The sixth biennial AV Festival returns this year with the theme ‘Extraction.’ Focusing on re-imagining the geologic, the month long festival runs through March. With a programme of 11 exhibitions, 36 film screenings, 10 concerts and 11 new commissioned pieces of work, artists will respond to the natural landscape of North East England and beyond.

Selected Highlights include:
Akio Suzuki na ge ka ke - his first major solo exhibition in the UK at Globe Gallery that includes works he describes as ‘of sound but are soundless’
Wang Bing‘s 14-hour film Crude Oil shown as an installation at Stephenson Works, following the long working day of crude oil workers in China’s remote Qinghai province
Lara Almarcegui The Last Coal Extraction in Newcastle - new commission derived from her exploration last year at the site of the last coal extraction in Newcastle
Susan Stenger Sound Strata of Coastal Northumberland - new commission at the Laing based on a 19th century cross-section diagram of coastal geological formations from the River Tyne to the Scottish border, drawn by a local coal mining engineer
Jessica Warboys - solo exhibition at Laing bringing together film, object and canvas including her sea paintings

Akio Suzuki courtesy Aki Onda

The AV Festival runs from 1 – 31 March at various venues around Newcastle, Gateshead, Middlesbrough & Sunderland. For more information see their website.

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