition, by creating your own artefact that can be added to the visitor display wall.

Venue:: Bailiffgate Museum, 14 Bailiffgate, Alnwick, Northumberland, NE66 1LX
Date:: Apr 25th 2024 - Sep 8th 2024
Opening Times:: Sun and Tue-Sat 10:00 - 16:00
Price:: Adults £5/conc £4/children £1

Working Lives

Working Lives brings together artworks dating from the 1880s to 2024 held in the Middlesbrough Collection and are shown alongside loaned pieces by contemporary artists connected with Cleveland Art Society. The exhibition examines the creative lives of artists working in the Tees Valley and highlights the importance of artist groups and the support structures that have been built by artists in the region. A new film made using Artificial Intelligence (AI) asks questions about what collections mean to different people.

Venue:: Mima, Centre Square, Middlesbrough, TS1 2AZ
Date:: Apr 25th 2024 - Aug 18th 2024
Opening Times:: Sun 12:00 - 16:00 , Tue-Sat 10:00 - 16:30
Price:: Free

GemArts Masala Festival: Artful Struggles: Contemporary Art from Sri Lanka

Artful Struggles commemorates the second anniversary of the Aragalaya/Porattam (“Struggle” in Sinhala and Tamil respectively) – Sri Lanka’s 2022 Occupy movement against corruption, immiseration, and impunity, which toppled a president and a prime minister. The exhibition raises greater awareness about Sri Lanka’s crisis and struggles through the work of contemporary artists. It explores how art helped promote a more hopeful, pluralistic, accountable, and democratic politics for Sri Lanka before succumbing to increased repression.

Venue:: Gateshead Central Library, Prince Consort Road, Gateshead, NE8 4LN
Date:: Jul 15th 2024 - Jul 27th 2024
Opening Times:: Sat 09:00 - 13:00 , Tue-Wed and Fri 09:00 - 17:00 , Mon and Thu 09:00 - 19:00
Price:: Free

Mike Pinkney

Mike Pinkney lives in Hexham and enjoys trying to capture the beautiful buildings and atmosphere of the place in his prints. He also loves exploring the hills, coastline, towns and cities of the North East which provide endless inspiration. This exhibition showcases a selection of Mike’s work depicting Hexham, the Northumberland coast and the wider region. All of the prints in the show have been screen printed in the printmaking studio. Screen printing is an exciting and dynamic way of working which always produces unexpected results in the ways colours and shapes combine.

Venue:: Queen's Hall Arts Centre, Beaumont Street, Hexham, NE46 3LS
Date:: Apr 24th 2024 - Oct 24th 2024
Opening Times:: Mon-Sat 10:00 - 16:00
Price:: Free

100 Years of Fashion from the History Wardrobe Collection

From the opulent and structured styles of the early 1900s to the more casual and laid-back looks of the 1990s, this collection looks at how fashion has continuously evolved throughout the decades.

Venue:: Kirkleatham Museum, Kirkleatham Village, Redcar, Cleveland, TS10 5NW
Date:: Mar 29th 2024 - Sep 22nd 2024
Opening Times:: Sun and Tue-Sat 10:00 - 17:00 , Sun and Tue-Sat 10:00 - 16:00
Price:: Free

Let Not The Deep Swallow Me Up

A photography exhibition by Michael Sreenan in partnership with Kirkleatham Museum, A visual portrayal of the stories shared from the past and present. The work explores the history of the service in Redcar, and how we are connected to the sea as a community.

Venue:: Kirkleatham Museum, Kirkleatham Village, Redcar, Cleveland, TS10 5NW
Date:: May 9th 2024 - Aug 31st 2024
Opening Times:: Sun and Tue-Sat 10:00 - 16:00
Price:: Free

Towards New Worlds

A large-scale exhibition sharing fifteen artists’ experiences of seeing, hearing, feeling and sensing the contemporary world. The exhibition explores a rich variety of human perceptions and sensory experiences through works of art, which make connections between the artists’ internal worlds and their external environments. The artworks consider issues in the contemporary world, including justice, ecological consciousness, connectivity and care. Each of the artists involved is disabled, D/deaf and/or neurodivergent. The artists interpret their own perspectives, offering new insights for those encountering their work while recognising that we can never fully inhabit someone else’s experience.

Venue:: Mima, Centre Square, Middlesbrough, TS1 2AZ
Date:: Jul 19th 2024 - Feb 9th 2025
Opening Times:: Sun 12:00 - 16:00 , Tue-Sat 10:00 - 16:30
Price:: Free

Peace Doves by Peter Walker

Gaze up at 15,000 paper peace doves in the Nave of Durham Cathedral this summer. Feel a sense of serenity and peace as you experience the Peace Doves installation by artist Peter Walker. This artwork will be made up of fifteen thousand individually handmade paper doves which will be suspended above the Cathedral’s historic Nave. Listen out for the soundscape by composer David Harper, emphasising the atmospheric experience. Each dove will contain a message of peace, love and hope, written by members of the public. Look out for special evening viewings and events this summer.

Venue:: Durham Cathedral, Chapter Office, Palace Green, Durham, DH1 3EH
Date:: Jul 26th 2024 - Sep 4th 2024
Opening Times:: Mon-Sat 10:00 - 16:00 , Sun 12:00 - 16:00
Price:: Free

PSYCHE: Where does the soul go?

PSYCHE: Where does the soul go? explores Ancient Greek ideas about life after death. Does the soul spend eternity in the murky underworld? Will it be reborn as something new? Or does it just… disappear? This exhibition reveals some of the ancient answers to these unknowable questions through storytelling and artefacts, as our short paper animation brings the figures of Ancient Greek pottery to life.

Venue:: Great North Museum: Hancock, Barras Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4PT
Date:: May 14th 2024 - Sep 1st 2024
Opening Times:: Mon-Fri 10:00 - 17:00 , Sun 11:00 - 16:00 , Sat 10:00 - 16:00
Price:: Free

Routes and Roots: British Bangladeshi Stories of South Tyneside

This exhibition celebrates the year-long meetings of the Shared Stories of South Tyneside group. Supported by the South Shields Museum & Art Gallery, members of the local British Bangladesh community have woven their rich history, objects and photographs into this exciting exhibition, titled Routes and Roots: British Bangladeshi Stories of South Tyneside. In a collaborative effort, the Shared Stories group engaged with the local community, inviting them to lend their beloved objects and nostalgic photographs for the exhibition.

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

Stories in Stitch

An extraordinary exhibition showcasing a diverse collection of samplers and embroidered pictures from the 17th to the 20th centuries. The exclusive display brings together various styles of stitching, many of which have never been seen before, offering a rare glimpse into the evolution and popularity of domestic embroidery in Britain. You will be enchanted by items from The Bowes Museum’s collection, some retrieved from storage after decades, complemented by loans from private collections. This exhibition offers a unique opportunity to appreciate the intricate skills and techniques of both amateur and professional makers, including the remarkable work of Mary Linwood. Known for her ‘needle paintings’ that mimic the brush strokes of Old Masters like Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough, Linwood’s work highlights the artistic potential of embroidery.

Venue:: The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham, DL12 8NP
Date:: May 18th 2024 - Sep 29th 2024
Opening Times:: Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:: £17.50/under 18s Free

New Light Art Prize 2024

An exhibition over 100 works from the best of Northern talent. This year includes a Sculpture Prize, exclusive to The Biscuit Factory!

Venue:: The Biscuit Factory, 16 Stoddard Street, Newcastle, NE2 1AN
Date:: Jun 29th 2024 - Sep 22nd 2024
Opening Times:: Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:: Free