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The Crack Magazine

Art

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

Nerys Johnson: Disability and Practice

The exhibition explores Johnson’s lived experience of rheumatoid arthritis and the subsequent impact of disability on her artistic practice. The works on display have been chosen from a large body of Johnson's work, which was donated to the Laing by the Estate of Nerys Johnson in November 2022. The archive is comprised of thousands of works on paper, including sketchbooks, prints, and watercolours, dating from throughout her artistic career. Johnson is most well-known for the vibrant and often intense colours in her work combined with dramatic and abstract forms of flowers, often set against dark backdrops. Her work, however, is varied—she uses different media and includes a variety of subjects beyond flowers, notably including self-portraits, abstract nudes, and architectural motifs.

Venue:
Laing Art Gallery, New Bridge Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8AG
Date:
Dec 21st 2024 - Dec 6th 2025
Opening Times:
Mon-Sat 10:00 - 16:30
Price:
Free

'The Secret Lives of Bottle of Notes: Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen'

Discover the story behind Bottle of Notes (1993), Middlesbrough’s iconic public sculpture and the only UK work by celebrated artists Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. Over its 30-year life this nine-metre-tall steel bottle has been adopted as a symbol for the Tees Valley. The Secret Lives of Bottle of Notes, delves into how public art shapes identity and place. Through historical and contemporary artworks, archival materials, and creative contributions from Tees Valley communities, the exhibition traces the making of this significant sculpture, its meaning to the region, and its lasting impact on Middlesbrough’s cultural landscape.

Venue:
Mima, Centre Square, Middlesbrough, TS1 2AZ
Date:
Mar 14th 2025 - Oct 5th 2025
Opening Times:
Sun 12:00 - 16:00 , Tue-Sat 10:00 - 16:30
Price:
Free

The Wonderful World of the Ladybird Book Artists

A family-focused exhibition which celebrates the art of the Ladybird book artists from the 1940s to the 1970s. The display includes original art, audio visual elements and the centrepiece Wall of Books featuring hundreds of original volumes from the period. The exhibition is designed to engage younger visitors and to provide a dose of reminiscence and nostalgia for those who grew up with these classic works. A touring exhibition curated by Helen Day, Ladybird book specialist and enthusiast.

Venue:
Ushaw: Historic House, Chapels and Gardens, Woodland Road, Durham, DH7 9RH
Date:
Jun 28th 2025 - Aug 31st 2025
Opening Times:
Mon-Sat 11:00 - 16:00
Price:
£10/under 18s £6/under 5s Free

SHOAL

An exhibition featuring 12 photographs by artist Mandy Barker. The series reveals evidence of marine plastic debris collected during the Japanese Tsunami Debris Expedition in June 2012. The work focuses on plastics collected and photographed from trawls and net samples at various points between Japan and Hawaii, and also from the tsunami affected shoreline in Fukushima Prefecture. Each image includes a different trawl sample, in some cases represented as tiny plankton, and captioned with the grid reference of where each sample was collected.

Venue:
Great North Museum: Hancock, Barras Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4PT
Date:
Feb 21st 2025 - Nov 2nd 2025
Opening Times:
Mon-Fri 10:00 - 17:00 , Sun 11:00 - 16:00 , Sat 10:00 - 16:00
Price:
Free

Josephine: A Woman of Taste and Fashion

Discover the timeless elegance, craftsmanship and innovation of Joséphine Bowes’ textile collection in this captivating display. From opulent historical textiles to the cutting-edge creations of French haute couture, highlights include iconic designs from Yves Saint Laurent, Jeanne Paquin and Elsa Schiaparelli, as well as intricate embroideries and breathtaking lacework. Examples of Joséphine’s style influences from the mid-18th century will also be on show, alongside rare surviving pieces from her personal wardrobe and material from the archives.

Venue:
The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham, DL12 8NP
Date:
Mar 22nd 2025 - Mar 1st 2026
Opening Times:
Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
£19.50/under 18s Free

Resounding Diasporic Sonic Worlds

An exhibition and events programme exploring music and resistance among various communities and their diasporas. Resounding Diasporic Sonic Worlds brings together film and video, photography, and sound alongside archival projects that centre radical approaches to the past, present and future; where archives are treated as living sites and archiving as a practice that challenges histories of colonial and racial violence.

Venue:
The NewBridge Project, Shieldfield Centre 4 - 8, Clarence Walk, off Stoddart St, Newcastle, NE2 1AL
Date:
May 10th 2025 - Jul 19th 2025
Opening Times:
Daily 12:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

Pool

The word 'Pool' has a range of what appear to be very different meanings although they are all related through some notion of 'coming together and sharing'. We can think of anything from pools of water, through pooled gambling 'The Pools', shared resources among a specific group (a clothing pool?)

Venue:
EDAN Gallery, The Art Block, 74 Church Street, Seaham, County Durham, SR7 7HF
Date:
Jun 3rd 2025 - Jul 12th 2025
Opening Times:
Tue-Fri 11:00 - 15:00 , Sat 10:00 - 16:00
Price:
Free

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Dinosaur rEvolution

Coming this summer, the blockbuster Dinosaur rEvolution exhibition will bring animatronic dinosaurs to Carlisle. The show will also feature replica fossils, skeletons and detailed illustrations by acclaimed artist Luis V. Rey. Dinosaur rEvolution will turn your idea of dinosaurs upside down. The exhibition draws upon recent research and presents dinosaurs with all the spikes, quills, horns, feathers and bright colours we now believe they had. No more drab dinosaurs, these exciting appearances will be presented through amazing visual representations of these incredible creatures.

Venue:
Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle Street, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA3 8TP
Date:
Jun 28th 2025 - Sep 14th 2025
Opening Times:
Mon-Sat 10:00 - 16:00
Price:
Adult admission (valid for 12 months) £15/Under 18s Free

Shakespeare Recovered: Durham's First Folio

In December 1998, the Durham First Folio, a copy of William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies, was stolen along with six other items while on display in Cosin’s Library. For a decade, there was no news of the missing books and Durham University had to accept that the First Folio was lost. But the story didn’t end there. In 2008, a badly damaged book was brought to the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C. The book was presented to experts as a newly discovered copy of the First Folio that needed authentication for sale. Staff at the Folger quickly recognised the possibility that this book was in fact Durham’s missing copy and after verification it was returned to its rightful home on Palace Green. This exhibition tells the story of what happened next, exploring the work of our conservation team to make the First Folio accessible again. Visit to see a rare and important cultural artefact and experience a book as you’ve never seen one before.

Venue:
Palace Green Library, Palace Green, Durham, DH1 3RN
Date:
Apr 4th 2025 - Nov 2nd 2025
Opening Times:
Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

All Change! The Social Impact of the Stockton & Darlington Railway in the 200 years after 1825

A colourful new exhibition focusing on the impact of passenger railways on North-East life. Celebrating the 200th anniversary of the first locomotive passenger train – a local invention that transformed the world – the importance and magnitude of the birth of the Stockton and Darlington Railway on transport systems around the globe cannot be measured.

Venue:
The Story, Mount Oswald, South Road, Durham, DH1 3TQ
Date:
May 26th 2025 - Jan 30th 2026
Opening Times:
Sat-Sun 10:00 - 17:00 , Thu 00:00 - 19:00 , Mon-Fri 00:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

Brick Flicks

From Wayne’s World to West Side Story, The Matrix to Mary Poppins, and Laurel & Hardy to Life of Pi, see classic movies in LEGO bricks in this exhibition of some of the most iconic and memorable film moments of all time recreated by Warren Elsmore, the well-known artist in LEGO bricks. Each familiar scene has been carefully photographed to mimic the staging and lighting of the original movie, but with the scenery, actors and actresses recreated with everyone’s favourite building blocks.

Venue:
Bishop Auckland Town Hall, Market Place, Bishop Auckland, DL14 7NP
Date:
Jun 2nd 2025 - Aug 30th 2025
Opening Times:
Mon-Sat 10:00 - 16:00
Price:
Free

Streets Above: Photographs of the roads and buildings that covered Roman Wallsend 

Housing built for ship-workers in the late 19th 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:
Apr 1st 2025 - Nov 1st 2025
Opening Times:
Mon-Sat 10:00 - 15:00 , Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Adults: £3.98 | £2.98 Concessions ( includes £1 voluntary donation), NE28 residents Free

Collecting the Past 

The aim of many of the local museums set up in the 19th 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:
Apr 1st 2025 - Nov 1st 2025
Opening Times:
Mon-Sat 10:00 - 15:00 , Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Adults: £3.98 | £2.98 Concessions ( includes £1 voluntary donation), NE28 residents Free

'In Motion – Middlesbrough Collection'

Artists are inventive and curious. They ask big questions and spark bold ideas – whether by exploring new ways to create, experimenting with materials or imagining possible futures. In Motion is a display of artwork from the Middlesbrough Collection held at MIMA. The Collection holds 2,350 works of art and craft made by artists based in the Tees Valley and internationally from the mid-1800s to today.

Venue:
Mima, Centre Square, Middlesbrough, TS1 2AZ
Date:
Apr 11th 2025 - Mar 22nd 2026
Opening Times:
Sun 12:00 - 16:00 , Tue-Sat 10:00 - 16:30
Price:
Free

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Peter Hayes: The Landscapes We Live In

Having spent three decades as a politics lecturer, Peter gained an MA in Fine Art from Sunderland University in 2023. Now a full-time artist, his main works are landscapes, which convey some of his intense and immersive experiences in Britain's countryside, and 'peoplescapes', narrative paintings realised in oils which explore the ways humans interact with nature.

Venue:
The People's Theatre Gallery, Open only on performance nights, People's Theatre, Stephenson Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 5QF
Date:
May 5th 2025 - Jul 25th 2025
Opening Times:
Mon-Sat 18:30 - 21:00
Price:
Free

Jim Moir: Knot Twister Prologue

Jim Moir (AKA Vic Reeves) returns to The Biscuit Factory this Summer with a brand new collection of original paintings. Those following Jim's career as an artist will be familiar with his breadth of work. From charming watercolours to expressive & bold oil paintings; his passion for nature is obvious in every composition, as are the unique characters of his subjects.

Venue:
The Biscuit Factory, 16 Stoddard Street, Newcastle, NE2 1AN
Date:
May 16th 2025 - Jul 20th 2025
Opening Times:
Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

Hartlepool Mural Festival

Get ready to be inspired by Hartlepool Mural Festival! Watch as community spaces come alive with breathtaking murals created by talented artists, and dive into the vibrant world of street art brought indoors at Hartlepool Art Gallery.

Venue:
Hartlepool Art Gallery, The Tourist Information Centre, Church Square, Hartlepool, TS24 7EQ
Date:
Jun 28th 2025 - Sep 6th 2025
Opening Times:
Tue-Sat 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

Spirit of the North East: The art of Richard Hobson, a retrospective

In this exhibition, discover how Richard Hobson (1945–2004) captured the changing landscapes, industry and communities of the North East. From bustling shipyards to rugged moorlands and beyond, explore how Richard captured an industrial landscape and a way of life which was on the cusp of change.

Venue:
South Shields Museum & Art Gallery, Ocean Road, South Shields, NE33 2JA
Date:
Apr 12th 2025 - Nov 2nd 2025
Opening Times:
Mon-Fri 10:00 - 17:00 , Sat 11:00 - 16:00
Price:
Free

The Painted Coast: Tyneside

Showcasing the oil paintings of landscape artist Stuart Jones. Working outdoors on location with his easel is what drives Stuart’s work. In his 'plein air' paintings, his aim is to convey a sense of the light, mood and atmosphere at the coast as well as the activity taking place in his 'busy beach scenes'.

Venue:
Spanish City, Whitley Bay, Tyne & Wear, NE26 1BG
Date:
Apr 8th 2025 - Sep 28th 2025
Opening Times:
8th Apr - 28th Sep 2025 TBC
Price:
Free

Like Ships in the Night: A Solo Exhibition of Rory Williams

Have you ever stopped to think about the people you encounter every day? The stranger on the bus, the shopper disappearing down another aisle, people in the street you catch as a fleeting glimpse as you walk by. These figures enter your life for a fraction of a moment only to disappear just as quickly, leaving nothing but a fuzzy afterimage of an idea. Yet, these people live complete lives, and in doing so they complete others’. This exhibition features paintings as candid observations of these characters, portraying encounters with individuals in Rory's everyday life.

Venue:
The Customs House Gallery, Mill Dam, South Shields, NE33 1ES
Date:
Jul 5th 2025 - Aug 11th 2025
Opening Times:
Daily 10:00 - 18:00
Price:
Free

Kirsten Luckins: Declaration

Writings and recycled paper artworks mapping the journey towards becoming a signatory with Culture Declares Emergency. Using collage and experimental techniques in handmade paper and piped papier mache, Kirsten Luckins presents poems and visual provocations on themes of biodiversity loss and personal engagement with the climate crisis.

Venue:
Arc, Dovecot Street, Stockton-on-Tees, TS18 1LL
Date:
Jun 5th 2025 - Jul 14th 2025
Opening Times:
Mon 12:00 - 16:00 , Wed-Sat 10:00 - 20:00 , Tue 10:00 - 16:00
Price:
Free

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With These Hands

This exhibition explores the representation of craft in paintings, drawings, and prints. The process of making and mending by hand whether a domestic pastime, rural and semi-industrial labour, or essential war effort, is a persistent theme to which artists return. Yet these artworks are rarely straightforward observations of everyday activity. Instead, the act of making is used to symbolise personal and communal identity, leisure and work, tradition and progress.

Venue:
Laing Art Gallery, New Bridge Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8AG
Date:
May 17th 2025 - Sep 27th 2025
Opening Times:
Mon-Sat 10:00 - 16:30
Price:
£8/£7

Guiding Entities: Zoë Zo, Zoë Tumika & Zoë Guthrie

Guiding Entities is a solo exhibition by Glasgow-based artist Zoë Tumika, who works under the names Zoë Zo, Zoë Tumika & Zoë Guthrie. Spanning ceramics, film and sound, Tumika’s work draws on Black radical traditions of resistance and creativity. The exhibition takes the River Tees and River Clyde as starting points to reflect on extraction, resistance and the possibility of repair. They describe their practice as “a way of processing collision and untethering” — grappling with being and belonging across temporal, material, and spiritual dimensions. Their work negotiates the charged terrain of museums as sites of cultural construction and colonial legacy.

Venue:
Mima, Centre Square, Middlesbrough, TS1 2AZ
Date:
May 17th 2025 - Nov 23rd 2025
Opening Times:
Sun 12:00 - 16:00 , Tue-Sat 10:00 - 16:30
Price:
Free

Nature’s Tangled Web

An exhibition of work by Mike Collier, accompanied by Tom Jordan and Jane Young. Nature’s Tangled Web features work by Mike Collier dating back to the 2010s that is previously unseen in the North East. Tom Jordan is contributing new, intricately woven patterns that reflect our knotted relationship to culture and natural heritage. Jane Young is showing new work based on closely observed natural occurrences noted on walks in the Derwent Valley, seen and heard on her year-long residency at Lockhaugh Farm in Gateshead.

Venue:
National Glass Centre, Liberty Way, Sunderland, SR6 0GL
Date:
May 14th 2025 - Sep 13th 2025
Opening Times:
Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

Three Artists: Zac Weinberg, Joanna Manousis, and Anthony Amoako-Attah

Zac Weinberg, Joanna Manousis, and Anthony Amoako-Attah are artists based at National Glass Centre where they create their internationally acknowledged work. This exhibition offers a chance to see three individual shows in one building, including Zac’s ingenious constructions, Joanna’s work bringing together mirrored and cast glass, and Anthony’s practice inspired by traditional Ghanaian textile design.

Venue:
National Glass Centre, Liberty Way, Sunderland, SR6 0GL
Date:
Jun 28th 2025 - Jan 10th 2026
Opening Times:
Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

Beasts and Legends: Adventures Through North East Folklore

Beasts and Legends explores the development of storytelling throughout Historic County Durham. This family friendly exhibition features a selection of artefacts from across the Durham University collections to help tell the stories of local folktales. For those both familiar or new to the stories of the beasts and legends on display, the exhibition poses the opportunity for visitors, especially younger people, to connect with folktales through the displays. The exhibition also features objects on loan from Durham Cathedral, in addition to artworks created by collaborative work with local artist Ruth Flowers.

Venue:
Palace Green Library, Palace Green, Durham, DH1 3RN
Date:
Jun 14th 2025 - Nov 2nd 2025
Opening Times:
Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

A Striking Sight: The pioneering 1875 excavations of South Shields Roman Fort

2025 marks the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the excavations in 1875 at the 'Roman camp' now, Arbeia, South Shields Roman Fort. This exhibition will look at the progress of the first few years of excavations from 1875 – 1881 when the Roman Remains Park was then established. The displays will include what was found, the people involved in the work as well as photographs taken at the time.

Venue:
Arbeia Roman Fort and Museum, Baring Street, South Shields, NE33 2BB
Date:
May 11th 2025 - Sep 28th 2025
Opening Times:
Mon-Fri 10:00 - 17:00 , Sun 13:00 - 16:00 , Sat 11:00 - 16:00
Price:
Free

VE Day 80: The Final Push

This display tells the story of both antecedent regiments of the Light Dragoons and the part they played in North West Germany during the final six weeks of the Second World War, which in turn led to Victory in Europe Day, 8 May 1945. The Final Push features the role played by the 15th/19th Hussars who, as part of the 11th Armoured Division, came across and liberated the internment camp at Bergen – Belsen on 15 April 1945.

Venue:
Discovery Museum, (Closed on all Bank Holidays) Blandford Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4JA
Date:
May 11th 2025 - Nov 2nd 2025
Opening Times:
Sat-Sun 11:00 - 16:00 , Mon-Fri 10:00 - 16:00
Price:
Free

Study for a Painting

The exhibition aims to reflect on the evolving landscape of contemporary painting by highlighting diverse methodologies serving as a platform to offer a fresh interpretation of 21st-century painting. At the core of the show is an exploration of the ‘expanded field’ of painting, which challenges some of its conventional definitions and limitations. Artists challenge how painting can transcend the traditional flat canvas and easel, integrating various materials and techniques that blur the boundaries between painting and other art forms.

Venue:
Hatton Gallery, The Quadrangle, University of Newcastle, 6 Kensington Terrace, Newcastle, NE1 7RU
Date:
Jun 27th 2025 - Jul 26th 2025
Opening Times:
Mon-Sat 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

George Horton: Artworks from the Collection

George Horton, a self-taught artist from South Shields, became one of the most renowned painters of the North East in the early 1900s, celebrated for his watercolours of coastal scenes. Despite a challenging upbringing and no formal training, his talent earned him spots in prestigious exhibitions, including the Royal Academy and the Paris Salon.

Venue:
South Shields Museum & Art Gallery, Ocean Road, South Shields, NE33 2JA
Date:
May 11th 2025 - Aug 2nd 2025
Opening Times:
Mon-Fri 10:00 - 17:00 , Sat 11:00 - 16:00
Price:
Free

World cultures, traditions and friendships

Step into a world of vibrant culture, shared heritage and international celebration with World Cultures, Traditions and Friendships, a new exhibition created by the team behind the renowned Billingham International Folklore Festival of World Dance (BIFF). This captivating display features a dazzling collection of global treasures including traditional masks, dolls, carriages, a Samurai helmet, a Mexican drum, and other striking heritage artefacts. The exhibition also showcases artwork, drawings, scrapbooks, slide shows, and a specially commissioned archive documentary, marking the 60th anniversary of the Folklore Festival.

Venue:
Preston Park Museum, Yarm Road, Eaglescliffe, Stockton-on-Tees, TS18 3RH
Date:
May 16th 2025 - Sep 1st 2025
Opening Times:
Sun and Tue-Sat 10:00 - 16:00
Price:
£5/£3

Brian Eyler Exhibition

Brian Eyler is a professional landscape photographer originally from San Diego, now living in Newcastle. After moving in 2019 to join his wife, Brian shifted gears when the COVID-19 pandemic paused his video production business. Instead of stepping back, he returned to photography - his passion for over a decade. During this time, he drew inspiration from classical oil painters like Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Kinkade, whose romantic use of light and atmosphere influenced his evolving style. Brian’s work blends the realism of photography with the emotive qualities of fine art, often using panoramic formats to convey immersive, expansive scenes.

Venue:
Queen's Hall Arts Centre, Beaumont Street, Hexham, NE46 3LS
Date:
May 23rd 2025 - Jan 5th 2027
Opening Times:
Mon-Sat 10:00 - 16:00
Price:
Free

We Depend on Our Words – Pride Exhibition

Newcastle Cathedral celebrates the significance of the Pride movement and its lasting impact on our shared cultural and social fabric. This returning exhibition explores the deep connection between language and identity.

Venue:
Newcastle Cathedral, St. Nicholas Sq, Newcastle, NE1 1DF
Date:
Jun 2nd 2025 - Jul 28th 2025
Opening Times:
Sat-Sun 08:00 - 17:00 , Mon-Fri 08:00 - 18:00
Price:
Free

Telling Tales: Making Stories Come to Life

Visitors of all ages are invited to explore the many ways in which stories can be told. A diverse and exciting collection of storytelling artefacts, including shadow puppets, theatre costumes, folk instruments, anime cels, movie posters, and more from various cultures and time periods showcase the universality of telling tales. As you learn the different methods there are to tell stories, experience the exhibition in your own way, through written guides, audio recordings, digital screen or museum-wide trail designed specifically for young learners.

Venue:
Oriental Museum, Elvet Hill, (off South Road), Durham, DH1 3TH
Date:
Jun 13th 2025 - Nov 9th 2025
Opening Times:
Sat-Sun 12:00 - 17:00 , Tue-Wed and Fri 10:00 - 17:00 , Thu 10:00 - 19:00
Price:
Free

PRISM 2025: An exploration of surface and self

PRISM 2025 invites visitors to experience a dynamic takeover of Tullie’s newly refurbished entrance and foyer spaces, as well as the Garden, Lecture Theatre and City Hall Studio. The exhibition will feature large-scale painting, striking digital work, delicate ceramics, thought-provoking 3D forms and immersive storytelling. The exhibition showcases colour and joy, explores identity and lived experience, and challenges cultural perceptions of difference.

Venue:
Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle Street, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA3 8TP
Date:
Jul 7th 2025 - Jul 13th 2025
Opening Times:
Mon-Sat 10:00 - 16:00
Price:
Adult admission (valid for 12 months) £15/Under 18s Free

Imitating Life

An exhibition featuring models from 19th Century glassmakers Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka. Imitating Life is an exhibition featuring the museum’s collection of glass marine invertebrate models from the renowned Blaschka family. The exhibition also includes invertebrate spirit specimens, fungi models, and an excerpt from the short film Fragile Legacy, directed by David O. Brown.

Venue:
Great North Museum: Hancock, Barras Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4PT
Date:
Jun 1st 2025 - Sep 28th 2025
Opening Times:
Mon-Fri 10:00 - 17:00 , Sun 11:00 - 16:00 , Sat 10:00 - 16:00
Price:
Free

Not just Nude

Challenge assumptions, look beyond tradition and explore fresh perspectives on the nude form in this special co-produced display in the Blue Picture Gallery. Featuring works by David Hockney, Giovanni Battista Cipriani and John Doubleday, discover the evolving depiction of the human body in art over centuries, question who’s missing, and consider how these images have shaped our perceptions of beauty, gender and identity, from idealised ancient sculptures to move challenging modern pieces.

Venue:
The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham, DL12 8NP
Date:
May 9th 2025 - Aug 10th 2025
Opening Times:
Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
£19.50/under 18s Free

Nathan Coley: You Create What You Will & Tate Modern on Fire

For the first time together, The Bowes Museum hosts Nathan Coley’s works, You Create What You Will (2014) and Tate Modern on Fire (2017.) Known for his thought-provoking public works, Coley explores how belief systems shape our cities, institutions and identities. Gaze up to the 5 and half metre illuminated text installation and wander around a mini burning version Tate Modern. Learn about the references behind the artworks, think about the roles of museums in society and reflect on your relationship with art.

Venue:
The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham, DL12 8NP
Date:
Jun 13th 2025 - Feb 1st 2026
Opening Times:
Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
£19.50/under 18s Free

Claire A Baker: In Progress and Process

North East award winning artist, maker and researcher, Claire A Baker has been commissioned to create a trio of flags titled In Progress and Process, in response to The Bowes Museum’s collection. Weaving together the past and present and exploring unfinished narratives these flags highlight the dynamic relationship between historic crafted artworks and contemporary practice. The series of flags, Process I, Process II, and Process III, show a visual journey of making and remaking, whilst a stitched tapestry design In Progress, inverts the traditional two-dimensional format of flags, transforming it into an interactive, tactile experience.

Venue:
The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham, DL12 8NP
Date:
May 31st 2025 - Jan 18th 2026
Opening Times:
Daily 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
£19.50/under 18s Free

Enchanted Objects: Adornment and Personal Protection from Amulets to the Mobile Phone

Contemporary artist Dinah Kelly shines a light on the protective powers and symbolism of charms, talismans and amulets. She has drawn inspiration from our past and present connections with amulets to create a series of intricate and striking talismanic shirts and protective jewellery. Woven through the Silk Roads gallery these works are displayed alongside historic objects from the collection. The installation will also include some of Dinah’s sketchbooks and preliminary drawings, providing an insight into her artistic practice, and a talismanic shirt produced in collaboration with Creative Age, a weekly art group supporting people living with dementia and their carers.

Venue:
Oriental Museum, Elvet Hill, (off South Road), Durham, DH1 3TH
Date:
Jun 13th 2025 - Nov 9th 2025
Opening Times:
Sat-Sun 12:00 - 17:00 , Tue-Wed and Fri 10:00 - 17:00 , Thu 10:00 - 19:00
Price:
Free

The Tom Lawson Exhibition

This exhibition will celebrate the work of the late Tom Lawson, one of the oldest and most distinguished members of the North of England Art Club. A fine life painter and draughtsman, this reflective exhibition will display nearly 100 of his works, and celebrate the quiet, evocative and dedicated skill of Tom as an artist.

Venue:
Newcastle Arts Centre, 67 Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1SG
Date:
Jun 28th 2025 - Jul 26th 2025
Opening Times:
Sat 00:00 - 17:00 , Mon-Sat 09:30 - 17:00
Price:
Free

Ali Cherri: How I Am Monument

Ali Cherri works across film, sculpture, installation, drawing and performance. His practice is inspired both by archaeological artefacts and the natural world, exploring the temporal shifts between ancient civilisations and contemporary societies. Using artefacts as a starting point, he considers the links between archaeology, historical narrative and heritage, reflecting on the processes of excavation and the relocation and preservation of cultural objects in museums. His work addresses colonial histories, cultural loss, nationhood and different geographies of violence in his native Lebanon but also in the broader region, interrogating the ways in which political violence is witnessed, and disseminates into people’s bodies, and how it scars the physical and cultural landscape.

Venue:
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, South Shore Road, Gateshead Quays, Gateshead, NE8 3BA
Date:
Apr 12th 2025 - Oct 12th 2025
Opening Times:
Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 18:00
Price:
Free

Laura and Rachel Lancaster

A survey painting exhibition of works by Laura Lancaster and Rachel Lancaster. Identical twins and prolific painters, the Lancasters have carved out distinct painting styles and have exhibited nationally and internationally. This exhibition at Baltic will be the first institutional exhibition showing the sisters’ paintings side by side, and the exhibition location, in North East of England, where they were born and still live and work in their shared studio in Ouseburn, Newcastle.

Venue:
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, South Shore Road, Gateshead Quays, Gateshead, NE8 3BA
Date:
Apr 12th 2025 - Oct 12th 2025
Opening Times:
Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 18:00
Price:
Free

Saelia Aparicio: A Joyful Parasite

A major new commission and solo exhibition by London-based Spanish artist Saelia Aparicio. For her presentation at Baltic, Aparicio will develop an ecosystem of characters and situations through a speculative universe dwelling on ideas of the organic by establishing analogies between corporeal and social mechanisms. Inspiration will come from classical mythology and the transformative forms found in Ancient Egypt and pre-Columbian Mesoamerica – blended between animals and humans such as the sphinx, Anubis or the Mayan Camazotz. Her installation will shape a fictional world, presenting hybrid bodies, built upon semantically loaded material where what is human or not blurs. These forms will be imagined through their gender fluidity, drawing from the ‘two-spirited’ idea that comes from indigenous North American culture.

Venue:
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, South Shore Road, Gateshead Quays, Gateshead, NE8 3BA
Date:
Jul 5th 2025 - Feb 1st 2026
Opening Times:
Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 18:00
Price:
Free

Railway Firsts

An exhibition highlighting trains, objects and innovations, both famous and unexpected, that have shaped the railways. The exhibition will spotlight the pivotal innovations and unexpected ‘firsts’ that shaped the railways and our history, presented through a series of eye-catching pop-up displays, as visitors journey through the museum.

Venue:
Locomotion, Dale Road Industrial Estate, Dale Road, Shildon, County Durham, DL4 2RE
Date:
Feb 15th 2025 - Dec 31st 2025
Opening Times:
Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

Amber: Documenting Place

A display of photographs and films from the Amber Film & Photography Collective. Founded in 1968, the Amber Film & Photography Collective is renowned for their work documenting the full spectrum of experience in the North East’s working class and industrial communities. With images from the AmberSide Collection, and select films from Amber, Documenting Place looks at how locations can be captured through a focus on the people and communities who live there.

Venue:
Farrell Centre, The Sir Terry Farrell Building, Eldon Place, Newcastle, NE1 7RD
Date:
Feb 20th 2025 - Sep 14th 2025
Opening Times:
Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

Young Railway Photographer of the Year

Launching the summer programme, this exhibition will include the winning and commended photographs in the nationwide competition organised by the National Railway Museum & the Railway Photographic Society.

Venue:
Locomotion, Dale Road Industrial Estate, Dale Road, Shildon, County Durham, DL4 2RE
Date:
Jun 1st 2025 - Dec 31st 2025
Opening Times:
Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

Cedric Morris: Artist, Plantsman & Traveller

Cedric Morris (1889 – 1982) was one of the most talented painters of the natural world in twentieth-century British art. Morris met his partner the artist Arthur Lett-Haines on Armistice Day in 1919 and in 1939 they established the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing at Benton End, a rambling Tudor cottage in the Sussex countryside. Notable students at the school included Lucien Freud and Maggi Hambling and it was in the cottage’s gardens that Morris developed his lifelong interest in horticulture, subsequently becoming famous for breeding exotic varieties of Irises. This new exhibition explores Morris’ relationship with Lett-Haines and Benton End, his travels across Europe to find and paint new plant species and his lifelong affinity with the natural world.

Venue:
Granary Gallery, Dewar’s Lane, Berwick-upon-Tweed, TD15 1HJ
Date:
Jun 7th 2025 - Oct 12th 2025
Opening Times:
Sun and Wed-Sat 11:00 - 16:00
Price:
Free

Spaces for Nature

An exhibition exploring how urban brownfield sites can become vital spaces of cultural and ecological diversity and resilience for both humans and non-humans.

Venue:
Farrell Centre, The Sir Terry Farrell Building, Eldon Place, Newcastle, NE1 7RD
Date:
Jul 3rd 2025 - Dec 19th 2025
Opening Times:
Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

Keep on the Grass

An exhibition inviting you to think about the role of signs in public spaces: what signs are needed, which ones work and why. Are there too many signs? What kind of signs work best for you? How do they make you feel?

Venue:
Farrell Centre, The Sir Terry Farrell Building, Eldon Place, Newcastle, NE1 7RD
Date:
Jul 3rd 2025 - Dec 19th 2025
Opening Times:
Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

Creative Central NCL

An exhibition showcasing proposals by students from Newcastle and Northumbria Universities for fostering creativity in the heart of Newcastle city centre. This exhibition presents a selection of design ideas developed by architecture, interior architecture, landscape and urban design students from both universities, including collaboration with local creatives, design practices and schools.

Venue:
Farrell Centre, The Sir Terry Farrell Building, Eldon Place, Newcastle, NE1 7RD
Date:
Jul 3rd 2025 - Dec 19th 2025
Opening Times:
Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free

Andy Welland Artist Pop-Up Shop

This forthcoming pop-up shop brings artist Andy Welland’s signature bold celebration of colour, shape and form to Baltic with a range of exclusive products. Centred around the idea of creation through play - where play itself becomes a form of luxury and artistic language, these works invite viewers to explore this universal language as an entry point into Welland’s work. Through giant Plasticine reliefs, lipstick-thick oil finger-paintings, and energetic prints, his vibrant compositions reflect a joyful spontaneity that embraces both individuality and togetherness.

Venue:
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, South Shore Road, Gateshead Quays, Gateshead, NE8 3BA
Date:
Apr 12th 2025 - Sep 28th 2025
Opening Times:
Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 18:00
Price:
Free

Concretopias and Beyond

A display of work by school children exploring how developments of the 1960s and 1970s have influenced their relationship with where they live. Working with geographer Mike Jeffries, who over the past decade has helped a range of groups to create personal experience maps of their local areas, the children started by tearing up tourist maps of Tyneside, replacing the civic grandeur and cultural icons with the real world do family, home and pets, often mixing physical streets with virtual spaces and computer games. In these maps, we see the city depicted by those whose voices are rarely heard.

Venue:
Farrell Centre, The Sir Terry Farrell Building, Eldon Place, Newcastle, NE1 7RD
Date:
Apr 10th 2025 - Aug 31st 2025
Opening Times:
Sun and Wed-Sat 10:00 - 17:00
Price:
Free