GATESHEAD.- In the wake of one of the most challenging and formative years for the world at large, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art looks to the future with its exhibition and events programme, launching from 6th January 2021 with joint exhibitions of work by Lithuanian artist duo Pakui Hardware, and the BALTIC Open Submission showcasing over 150 works created by both professional and amateur artists from across the North East during the lockdown of spring 2020.

BALTIC will also launch the podcast mini-series For All I Care in November 2020, created in partnership with Wellcome Collection. The podcast, hosted by artist Nwando Ebizie, explores the urgency and beauty of care and healing over 5 monthly-episodes featuring contributions from the worlds of contemporary art, science and healthcare.

In 2021, BALTIC will present highlight-exhibitions including a major survey of one of the founders of the Black Arts Movement in the UK, Sutapa Biswas; an exploration of gender politics by Ad Minoliti, a solo exhibition by Lebanese artist Mounira Al Sohl; an interactive exploration of play by Albert Potrony; a documentary series on the lesbian community in San Francisco in the ‘90s by photographer Phyllis Christopher; and the 2021 BALTIC Artist’s Award. The BALTIC Live programme will also see the performance of Zinzi Minnot’s Black on Black 24R which was delayed from 2020 – a new durational performance that creates a physical archive of Black bodies in dance.

BALTIC’s programme is conceived and developed around the central idea of Participative Democracy – empowering audiences to develop critical thinking and engagement through art. Over the next year, BALTIC’s exhibitions, public programme, learning and civic programmes will explore themes that are relevant and urgent to the complexities of life around us right now.