The call went out for creative people across the region to produce evidence of their creativity and here it is – Baltic Open Submission 2026, already shaping up to be one of the most popular exhibitions of the year.
Across two rooms equal prominence is given to the professional and the amateur, the seasoned and the fully fledged.
There was no given theme and the submissions, in whatever form, didn’t have to be fresh off the easel or out of the kiln, or indeed hot off the press, the call being for creative work in all media.
The appeal to visitors, already entering the ground floor in a steady trickle on Wednesday morning, lies in the variety… and the element of surprise.
Here you will find Karaoke Kittiwake, Aysha Tengiz’s jaunty papier-mâché homage to the Baltic’s seasonal visitors who might not sing in pubs but certainly kick up a din when nesting outside.
Aysha, whose work has been seen around the world, lives in Newcastle and on her website says: “I enjoy creating colourful and playful illustrations, exploring silly worlds through anthropomorphised characters.”
Nearby you can don headphones to appreciate Garry Sykes’s short film The Palace, in which his father and late grandmother, surreptitiously recorded at home in Ashington, discuss a break-in at Buckingham Palace over archive footage.
It’s both funny and endearing, the man explaining how royal palaces in times gone by used to teem with young trespassers getting up to mischief, even during the reign of Henry VIII, “not a bloke to trifle with”.
It was, he asserts, a long-established British tradition. “In fact, I used to think about doing it myself.”
“What?” exclaims the old lady, looking up from her knitting.
“It was just a passing thought,” murmurs her son as the picture fades.
Baltic assistant curators Rose McMurray and Rosie Coleman Collier, who have been closely involved in the process of selection and hanging, indicate the pair of photographs by Zarah Khan, a recent Leeds University graduate now living in Wallsend.
Rosie explains that Zarah’s vividly defiant self-portraits convey the sense of split identity felt by British working class women of South Asian heritage.
“It’s really nice to have her work in the exhibition because she’s someone who’s at a point of transition, having just graduated from art school.
“These photographs are from her degree show and they’re so striking. This is a really good opportunity for her.”
Another delighted to have work selected was Peter Robinson, originally from Shiney Row, near Houghton-le-Spring, but now living in Cullercoats.
Wedding photography is how he earns a living but his “passion project”, as he calls it, is documenting the lives of the fishermen who work out of North Shields.
The chosen black and white images reflect a way of life whose toughness seems undiminished by technological advances. You can sense the chill and almost catch the whiff of sea, fish and diesel that Peter describes.
He says he first ventured to North Shields Fish Quay after setting up as a photographer on Saville Street.
Seeing a fisherman on deck, he asked if he could take his photograph. “You’re not from the dole office?” came the wary reply.
After assuring him he was not, Peter took the man’s photo and later presented him with a print. It led to his first trip in search of prawns or lobsters and he has been to sea several times since, leaving just enough time between trips to forget the bouts of seasickness.
Peter had an exhibition of his own in North Shields not so long ago, and also produced a book.
But inclusion in the Baltic exhibition means a lot to him.
“I’ve been going there for years. For a time I had an office job on Newcastle Quayside, which I hated, and in my lunch hour I’d go there to see some creative stuff.”
Peter, who cut his teeth as a photographer in the RAF, is a huge fan of documentary photographers like Chris Killip, Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen and Tish Murtha whose work is currently showing on one of Baltic’s upper levels.
“I always thought I’d love to have my work at Baltic and to be showing at the same time as an exhibition by Tish Murtha is such a privilege,” he says.
The judges – artists Rachel and Laura Lancaster, from Tyneside, and last year’s Tees Valley Artist of the Year, Will Hughes, along with Baltic’s assistant curators – assessed work by 1,100 North East artists and makers.
Submissions by 79 of them made the final cut and every single piece of work you’ll see here has a story behind it.
Earlier this year, a colour photograph by Sunderland-based Andy Martin was voted the overall winner at the Northumberland Open exhibition at Woodhorn Museum, Ashington.
Here he shows a black and white portrait of his friend Laura, taken a year after her breast cancer diagnosis and following a mastectomy.
Called Anniversary, it is said to “honour the journey Laura’s body has taken, celebrating her quiet strength and resilience”.
Jim Old’s dramatic painting recalls the 1898 wrecking of Norwegian vessel Diamante on the notorious ‘black middens’ at the mouth of the Tyne; Jill Bennett’s Impetus, equally arresting, stills the traditional Sedgefield ball game, held every Shrove Tuesday, into one tense moment.
Sculptures include Nose Platter, by Agata Sibielak, depicting a stoneware plate of noses and exploring “the shifting boundaries between body and object”, and Siphon (Propagation IV) by Sue Loughlin who references the female body in a confection of blown glass and tubing.
One wall is given over to work resulting from the first Youth Open Call, aimed at people aged 11 to 17.
This part of the exhibition, showing the wide-ranging talent of the region’s young artists, features the selections of Baltic’s Young Producers group and the precocious North East artist known as Terox.
The youngest exhibitor in the last Open Submission in 2024, he said on being asked to be a judge: “I’m honoured to be invited to join the panel. To evaluate another’s vision is a profound weight.
“It’s a privilege to play even a small part in elevating the next wave of emerging artists in our region.”
Amidst the array of work is a small painting by Elizabeth, who was judged the winner of the Fenwick Art Award, and other pieces by runners-up Jason and Henry.
As part of Fenwick’s support of the exhibition, their work has been shown at the firm’s department store on Northumberland Street.
One of the most daring submissions is the work of Albie who videoed himself busking full-bloodedly in brightly coloured clothes and eliciting some priceless looks from passers-by. It’s called All Your Dreams and it’s fabulous.
Even the orientation space outside the ground floor exhibition is an example of North East talent, given its distinctive look by Newcastle-born graphic designer Millie Carmel Jobson.
Baltic Open Submission runs until April 4, 2027. Baltic opens Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 6pm. Entry is free. Find details on the Baltic website.