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The climate crisis, custodianship of land and our renewed connection to nature are just a few themes that a selection of artists will question in a new group show Hinterlands
Image: Sabina Sallis, Multispecies Visionary Institute, 2021. Installation shot. Courtesy the artist
The climate crisis, custodianship of land and our renewed connection to nature owing to the pandemic are just a few themes that a selection of artists will question in a new group show Hinterlands, which is due to open at BALTIC from Saturday 22nd October.
The examination of our complex relationships to the land are demonstrated through existing and new works from a selection of 12 artists based in the North East of England, with the show focusing on the land away from the coast and banks of the river. Of note are interdisciplinary artist Emily Hesse, whose work takes material fragments of industrial Teesside to give thought to the social and political dynamics of clay as a material for sculpture; artist, researcher and creative producer Laura Harrington will present a new performance piece which was developed alongside people in Gateshead, and is a re-visit of the artist’s previous project Rivers, a collaborative opera of the River Tyne; Sheree Angela Matthews considers the histories and futures of the Black body and the North East landscape; Michele Allan’s work explores ancient woodland in Gateshead’s Team Valley, and Dawn Knox uses live ferns to consider the removal of toxic residues of human activity in coal mining. In addition, a series of public events, performances and workshops will be situated inside Sabina Sallis’ remarkable Multispecies Visionary Institute, which will focus on future sustainable practices.
Humanity’s relationship with the land and ecosystems will be the main focus of this exhibition substantiated through novel and radical methods of thinking with, rather than through, the North East’s landscape.
