What's Newcastle Gateshead's future as a cultural centre?
It looks like we're going to be out on the road a lot more from now on, rather than filming in the studio. Next week we come from the Electric Cinema in London, where Mark will give out his annual Kermode awards, and the following week we're putting together a programme from a venue in Newcastle. Not everything in the show will have a North East flavour, but we'll be looking at Yoko Ono's show at the Baltic, the 30th anniversary of Viz and chatting about how Newcastle Gateshead has been transformed over the last 20 years.
The Angel of the North
In a week in which Kent looks North with an equestrian Angel of the South we are thinking about where Newcastle Gateshead is going next - will it be able to sustain its cultural success in a recession. What do you think? And what are the most interesting things happening in that part of the country in art, music and poetry?
As we're a topical programme, filming shortly before broadcast, any of the above details might change, but equally, if you let us know about something really interesting it might get a mention in the show.
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Comments
Good call on covering Viz, even if it isn't as funny as it used to be.
Aside from his work on the comic Chris Donald's "Rude Kids" is a great book. It's about Viz and Chris Donald, but it's also about growing up on Tyneside, trying to balance artistic and commercial constraints, Donald's personal demons...a great read.
Wish I could praise the Baltic also, but of the two dozen visits I've made over the last four years exactly one has made me excited.
Andy
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What was the one interesting show at the Baltic? That's a pretty poor hit rate!
Are there any other Newcastle institutions, artists or musicians we should cover?
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Can't remember the artist's name (shame on me, I know) but it was an installation in the form of a tunnel made out of lots of TVs and old junk. You walked through it and there was a slide at the end. Any commentary on society and media at the end of which you get to go "wheeee!" is OK by me.
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One good event from last year was the bamboo bridge: the night itself was a bit of a damp squib (they were very late in lighting it up, but it was still a cool project to see going up, and well worth doing even if the grand finale was more whimper than bang.
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Recently Newcastle has spawned some genuinely exciting bands. Among the best are O'Messy Life who combine Celtic jigs with Americana-flecked murder ballads to quite startling effect. Live, they have that same sense of occasion as the likes of Sigur Rós and the Arcade Fire.
Their debut EP is launched on 20 Feb at one of the region's best independent venues, The Cluny.
The website www.isolationist.co.uk is a good barometer for all things art related in the region.
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The Discovery Museum in Newcastle is planning an exhibition on the history of the North East music scene, beginning in May. They've got a lot of info sorted already, I'm sure they'd be happy to talk to you about their findings. Speak to Kylea Little at the Museum for more info.
Looking forward to seeing the show.
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On the music front you really should check out Evolution Festival and its founder Jim Mawdsley. This festival has been going for eight years and is one of the few truly urban-based music festivals in the UK, as well as being held on the iconic waterfront of Newcastle and Gateshead. The line-up is announced later this week but promises to be massive. Jim has played a huge role in the region's music scene for years - and can talk the hind legs of a donkey! so will give good interview!
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Tyneside Cinema in Newcaslte reopened last year after a £7m restoration and redevelopment which made it not only a fully-digitised independent cinema for the region, with abright future, but also a heritage attraction looking at the history of newsreel cinema and the Tyneside's place as the home of arts cinema for Newcastle the last 70+ years. Alongside its screening programme it is currently presenting an initiative called Pixel Palace, which is designed to ask the question of how relevant cultural buildings are in the future. This strand is seeing a host of new media works in the Tyneside, presenting work by sonic artist Joe Banks, visual work from artists such as Ken Jacobs, Gina Czarnecki and Elizabeth McAlpine, and also welcomes a host of arts industry thinkers for a symposium in March, and at the same time working with lo-fi experimental musicians and inventors to present informal gigs and gatherings. Check it out: www.thepixelpalace.org - or www.tynesidecinema.co.uk. And yes, I do work there....
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Thanks for all those suggestions. It would be good to hear more from people who are going to galleries and concerts as punters, as well as the people who are putting them on (although very interested to hear from you guys too).
Let us know what it's like living in Newcastle, Gateshead and nearby towns, if you're into films, music or art.
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The Great North Museum will be opening in Newcastle this spring - more details at www.greatnorthmuseum.org - it will be a fantastic new, free venue for the region with world-class displays and exhibitions.
The Late Shows 2009 takes place across NewcastleGateshead on 15-16 May and is the ultimate weekend of after-hours culture in the city! Over 20 venues will be opening late and putting on unique events and live performances - www.thelateshows.org.uk. Last year more than 10,000 people took part!
As Claire said above, Discovery Museum will have a new exhibition called North East Beat opening in May, celebrating all the music which has come from the region over the years, plus the fans and the venues. More info is at our myspace page - www.myspace.com/nebeat
And NewcastleGateshead has lots of galleries as well as Baltic! The Shipley Art Gallery in Gateshead and the Laing Art Gallery and the Hatton Gallery in Newcastle city centre are just three which have a huge range of contemporary and historic exhibitions - www.twmuseums.org.uk has details of what's coming up.
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right, so show's going out today but if you are doing any more filming you really need to visit the star and shadow cinema. it's a community interest company run entirely by volunteers and the most exciting place in the newcastle arts scene, providing a space for people to meet, get involved and make things happen.
here's a bit from the website (www.starandshadow.org.uk):
Our aim is to show a truly independent programme of inspirational and inspired films as cheaply as possible, as well as providing a venue for artists and musicians of all varieties. We are creating a cosy venue to provide a haven from the mundane mainstream of film and music, a nursery for independent creativity and thinking.
We do not exist to make a profit, our purpose is to provide a facility for programming the types of films and events that do not happen at other venues around Newcastle. These may be locally made or inspired films, art films, political films, international films, gay and lesbian films, classic films or independent cinema, local musicians, international musicians, or artists and storytellers of all kinds.
The cinema also has a social space which has a quiet bar and cafe. The aim for The Star And Shadow Cinema is to provide a venue that will let people become involved in the running of the cinema and for it to be a real co-operative place.
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it really is the best place in newcastle, supporting a whole range of activities and it's also happens to be the venue for the best club night in town -road to rimini. i can't urge you enough to check it out.
barbara
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Hi Barbara
We're putting the Newcastle and Gateshead show together this week and filming the links this week but the programme is going out on 3 March.
The Star and Shadow Cinema does sound great, and I think that when we were filming out and about in Newcastle people did talk about it. Sounds like a really good venue, but I'm not sure whether it will be mentioned in the show.
Cheers
Ellen
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Probably too late now, but there's a different sort of culture coming to Newcastle very soon with the UK Makers Faire - a gathering of people expressing their creativity through technology. There's more here: http://makerfaire.com/newcastle/2009/
[disclosure - I work at one of the venues, but not on this project]
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Interesting bit on Vis but in my humble opinion the guy was wrong to say 'Vis was the start of it all' Maybe some people have forgotten Oz but I haven't.
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@ BashfulPaperclip
Depends what you think Viz was the start of. Oz was very influential, but Viz did seem to be the start of something for the UK in general and Newcastle in particular.
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I was pretty dissapointed to see already culturally established Newcastle getting all the focus again for the North East.
It would be good if you ventured out of the obvious places and into neighbouring cities. I may be bias as i have just started an accessible arts space (emptyshop.org) in Durham, but i think you always find the more interesting and 'real' stuff in the places. Places that are at the bottom of the pile. You get a real sense of underdog fighting spirit and less pretentious stuff than that which comes out of big institutions and established areas - and also less people just there to ride the wave!
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@ CarloFromEmptyShop let us know about a venue or event that you think will have a real buzz about it and I'll mention it to the series producers. We're going to be on the road for the next series (starting June or July) so events in the coming year would be interesting. The Newcastle show was a bit of an anomaly as we had to turn it around very quickly - mostly we'll try to be at an event.
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Hi EllenW, thanks for the response - That's great that you are keeping on the road. I'll keep you posted on anything big we have going on, we are aiming for something big in July so if it happens i'll let you know. Is there a direct contact for you or should i just post here?
if you want you can email me [Personal details removed by Moderator]
many thanks
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@CarloFromEmptyShop keep in touch through our feedback form - we read everything that comes in. See the Culture Show homepage for the link.
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