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- 12th Jun 2026
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Pizza, DJs and art after dark: Baltic’s summer preview party hits the Quayside next month
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Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art is pulling out all the stops this July, and if you only book one thing this summer, make it this.
On Saturday 4th July, the Gateshead gallery hosts a Summer Preview Party – a free (but booking-essential) evening celebrating the opening of two major new exhibitions, with live drumming, DJs, pizza, drinks and a buzzing riverside atmosphere to carry you through until close to midnight.
Running from 5:30pm until 11:30pm, the Preview Party is the ticketed centrepiece of Baltic’s biggest day of the year, but more on the full day’s programme in a moment.
THE EVENING KICKS OFF ON BALTIC SQUARE
Things get underway outside at 5:30pm, where Dhol Buzz UK perform on Baltic Square, a group of musicians practising the Marathi art form of playing Dhol Taasha with Lezims, presented in collaboration with GemArts. It’s a vibrant, celebratory opener that sets the tone for the whole evening.
From 6pm, the galleries open and Baltic Riverside comes alive with pizza, cocktails, beer and soft drinks, with thanks to Full Circle Brewery, as DJs Leo Robin, Batesy and Burning Down The House provide the soundtrack. The galleries close at 8pm, so arrive with enough time to explore both new exhibitions before settling in for the dancing. Last orders are at 11:30.
CHITRA GANESH: JOURNEY TO THE GREAT BELOW
The first exhibition being celebrated is a landmark for Baltic. Journey to the Great Below is the first major UK solo exhibition in a public institution by Brooklyn-based artist Chitra Ganesh – and it’s a big one.
Ganesh draws on a remarkable breadth of influences: literature, semiotics and contemporary social theory sit alongside surrealism, science fiction, anime, and South Asian visual culture, from ancient statuary to popular Indian comics and graphic design.
The centrepiece of the Level 4 show is a new large-scale animation inspired by what is widely considered to be the world’s oldest recorded myth – The Descent of Inanna into the Underworld, written c.1900–1600 BCE in Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq. Presented alongside newly commissioned sculptural works, a site-specific wall drawing, and a selection of paintings, prints and mixed media pieces, it’s the kind of exhibition that demands more than one visit.
TISH MURTHA & KUBA RYNIEWICZ: CLOSE TO HOME
On Level 3 in the Northumbria University Gallery, the second opening carries a different but equally powerful weight. Close to Home brings together four major photographic series by Tish Murtha – the celebrated documentary photographer born in South Shields in 1956, who returned to Newcastle from university to capture life in her Elswick community with honesty, empathy and urgency.
Elswick Kids (1978), Elswick Revisited (1987–1991), Save Scotswood Works (1979) and Youth Unemployment (1981) are presented together for the first time, gathering work that documents the social impact of industrial decline with a humanity that still resonates today.
Alongside Murtha’s photographs, a newly commissioned body of work by Newcastle-based artist Kuba Ryniewicz extends the exhibition’s exploration of community and place in the North East – offering a contemporary perspective shaped by lockdown, friendship, intimacy and creative life in the city. Together, the two artists create a conversation across decades that feels both tender and timely.
HOW TO BOOK
The Summer Preview Party is free to attend, but booking is essential and with two exhibitions of this quality opening on the same night, alongside the music and riverside atmosphere, it’s worth securing your spot sooner rather than later.
PART OF BALTIC’S SUMMER BLOCK PARTY
The Preview Party is the grand finale of a much bigger day along the quayside. Baltic has teamed up with neighbouring venue The Glasshouse for a full Summer Block Party running from 10am, and much of it is completely free and drop-in.
The Art Car Boot Fair returns from 11am – 5pm in Baltic Car Park, 50 stalls of affordable art, crafts, locally sourced food and feel-good DJ beats.
Families can drop into creative sessions in the Learning Lounge, the Baltic Library hosts a Queer Pleasure Archive opening party from 2pm, and the Level Six Rooftop transforms into a Cocktail Lounge from 3pm with panoramic quayside views. At 16:00, Chitra Ganesh herself leads a guided tour of her exhibition alongside Senior Curator Emma Dean – free but booking essential. Over at The Glasshouse from 11am – 3pm, there’s a makers’ market, pop-up food, and a resident DJ keeping the atmosphere going all afternoon.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE SUMMER BLOCK PARTY HERE
Please note that Baltic Car Park is closed on the day for the Art Car Boot Fair.
Rachael Ellis
Head of Content
After gaining a first in her BA Media and Journalism degree at Northumbria University, Rachael worked at Newcastle’s leading regional newspaper with her stories being picked up in national and global newspapers. She spent two very successful years giving a voice to those communities across the North East who otherwise…
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