A year of change for arts and culture

Aug 21 2009 By David Whetstone, The Journal

DURING a time of economic gloom, the arts in the North East have been a shining light as astute programming has kept venues busy and creativity has never had so many places in which to flourish.

The Sage Gateshead approaches its fifth birthday having recently presented its 2000th concert. The stars keep coming but the place has been turning out its own, with members of the youth music groups going on to greater things.

Former Young Sinfonia cellist Jonathan Bloxham, from Whickham, Gateshead, recently returned to present his own Northern Chords festival of chamber music across Tyneside. The Sage’s resident Northern Sinfonia celebrated its 50th anniversary season by performing all Beethoven’s symphonies and a five-concert programme of 20th Century classics.

Next door, the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Arts acquired a new director, Godfrey Worsdale, who has raised staff morale and laid plans to take it forward. A common complaint used to be that North East artists didn’t get space to exhibit. This has been changing, and not because standards have been lowered.

Newcastle-based Matt Stokes, recently shortlisted for the second Northern Art Prize, premiered a new work, The Gainsborough Packet, at Baltic while a new exhibition of photographs by Northumberland’s Fiona Crisp runs until autumn.

Live Theatre commissioned and premiered Lee Hall’s latest work, The Pitmen Painters, and it’s reached dizzying heights. Revived twice at the National Theatre, after two runs at the Quayside venue, it embarks on a national tour of big theatres in September, starting at the Theatre Royal. Broadway beckons.

September sees the eagerly anticipated reopening of Whitley Bay Playhouse after an £8m rebuild. The venue is now managed by SMG who also run the Metro Radio Arena and The Journal Tyne Theatre. North East arts organisations have become adept at working in partnership, helping to sustain the festivals which have become part of the cultural scene.

On Tyneside, SummerTyne, Evolution, Mouth of the Tyne and the Gateshead International Jazz Festival go from strength to strength; Durham, now intent on becoming UK City of Culture, has a burgeoning brass festival and summer music on the streets; and region-wide, the biennial AV Festival sets ever higher standards of excellence.

Reinventing The City, a wide-ranging programme of events, includes exhibitions at several venues, the revival of an acclaimed play, Rutherford & Son, at Northern Stage and debates at the Mining Institute. The legacy of T. Dan Smith and other civic leaders will be assessed. Seven Stories, the new Newcastle City Library, New Writing North and others sustain the region’s rich literary tradition while Dance City keeps us all on the move.

In an exciting experiment, the entire curriculum at one Chester-le-Street primary school, Bullion Lane, will be delivered through the medium of dance in September. And, at mima, where Kate Brindley has succeeded Godfrey Worsdale, a high profile programme of exhibitions is making headlines with German artist Gerhard Richter the latest attraction.