Middlesbrough Art Week 2024

In the Now and in the Far

In the Now and In the Far was the starting point for MAW workshops of 2024.

Visitors could take part in a wide range of drop-in activities, inspired by the MAW 24 exhibitions, including a large canvas painting activity responding to the UPROOT meadow, a seed share and mini protest banner making.

MAW won the North East Culture Award for Best Event of 2024.

Meadow Community Painting

Visitors of all ages were inspired by the UPROOT meadow to create two massive paintings over the course of the MAW weekend drop-in workshops. These group participation paintings evolved with a riot of mark making and everyone enjoy working and reworking the surfaces until they were completed.

Seed Share and Banner Workshop

Catherine Howell from the Gia Foundation and local seed expert joined us to share her expertise in seed saving. Catherine was the advisor on the UPROOT growing initiative and taught us everything we needed to know about harvesting the meadow seeds. As well as bespoke workshops with the public, Catherine worked with members of the local Seed Sovereignty group to create the Save a Seed Grow a Future banner.

Mini Protest Banners

Visitors were invited to make a mini protest banner with the invitation:

What do you want to shout about? - Make a mini ‘protest’ banner to shout about the things that are important to you! Think about the things you want to change in the now to make the future better. What can we do to make the world a safer, healthier and happier place?