Centre stage
Words | David Atkinson Five new arts centres are hoping to attract visitors to a long-neglected corner of Britain – the East Midlands. With their contemporary architecture, art galleries and performance spaces, they are kickstarting a cultural renaissance in these former industrial cities. WHEN NOTTINGHAM CONTEMPORARY, a landmark art gallery, opens this September, it will round off [...]
Words | David Atkinson
Five new arts centres are hoping to attract visitors to a long-neglected corner of Britain – the East Midlands. With their contemporary architecture, art galleries and performance spaces, they are kickstarting a cultural renaissance in these former industrial cities.
WHEN NOTTINGHAM CONTEMPORARY, a landmark art gallery, opens this September, it will round off a number of exciting new arts venue that have recently launched in the heart of England. Here’s what to see where…
THE NEW ART EXCHANGE
Nottingham’s New Art Exchange is the first black contemporary visual arts venue outside of London. It is committed to African, African-Caribbean and South Asian arts, and reflects the multi-ethnic diversity of the East Midlands with a programme of exhibitions and performances from both nationally and locally known artists. The building includes a gallery, workshop and rehearsal facilities, plus a café.
Until 19 April, the Exchange is home to Floating Coffins, a new exhibition from French-Algerian video artist Zineb Sedira. It’s a multiscreen video installation with an environmental theme.
39-41 Gregory Boulevard, Nottingham, 0115 924 8630; www.thenewartexchange.org.uk
CURVE
Curve is the centrepiece of Leicester’s Cultural Quarter, a new home for theatre and the performing arts in a forgotten area of the city. It’s a landmark building with major international architect Rafael Viñoly opting for an opened out design: the all-glass facade draws passers-by in and lets performers look out on the world. The two auditoria allow directors to place the audience in a variety of non-traditional configurations.
April’s a busy month, with festivals of Indian music and children’s art, as well as contemporary dance and drama. And, since its opening, Leicester City Council has given the green light for a digital media centre to join Curve in the Cultural Quarter.
Rutland Street, Leicester, 0116 2423560; www.curveonline.co.uk
NOTTINGHAM CONTEMPORARY
When Nottingham Contemporary opens this September it will be the largest gallery space in the East Midlands. The landmark building will provide a number of galleries, education and social spaces and a performance area.
Nottingham Contemporary promises to put the city on the global art map, but the project is not shy of controversy. Costs now look likely to soar from the original £13m to nearer £20m by the opening, while local residents have expressed concerns of a Millennium Dome-style white elephant. To assuage fears, the directors are running a series of Nottingham Contemporarybranded exhibitions in various venues in Nottingham prior to the opening – check the website for details.
Shire Hall, High Pavement, Nottingham, 0115 924 2421; www.ccan.org.uk
QUAD
This £11m arts and media centre is the new focal point of a rejuvenated Derby with its combination of state-of-the-art gallery space, two independent cinema screens, a café bar with free WiFi, and the first British Film Institute Mediatheque outside of London – a free-touse library of more than 1,000 films and TV programmes.
Quad is run by Keith Jeffrey who, as a former deputy director of the Baltic art gallery, has helped to bring urban regeneration through culture to Newcastle in recent years.
This month Quad plays host to the international photography festival Format 09. The event will showcase new work by established and emerging photographers, including Martin Parr and Cindy Sherman. Derby was home to the UK’s first international photography festival and Quad aims to recapture the city’s love of the camera.
Market Place, Cathedral Quarter, Derby, 01332 290606; www.derbyquad.co.uk
FIRST MOVEMENT’S LEVEL CENTRED
This arts organisation works across the East Midlands to develop projects with learning-disabled people. First Movement uses new technology to bring people together and, with the opening of the new centre last December, they now have a custom-built home with fully accessible studios in rural Derbyshire. It houses workshops fitted with the latest digital arts technology, while a mobile studio can take projects to disabled people around the East Midlands.
In April one of the themes will be Arrivals and Departures, a series of events about people’s experiences of travel with video links between the Level Centre and other art centres in the region.
Old Station Close, Rowsley, Derbyshire, 01629 734848; www.first-movement.org.uk
