Page 18 - 366091 LP246228 NE Volume Magazine (170mm x 245mm 52pp) September 2022

LINDISFARNE GOSPELS
AT LAING ART GALLERY, NEWCASTLE
JON
C
HISTORY
The eagerly anticipated exhibition of the world-famous Lindisfarne Gospels is coming to Laing Art Gallery this month. The Lindisfarne Gospels, the most spectacular manuscript to survive from Anglo-Saxon England, will feature in a contemporary exhibition about its meaning in the world today and its relationship with themes of personal, regional and national identity. Thanks to a collaboration between the North East Culture Partnership and the British Library, the Gospels be on display from Saturday 17th September until Saturday 3rd December. The manuscript, created on Holy Island, on loan from the British Library, represents the golden age of design and craftsmanship in Northumbria. It has survived in almost perfect condition for more than one thousand years and this will be the first time the ancient book has been displayed in Newcastle since 2000. The exhibition will begin with an immersive digital experience that will include a stunning selection of early medieval treasures brought together from across Britain, representing both personal and collective religious experiences in the 8th century. A selection of paintings, drawings and photographs will further explore how art and spirituality have developed in the centuries since the Lindisfarne Gospels were created. A highlight of the exhibition will be a new work by conceptual, video and installation artist, Jeremy Deller who won the Turner Prize in 2004. Much of his work is collaborative and has a strong political aspect, in the subjects dealt with and also the devaluation of artistic ego through the involvement of other people in the creative process. Alongside the Laing exhibition, there will be a supporting exhibition at the neighbouring Newcastle City Library - and venues across the North East will host complementary events in an Inspired By Programme. These events include Illuminated Sheep, coming to 35 locations across the region from the beginning of September to the end of October. Celebrating themes of light and pilgrimage, Illuminated Sheep encourages people to find their inner shepherd, exploring the region’s rich landscape, heritage and culture. From Berwick to Hexham and Haltwhistle to Blyth, a flock of 40 life-sized illuminated sheep, created by artist Deepa Mann-Kler, will appear, creating a number of trails that can be completed on foot, bike or public transport. Back at Laing Art Gallery, there has already been huge interest in the Lindisfarne Gospels exhibition and advance booking is advised. EMMA CHESWORTH
Visit: laingartgallery.org.uk
RICHARDSON
AT THE GLOBE, STOCKTON
Jon Richardson hits up Stockton’s Globe Theatre with his new show ‘The Knitwit’ on Thursday 29th and Friday 30th September, with back-to-back dates at the venue an obvious testament to his popularity. Jon is, of course, an extremely familiar face and voice to UK audiences, most prominently as a long-term team captain on Channel 4’s oft-riotous ‘8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown’ and as a staple of Channel Dave, notably as host of Ultimate Worrier. Richardson can certainly be said to have completed something akin to a British comedy grand slam with his televisual credits for appearances on ‘Would I Lie To You?’, ‘Taskmaster’ and ‘Have I Got News For You’, among many others. Richardson has also been an established radio presence, most notably previously on BBC Radio 6. Add multiple former touring shows into the mix and you have a very formidable CV as a comedy performer, undoubtedly impressive enough to demand the booking of double dips at select locations on this tour. Press for ‘The Knitwit’ promises that Richardson will linger, probably forensically, on some of the humdrum aspects of domestic life, all the while attempting to make out that his ambitions are loftier than such miscellanea. While this is likely to flex some of the observational muscle undoubtedly at the forefront of his comedic arsenal, said ability having been tested and strengthened to considerable lengths by the many years of touring the multifarious checkpoints of the British comedy circuit as mentioned, Richardson’s apparent status as somewhat of an everyman character has always been in part compromised by a certain hidden darkness to his commentary. This is an underrated quality of his material which has seen him overlooked as more of an outlier than might at first be detected amongst the comedy panels he has graced, and more widely, on the
18 \\ NE VOLUME MAGAZINE \\ CULTURE
OMEDY