Middlesbrough Art Week
We want to extend a huge thank you to everyone who joined us for Middlesbrough Art Week 2024. This year, we asked the questions: How do we grow a festival? Who has the right to take action? Can art help shape communities?
Throughout the week, you were invited to join us in the Uproot Meadow, where we engaged with ‘end of the world’ scenarios and potential dystopias alongside activist, writer, and artist Gracie Mae Bradley. We also explored Music Diasporas with artist and writer Jace Clayton. Theresa Easton’s Uproot Zine brought together critical themes like housing insecurity, greenwashing, and the intersection of migrant and climate justice. How can we cultivate hope in hostile environments?
As always, the festival celebrated and supported regional talent with the North East Open Call and the New Graduate Award. Eight artists were selected by our Open Call curator, Penny Payne, and a guest panel to present work from across the region in response to the festival’s themes.
This year, the New Graduate Award expanded to support eight new graduates from the North East, thanks to support from Northern School of Art, Teesside University, Northumbria University, Newcastle University and the University of Sunderland alongside the Orbis Community in Gateshead, Breeze Creatives in Sunderland, and Navigator North in Middlesbrough.
We delved into sound exploration with A Troubling, Or, A Sonic Refusal by Natasha Thembiso Ruwona and were captivated by the Armenian duduk melodies in Francis Alÿs' Silence of Ani. We explored potential futures through Futures Poker by Strange Telemetry, imagined a world without Captain Cook in Karrabing’s Night Fishing with Ancestors, and reflected on our evolving relationship with AI in Kyriaki Goni’s Not Allowed for Algorithmic Audiences.
We invited British-Bangladeshi Geordie spoke work poet, producer, facilitator and creative practitioner, Tahmina Ali to host a creative writing workshop where participants were invited into a safe space to reflect on the recent riots in Middlesbrough and their impact on our diverse communities.
As a recipient of the AUX x MO Residency Award; Alia Gargum developed her solo-exhibition This was a Mosque exploring her British-Libyan heritage through diasporic means. The exhibition was a safe space for discussion and became a space for gathering with her Food Workshop which brought together a fantastic group of women exploring Libyan cooking as an art form and social practice.
With performances by Olana Light with The Birch Tree Family, Sophie Seita with These Devices Became Law and The Word with their Misfortune Teller the festival was a hub of creativity and community. We ended the week with a lot of laughs at Comedown Comedy featuring Seymour Mace, Liberty Hodes and Elaine Robertson and the Farts Council!
Your participation and enthusiasm truly embodied the spirit of Middlesbrough Art Week. Once again, MAW set out to bring communities together, spotlight local, regional, and emerging talent, and curate a vibrant program of talks, workshops, performances, and gigs—right on your doorstep. This year’s Uproot Collective meadow reminded us of the power of community connection. While the plants may die back, we’ve gathered their seeds, ready to sow again next spring.
We can’t wait to see you next year for MAW25!
