Middlesbrough Art Weekender: The Dispersed Gallery
- Submitting institution
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Teesside University
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
- Output identifier
- 6917558
- Type
- M - Exhibition
- Venue(s)
- Middlesbrough (various locations), UK
- Open access status
- -
- Month of first exhibition
- -
- Year of first exhibition
- 2017
- URL
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-
- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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0
- Research group(s)
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-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- Middlesbrough Art Weekender (MAW) was an international festival co-founded by Stewart in 2017. The research structure presented by Stewart focuses on adaptation of festival programming for expanding artist-led curation (Green, 2018) and community ownership to explore its town through art as a site or a facilitation of an experience of art (Beuys, 1980). The focus comes from Stewart's research into art as a process of becoming (Stewart, 2020) and the performance at play through curation and experience of art practice (Bishop, 2012). It utilises a temporary festival model, uncovering the benefits of dispersing an exhibition throughout a town-site (Bishop, 2012). Location and structure were important, with work introduced into non-art spaces and happening directly with local communities (O’Neill 2014). This introduced an innovative approach to re-energising a town through arts production, encouraging ownership and independence from communities (Stewart, 2020).
MAW presented a new perspective on the relationship between curation, visual art and urban sites, utilising artist-led processes for curation (Green, 2018). MAW involved new commissioned work by Benedict Drew and Amanda Beech, alongside over 100 other artworks. Curatorial methods were used to engage broader audiences, including those not typically visiting art exhibitions. This strategy was tested in a specific region, responding to ACE’s Case for Culture and the identified need for North East communities to increase arts participation. Its success is attested by ACE’s continued support as the festival approaches its fifth year, and Sharon Paterson’s interview with A Case for Culture: North East Cultural Partnership, which used it as an exemplar of the region’s cultural offer with ambition towards the city of culture bid.
MAW provides a case-study for further projects in similar communities with low arts engagement. The project’s examination of the significance of its chosen context, identified strategies for developing new audiences outside the gallery/ museum arena.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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