Culture Digest 13.03.26
Our round up of some of the arts and culture stories from across the North East, which caught our attention over the past week or so
County Durham peppers shortlist for prestigious national honours
The restoration project of a 400-year-old first collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays which was stolen from Durham University is among contenders in an international awards shortlist.
The Museums + Heritage Awards celebrate the best across museums, galleries, and cultural and heritage visitor attractions and the ceremony to reveal the winners will take place on May 13 in London.
Durham University has been shortlisted in the Restoration/Conservation category for its Durham Shakespeare First Folio project.
Beamish Museum and Bowes Museum are also shortlisted for Learning Programme of the Year and Community Engagement, respectively.
David Olusoga to deliver 2026 South Shields Lecture
Historian and broadcaster David Olusoga will deliver the 2026 South Shields Lecture.
The event, hosted by Harton Academy on July 10, will see Olusoga in conversation with former foreign secretary David Miliband as part of the long-running lecture series, first established in 2001.
David Miliband said: “David Olusoga is not just a world-renowned historian. He is someone committed to learning from history and explaining its relevance to the contemporary world.”
David Olusoga, Professor of Public History at the University of Manchester and known for television series including Black and British: A Forgotten History, grew up in Gateshead.
He said: “I’m thrilled to be giving this year’s South Shields Lecture and to be returning to my home region.”
Previous speakers have included Hillary Clinton, Patrick Stewart and Tony Blair.
‘Rebel Women’ celebrated in Sunderland
An exhibition celebrating the lives and legacies of Sunderland’s trailblazing women has opened at Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens.
Rebel Women of Sunderland brings together the stories of extraordinary local women – past and present – highlighting activists, artists, campaigners and pioneers who have helped shape the city.
Opened to coincide with International Women’s Day on March 8, the free exhibition is on display in the museum’s main gallery until August 1.
At the centre of the exhibition are a series of striking portraits by Sunderland artist Kathryn Robertson, whose instantly recognisable illustration style captures the individuality and resilience of the women featured.
Those celebrated include journalist and broadcaster, Kate Adie, activitsts Ida and Louise Cook, Sunderland band, Kenickie (Lauren Laverne, Marie Nixon and Emma Jackson), England footballers Steph Houghton and Jill Scott, late singer songwriter, Faye Fantarrow and philanthropist Dorothy Williamson.
Kathryn said the project was one of her earliest major commissions after becoming a full-time freelance artist.
Big Weekend line-up revealed for Sunderland
The full line-up has been revealed for the return of BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend to Herrington Country Park this May, with organisers promising one of the North East’s biggest live music events in years.
The festival takes place from May 22–24 and will bring around 100 acts across multiple stages to Wearside. It marks the first time the event has returned to Sunderland since 2005, when artists including Gwen Stefani, Foo Fighters and The Black Eyed Peas performed.
Friday’s opening night will host the festival’s 18+ Dance Party, headlined by Fatboy Slim, with fellow electronic acts Sonny Fodera, FISHER, MK and Clementine Douglas also on the bill.
Saturday’s line-up is led by Swedish pop star Zara Larsson and Louis Tomlinson. They will be joined by artists including Ellie Goulding, Lola Young and Nothing But Thieves.
Sunday’s programme features performers including recent triple Brit Winner (and Sam Fender’s chart-topping collaborator) Olivia Dean, Niall Horan, Kehlani and Dermot Kennedy, with more acts still to be announced.
Organised by the BBC in partnership with Sunderland City Council, the festival is expected to attract tens of thousands of music fans to the city over the three-day weekend.
Ninety percent of tickets are ring-fenced for North East postcodes. Unsurprisingly given Olivia Dean’s white-hot-to-trot status, Sunday tickets have already sold out, but there’s still some available for Friday and Saturday.
South Tyneside plaques celebrate people and industry
Late actor and comedian, Terence Dominic “Terry” Joyce is to be honoured with a blue plaque on South Tyneside..
Known for roles in TV series such as Hebburn, Super Gran, Badger, Byker Grove, The Machine Gunners, Dramarama, and Steel River Blues. Terry- who was from Hebburn -was also a popular stand up comic.
Alongside his stage and screen career, he was a committed supporter of local causes, regularly giving his time and talent to fundraising events and community initiatives across South Tyneside.
Terry’s blue plaque is one of three selected for 2026.
Advocate for race equality and young people in South Tyneside, Pam Vedhara, who died in 2018, aged 61 will also be honoured.
Meanwhile the third plaque will commemorate the Cookson chimney, located beside The Customs House in South Shields, which is the last surviving structure of the town’s historic glass industry.
Auction shines light on man who made it his mission to rescue Jarrow
Wealthy southern businessman and economist Sir John Jarvis was appalled by the plight of a Tyneside town crippled by the unemployment of the Great Depression of the 1930s.
High Sheriff of Surrey and Conservative MP for Guildford, he set up a fund which raised £40,000 for Jarrow and invested £1m of his own money on schemes to generate jobs to lift the town out of deprivation.
There is a plaque to Jarvis in Jarrow and now two of his personal keepsakes have emerged which will be auctioned on March 14.
The pair of George III silver beakers, made in York in 1790, will be sold by Tennants Auctioneers, with an estimate of £2,000-£3,000.
Flags are out at The Bowes ahead of Vivienne Westwood exhibition
A new outdoor installation by Northumberland fashion and textile artist Meg Fletcher is now on display at The Bowes Museum, linking contemporary fashion design with the legacy of Vivienne Westwood and the museum’s founder Joséphine Bowes.
The installation, Character Studies – 3 Acts, features three large-scale flags displayed on the museum’s terrace. The work has been commissioned to coincide with the museum’s forthcoming exhibition Vivienne Westwood: Rebel – Storyteller – Visionary, which opens on March 28.
The flags reinterpret Joséphine Bowes (1825-1874) as a contemporary figure, blending elements from her well-known pink-dress portrait with motifs and silhouettes drawn from Vivienne Westwood’s (1941-2022) influential fashion collections and objects from the museum’s own holdings.
Each flag reflects a different theme connected to Westwood’s career.
Two city champions awarded Freedom of Sunderland
Businessman and cultural advocate Paul Callaghan CBE DL FRSA and community figure Sister Mary Scholastica have been awarded the Freedom of the City of Sunderland.
The honours were conferred by Sunderland City Council at a ceremony in Sunderland City Hall on Wednesday (March 11), recognising their significant contributions to the city and their roles as ambassadors and role models.
Deputy council leader Councillor Kelly Chequer said: “Paul’s contribution to the cultural and civic life of our city is extraordinary.”
Sister Mary Scholastica, who has supported local communities and seafarers at the Port of Sunderland for more than six decades, was also honoured.
Council leader Councillor Michael Mordey said: “Sister Mary embodies the very best of Sunderland - quiet strength, deep compassion, tireless service, and a commitment to community that spans more than six decades.”