Culture Digest 10.10.25
A round up of the arts and culture stories which caught our attention over the past week or so...
North East Museums welcome £438k renewal fund award
North East Museums has been awarded £438,300 from the government’s £20 million Museums Renewal Fund, a boost that will help safeguard the future of 12 cultural venues across the region.
Formerly known as Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, the organisation manages a network of attractions from Tyneside to Northumberland - including the Discovery Museum, Great North Museum: Hancock and South Shields Museum & Art Gallery - as well as the Tyne & Wear Archives service.
It is one of 75 civic museum organisations to receive support from the new national fund, which aims to strengthen the UK’s museum network and secure access to culture “for generations to come.”
Free screenings of film dubbed ‘vehicle for change’
If you missed it on stage, there’s another chance to see Rupture, Open Clasp Theatre Company’s powerful drama created with women prisoners, when the film version is screened this month in Durham.
It tells the story of Destiny, played by Narisha Lawson, who we meet on the prison roof one bonfire night.
As the fireworks go off below, she shares fragments of her troubled life story, of her broken childhood, her imperfect relationships and the children she has lost into care.
The play, praised by critics, was co-created with mothers in HMP Low Newton who shared their experiences of trying to prevent their children being taken into care, not always successfully.
One of the women said the Open Clasp sessions inspired her “to carry on through the suicidal times and work towards a positive future with my children and family”. Another declared it had “put the fight back into me”.
Looking ahead to Beyond the Moor
Just a few years after making its debut, Beyond the Moor has earned its place in Tyneside’s music calendar.
An all-day celebration of folk and roots music delivered across two intimate stages at Gosforth Civic Theatre, the festival was developed to give grassroots artists a platform alongside big hitters.
The 2025 edition - taking place on Saturday (October 11) and already sold out - is rubber stamping that tradition, bringing together a bill that spans generations and styles: Kathryn Tickell and The Darkening, Martin Simpson, Ross Couper and Tom Oakes, Ceitidh Mac, Nev Clay, Andy Watt, Eddie Doyle and the Newcastle University Folk Degree ensemble will all perform at an event that festival-goers often describe as more like a family gathering than a gig.
Stories light up Durham Cathedral as Luxmuralis returns
Durham Cathedral will be glowing again this week thanks to the return of Luxmuralis.
The artistic collective known for transforming historic spaces with light and sound, brings The Storytellers, an immersive celebration of literature to the historic space from today (Wednesday) until Sunday (October 12).
Now in its fourth year, the show floods the cathedral’s towering architecture with projections of manuscripts, text and characters that slip and shimmer across the stone.
Screen thrills galore await at North East anniversary festival
It might seem an uncompromising choice with which to open a film festival but horror fans will no doubt be looking forward to the screening of Bone Lake at the Tyneside Cinema on October 21.
According to the RogerEbert.com website, which keeps alive the name of the late American movie critic, up-and-coming director Mercedes Bryce Morgan’s film is “a fun, messed-up horror thriller”.
Telling what happens when two sets of couples find they’ve accidentally rented the same holiday home, it has an 18 certificate in this country – so (spoiler alert) we’re not talking about differences over the washing up.
But it is just one of many attractions at this year’s North East International Film Festival (NEIFF) and not all will have you yearning for the traditional refuge behind the sofa.
Soonds Canny…
The North East’s distinctive accent and spoken language will be the focus of “Soonds Canny”, this year’s annual dialect lecture, taking place on Saturday, October 11 in Morpeth Town Hall.
Gerald Kelly, former senior lecturer at Northumbria University, will deliver the Roland Bibby Memorial Lecture, hosted by the Northumbrian Language Society in memory of its founding chairman.
Admission is free and all are welcome. Doors open at 1.30 pm for complimentary refreshments before the lecture begins at 2 pm.
The talk will be fully accessible in the ground-floor Corn Exchange of the Town Hall, situated in the centre of Morpeth overlooking the Market Place.
Gerald says: “I will demonstrate how professional linguists describe the language of the North East, both in terms of accent and dialect. I also aim to illustrate some ideas for those who use the language creatively, in order to properly represent the rich traditions of the North East.”
The event will be rounded off by contributions from local dialect poets from the Morpeth Poetry Group.
A former lecturer in Language and Applied Linguistics at Northumbria University, where he taught for 17 years, Gerald Kelly covered a wide range of language-related topics, but his favourite course explored the accents and dialects of Britain.
Brace of big new exhibitions incoming at Baltic
It’s your last chance this weekend to see two beautifully contrasting exhibitions at Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art.
Ali Cherri’s How I Am Monument, with its imposing sculptures, has been a thought-provoking fixture since April on Level 4, as have the paintings by the Lancaster twins, Laura and Rachel, in Remember, Somewhere on the floor below.
Both exhibitions end on Sunday (October 12) at 6pm.
Replacing them shortly will be a group exhibition called For All At Last Return, focusing on marine ecosystems, and Midnight Sun, a first UK solo show by artist and film-maker Saodat Ismailova, from Uzbekistan.
Ink in the dates for Ouseburn Open Studios
Dates have been confirmed for one of Newcastle’s most popular creative weekends.
Ouseburn Open Studios returns to the Ouseburn Valley in Newcastle on the weekend of November 29 and 30.
Now in its 30th year, the event offers a rare glimpse into the creative spaces of artists across the city’s cultural quarter.
Among them are the residents of 36 Lime Street Studios - Newcastle’s oldest artist studios and home to some of the North East’s most talented painters, printmakers, jewellers, ceramicists, musicians and designers.
Visitors can explore five floors of the Grade II listed building, chat to artists, watch live demonstrations, and browse or buy original work - all just in time for Christmas.
Other venues who will be welcoming us in are B.Box Studios, Biscuit Factory Studios, Biscuit Tin Studios, Jim Edwards Studio, Kelly Morgan Studio, Mushroom Works, Northern Print and Wildflower Floral Studio.
Dr Feelgood’s Robert Kane finds new rhythm with debut solo album
It was the spring of 1987 and Sunderland pop rockers Well Well Well were readying their debut album for Arista Records....
Sunderland-born Robert Kane’s been fronting Dr Feelgood since 1999 but the singer-songwriter’s finally released his debut solo album. Simon Rushworth is engrossed by a story of triumph over adversity
‘Grace Darling’ shawl goes under the hammer on Tyneside
A shawl which is believed to have been owned by Northumberland heroine Grace Darling is to be sold on Tyneside.
The shawl features in a dispute in 1933 between the Barclay family, who lived in North Sunderland near Seahouses, and publisher and printer Ernest Greenwood of South Shields firm Greenwood Bros, who also ran the Phoenix Press.
Letters from the Barclays, which come with the shawl lot, to Mr Greenwood centre on a wrangle over books and payments.
One letter says Greenwood has the “shawl belonging to Grace Darling, which article belongs to the late George Barclay’s estate.”
The shawl, estimated at £200-£500, is of buff-coloured cloth embroidered in silk with shells and scrolls, and is being sold by a North East vendor.
It will be offered by Newcastle auctioneers Anderson & Garland on October 23.
Tasty new book makes case for the 'King of Fishes'
You might never have given much thought to the herring – how tempting to call it the ‘humble’ herring - and in that respect you’ll differ from Graeme Rigby whose new book is out this week.
He has spent many hours on the tail of the fish species clupea harengus, tracking its evolution and casting his net wide to show the part it has played in our culture.
There’s nothing humble about the herring in his view, as you can see from the book title: Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring: Adventures with the King of Fishes.
“An all-in-one deep dive into the Atlantic herring and its far-reaching dominions,” is how publisher Hurst describes the handsome hardback.
Laing goes little to showcase Bewick, Turner and Beatrix Potter
For the Laing Art Gallery’s forthcoming new ticketed exhibition, it is dramatically scaling down – though clearly not in the title which is Miniature Worlds: Little Landscapes from Thomas Bewick to Beatrix Potter.
Maybe 15 years ago, when the Newcastle gallery presented a fabulous exhibition of Bewick’s tiny ‘tailpiece’ engravings, magnifying glasses were made available to visitors. This might be a good time to repeat the offer.
Julie Milne, chief curator of art galleries at North East Museums, which runs the Laing, says the exhibition (opening on October 18 and running until the end of February) “specifically explores little landscapes in paintings, drawings, prints, book illustration and sculpture”.
Fancy plugging into North East’s booming screen industry?
Businesses across Northumberland are being encouraged to explore opportunities in the region’s expanding film and television sector through a series of free supply chain events run by North East Screen.
As more productions choose the North East as a filming location, there’s growing demand for local suppliers providing everything from catering and transport to accommodation and accountancy.
The in-person sessions will outline how businesses can register on the North East Screen Crew and Facilities Database and connect with others interested in supporting production activity in the area.
Events take place at Charlton Hall, Ellingham (October 16), County Hall, Morpeth (November 19), and Tynedale Function Suite, Hexham (January 22). Each includes a short presentation, Q&A, and networking opportunities.
Delivered in partnership with Visit Northumberland LVEP and the Northumberland Small Business Service, the events are free but booking via Eventbrite is required.
Call out for mural artist at Tyne Theatre
Tyne Theatre and Opera House has opened a new commission for a permanent mural to animate a blank wall within its newly developed 1867 Hall. The venue is inviting proposals from local independent artists whose ideas reflect both the Victorian theatre’s heritage and the communities around it.
Supported by Creative Central NCL, the commission has been designed to celebrate the theatre’s rich history while inviting North East artists to offer a fresh take on what the venue means to people today.
The available space is a 9ft x 9ft square, and because the hall may be redeveloped in the coming years, the selected original mural will be painted on canvas (or similar) and fixed to the wall on batons rather than applied directly to the surface.
The project will also involve the local community, with two half-day sessions planned at the theatre, giving people a chance to share ideas and be part of the process.
Artists can find full details in the commission brief and should send their applications to rachel.snape@ttoh.uk by October 31.
Gold for Weardale Railway as community spirit takes root
Community spirit has been in full bloom at Stanhope Station, where Weardale Railway’s collaborative planter project has scooped Gold and ‘Best in Class’ in this year’s Northumbria in Bloom awards.
Created to mark the 200th anniversary of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, the project saw four striking train-shaped planters installed at the station - each representing a milestone in rail history, from Locomotion No. 1 to the modern Hitachi Lumo.
Coordinated by Cultivate 4 Life’s Nigel Bryson, with funding from Durham County Council’s Weardale Area Action Partnership, the initiative brought together Bishop Auckland College students, Teescraft, Weardale Railway engineers, and local volunteers.
Claire Gibbons, General Manager at Weardale Railway, said: “It just proves that great things can happen when you work together. The planters look superb and highlight the power of community spirit.”
The project forms part of Weardale Railway’s wider S&DR200 celebrations, which include planting 200 bulbs and trees along the line.
Lilidorei goes spooky for Halloween season
Halloween magic is returning to Lilidorei this autumn as the Alnwick play village transforms into Spookydorei, promising a month-long celebration of magic, mischief and family-friendly frights.
Running until November 2, the immersive event will see the village filled with glowing lanterns, swirling smoke and eerie soundscapes, creating a fairytale-style Halloween adventure for children of all ages.
Families can choose between spooky and not-so-spooky paths to tailor the experience to the scary tolerances of their kids.
The trail invites children to solve riddles and play games with Lilidorei’s mischievous Secret Keepers to collect sweets, while favourites such as the Spooky Scarecrow Contest also return.
More details and tickets are available at www.alnwickgarden.com.