Best of Summer
There will be several new exhibitions at the BALTIC, but one to watch out for is Japanese, New York based artist Mariko Mori at the end of May.
There will be a collection of Mori’s drawings and paintings, which are influenced by the artit’s recent interests in Brane cosmology and particle theory.
Moving into the second room you encounter Miracle. In Mori’s work Miracle, Mori typically has used newly developing technologies in the production of 8 diachronic images on glass.
The work aims to awaken people’s deeper consciousness, making them aware of different realities by asking them to think about being in a present that coincides with the past and the future.
Mori argues that we must be in touch with our own culture to understand others.
She sees modern technology as a substitute for local belief and argues its increasing importance. With a sincere belief in the potential power of technology, Mori argues for its use to make our lives better.
(Wednesday 21 May - Sunday 14 September)
In June, the theatre company Opera North will be coming to the Theatre Royal with their operatic versions of three of Shakespeare’s most popular plays ‘Romeo and Juliet’, ‘Macbeth’ and ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. Opera North has its roots in the North, and endeavours to ‘breathe new life’ into the classics, so expect a new and innovative take on the plays!
‘Romeo and Juliet’ will be performed extravagantly in French, with English titles. Composer Charles Gounod attempts to capture the melodramatic element of the world’s best-known love story primarily in his depiction of the tensions between the feuding Montague and Capulet families and the ‘star cross’d lovers’, who will sing a magnificent series of duets. (3rd June, Theatre Royal)
Composer of Opera North’s performance of ‘Macbeth’, Guiseppe Verdi, aims to translate the sheer peculiarity and intensity of the play into music so what you can expect to see is, in his own words, a performance of ‘extravagance and originality’. The end result is a hugely exciting drama, and the renowned chorus, ‘Patria Oppressa!’ is but one of the numerous musical triumphs. This will be sung in Italian, again with English titles. (4th June)
The only opera to be sung in English of the three, composer Britten’s performance will be a fantastical collaboration of words and music. Much of his inspiration was found in the play’s pervading themes of night, dreams and the supernatural, and all contribute to the truly melodic composition. It promises to be a perfectly enchanting way to spend a balmy summer evening. (5th June)
Joakim Eskildsen’s exhibition ‘The Roma Journeys’ is in the Side Gallery from now up until 14th June. The work documents Eskildsen’s travels between the years 2000-2006 photographing the lives of the Roma and the conditions they face, with pictures from seven different countries, including India, Romania, Russia, Hungary, Greece, Finnland and France. The aim of the exhibition is to show the traditions of the Roma and their struggles as a minority, and is a rare and candid insight into a way of life that we hardly know.
For the second year running, The Late Shows will be in Newcastle, when many local galleries and arts venues stay up way past their bedtime for people to come and visit. Last year there was an abundance of one-off events and sensational exhibitions, so look into what your favourite gallery is planning and get yourself there late on 17th May.
Joanna Sweeney
