Great Exhibition of the North: Programme revealed

Water Sculptures, Get North Opening Weekend Credit: EYELEVEL

The programme of events for the Great Exhibition of the North 2018 has been revealed.

The festival which takes place between 22 June – 09 September 2018 across Newcastle and Gateshead, celebrates great art and culture, design and innovation from across the North.

It will start with the UK’s largest water sculpture from the Quayside and live music from The Kaiser Chiefs.

It's anticipated to be the biggest event in England this year, with millions of people expected to visit the region.

Some of the highlights include:

  • The return of Stephenson’s Rocket, complete with virtual reality experience

  • A new solo exhibition from Turner Prize 2017 winner, Lubaina Himid

  • A Great Northern Soundtrack curated by Sunderland-born broadcaster Lauren Laverne

Lauren Laverne

The free event will allow people to see art from the likes of pop art pioneer Richard Hamilton and the Angel of the North's creator Antony Gormley.

The original character models of Postman Pat will form part of an exhibition, as well as John Lennon's last piano.

John Lennon's last piano Credit: Great North Museum

Visitors will also get the chance to take in three trails.

The Innovation Trail:

  • The Great North Little Inventors Challenge (Discovery Museum) – Children aged 4-12 are being challenged via the Great Exhibition of the North website to imagine life in the North in 2030 and share their ideas (by 16 March). The most ingenious invention ideas will be turned into reality by Magnificent Makers and exhibited in the Discovery Museum.

  • Brick This, Lego Architects (Mining Institute) – A 3D Innovation Timeline of the North, featuring iconic items such as Stephenson’s Rocket, graphene and the Great North Run.

  • Future Homes(Science Central) – Step into the ‘home of the future’ to experience new technologies that will help provide supportive homes for anyone at any life-stage.

  • Graphene Lighting (Lit & Phil) – Follow the Northern story of Joseph Swan’s light bulb invention to the innovative use of graphene in modern-age lighting.

  • Horse to Hyperloop (Cooper’s Studio – Ryder Architecture) – The story of transport from the birth of railways to the future of travel.

The Arts Trail:

  • Future Everything with the Urban Observatory (outside Theatre Royal) – Cutting-edge technology will meet creative writing, in the form of a poem on display that refreshes every minute, telling the story of the city.

  • Opera North's Aeons (Gateshead Millennium Bridge) – Listeners can travel the route of the River Tyne, listening to the musical landscape of the North which will change and evolve from one section to the next (pre-booking essential).

  • Mind the Gap's Daughter of Fortune (Venue TBC) – Combining art and science to explore real experiences of learning disability and parenthood through exhibitions and performances.

  • The New Bridge Project's Life in a Northern Town (Carliol House and Gateshead High Street) – 10 emerging Northern artists will create unique exhibitions about how the North works, lives and plays.

The Design Trail:

  • The Northern Design Quest (Great North Museum through to Northern Design Centre along the Ouseburn Valley) – A design challenge engaging visitors in idea generation, research, storyboarding and prototyping process.

  • Winged Tales of the North (Ouseburn Valley) – A playful and imaginative street art trail inspired by one of the North’s best-loved children’s writers, David Almond.

  • Design|Innovate|Craft (The Biscuit Factory) – Get involved in creative workshops, talks and seminars that celebrate contemporary craft and design-makers from across Northern England.