Arts Centre Washington unveils two new autumn exhibitions

The Sunderland Indie presents artistic responses to the climate crisis with a follow-up exhibition, Earth Requiem II, in the main gallery.

Upstairs the Granary Gallery is displaying a project marking the 150th anniversary of Charles Dickens’ death. A Tale of Few Cities is led by poet Barry Fentiman Hall and involves writers and artists from the North-East and South-East.

More than 50 writers and artists were paired for the project which started in 2020, but was delayed by the pandemic. Many of the North-East poets and writers will perform their work against the digital display backdrop of the artwork that accompanied it on the opening night.

Artist Barrie West, founder of The Sunderland Indie, said: “Our group worked with Medway-based literary organisation Wordsmithery on the A Tale of Few Cities project.

“Writers from both groups were inspired by the famous quote ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times’ from A Tale of Two Cities. Writers in the North-East, led by Iain Rowan, sent our words to our friends in the south east and vice versa.

“Artists in the south interpreted the poems and stories we sent, while we interpreted words from the Medway group, creating a wide range of artforms. Work from the north east artists forms the exhibition at ACW.

“We’re delighted that Barry Fentiman Hall was with us at the launch of the exhibition.”

Earth Requiem II is a follow-up to an exhibition at ACW in the spring.

Barrie added: “The climate crisis is the most serious issue facing us today, so there was no surprise we were inundated with work for our first Earth Requiem exhibition earlier in the year.

“Earth Requiem II is all new artwork from Sunderland Indie artists. I think collectively the artists want to open a dialogue with the wider public on this critical issue – we want them to realise how serious global warming is and art is a powerful and accessible way to get the point across.

“The vast majority of artists featured in the exhibition are north east based, but we also have work from a Tiawanese artist and a Polish artist.”

Both exhibitions are free and close on Saturday, October 15. Visit www.artscentrewashington.co.uk.