Member Article

Local art collection goes back to its roots

A Newcastle art gallery is spotlighting traditional North East life with a new specially curated collection that forms part of a wider initiative to engage communities in the preservation of their local heritage.

The collection, inspired by Tyne & Wear Heritage Forum, is exclusively on show at The Biscuit Factory – the UK’s largest art, craft and design gallery - and features the work of two prominent North East-based artists, Malcolm Teasdale and Alistair Brookes.

Teasdale is renowned for his nostalgic scenes of industrial life in the North East, meanwhile Brookes’ paintings and raku pottery are inspired by life and traditions found in mining communities, particularly those in County Durham.

Rachel Brown, General Manager of The Biscuit Factory explains: “The people of the North East synonymously have a strong sense of pride and identity inextricably linked to the region and so this exhibition, for many, will be a trip down memory lane, looking at a North East of old.”

The heritage themed collection coincides with this month’s Tyne & Wear Heritage conference, which takes place at The Biscuit Factory on 23 January 2016 and features guest speaker and owner of the art gallery, Ramy Zack.

Titled ‘Innovation, Invention, Industrialisation’, the conference will see the coming together of all local heritage and history groups in the region, as well as members of the general public.

The conference is part of a larger project called HeritageACT! which has been designed to help support and encourage local communities to take responsibility for heritage features in their own regions. HeritageACT! will be launched at the conference and continue throughout the year. It seeks to protect and preserve significant local heritage features at risk, by building on the expert advice and support offered to delegates through workshops at the conference.

The art collection will be on show until 3 March 2016. For more information, visit www.thebiscuitfactory.com. To book your place on the upcoming conference, visit www.twhf.co.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Alexis Forsyth .