NEWS: Freedom City @ Various Venues

Image: Starless Midnight, Kenyatta Hinkle, Untitled (from The Evanesced series), 2016

Those of you who are avid NARC. readers may remember that we previewed a rather extraordinary programme of events – otherwise known as Freedom City – back in June. Well, time to rejoice, for this month, the cultural celebrations that centre around Dr. Martin Luther King’s historical visit to the Toon are well and truly kicking off.

One of the most prominent highlights, perhaps, is the BALTIC’s incredible exhibition Starless Midnight, inspired by the activist’s impromptu speech made at Newcastle University on that day in 1967. Co-curated by artist Edgar Arceneaux, whose work Until, Until, Until… will be shown simultaneously on level two of the gallery, the exhibition will take on many number of artistic mediums, including painting, drawing, video, sculpture and installation. Starless midnight will launch on Friday 20th October, running until January 2018.

Also on the itinerary is a conceptual exhibition from the Great North Museum (Hancock), which begins on Friday 6th October. Freedom!, as it is simply named, will use archived footage to explore King’s idiosyncratic political energy, as well as his ideas on the evils of capitalism. 

Following a whole host of other exhibitions, events and celebrations that span the city of Newcastle, the entire event will culminate in one powerful gesture. On Sunday 29th October, the words spoken by Dr. King will ring out across Newcastle Gateshead and all adjacent areas, alongside a programme of performance, dance and music directed by BAFTA award-winning playwright Roy Williams. This wondrous spectacle, based on the Quayside, is surely not to be missed.