JOIN nationally acclaimed poet Lemn Sissay for a last chance to see the Picture the Poet exhibition from the National Portrait Gallery at Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, before it tours to its final venue, Tullie House in Carlisle.
To celebrate the success of both the exhibition and the projects that it has inspired, award winning poet Lemn Sissay will appear in Picture the Poet Live, an evening of music and poetry showcasing local and national poets, organised by Apples and Snakes. The event will take place at Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens from 7pm on Tuesday 24 November 2015.
Picture the Poet is a partnership programme between the National Portrait Gallery, the National Literacy Trust and Apples and Snakes, working in collaboration with six museum partners over three years. The exhibition of high quality photographs of living poets has a targeted learning, participation and audience development programme at each regional venue to increase engagement with creative writing, poetry and photography.
Sunderland City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Public Health, Wellness and Culture, said:“This exhibition has been a fantastic success with over 32,000 visitors. It combines both the visual image and the written word in an intriguing way.
“We look to constantly develop and improve the cultural offer of the city and Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens continues to be a huge cultural attraction in our city centre.
“We should take great pride in being selected to host such a fantastic exhibition. Events such as this make a huge contribution to the city, its reputation and its economy. I encourage everyone who hasn’t had the chance to see it yet to make the most of the opportunity before it ends later this month.”
Poet Lemn Sissay, who earlier this year beat former politician Lord Peter Mandelson in the election for the chancellorship of the University of Manchester, will also this month have his landmark poem for the world ‘Let There Be Peace’ unveiled at the British Council in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Lemn will give a spoken word performance against the backdrop of the photographic portraits of poets in the exhibition gallery. Lemn, who is also an associate artist at London’s Southbank Centre, has said that his primary aim is to ‘inspire and be inspired.’He will be joined by acclaimed North East poet Kate Fox, local poets Sky Hawkins and Rowan McCabe and by popular local band The Lake Poets.
Event details:
Apples and Snakes and JibbaJabba present:
PICTURE THE POET LIVE
Tickets: FREE! Limited places, booking essential!
Booking: www.picture-the-poet-live.
Age guidance 16+
To celebrate the National Portrait Gallery’s Picture the Poet exhibition in Sunderland, Apples and Snakes and JibbaJabba bring you an evening of words and music featuring celebrated author and playwright Lemn Sissay MBE, who was the official poet for the London Olympics and Kate Fox, a stand-up poet, writer and BBC Radio 4 regular.
There will also be performances by local young people who have written work inspired by the exhibition under the guidance of local poets, Sky Hawkins and Rowan McCabe.
The evening will be enriched by local band, The Lake Poets lead by Martin Longstaff, a multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter from Sunderland. There will be a pay bar at this event.
In partnership with National Portrait Gallery, National Literacy Trust, Apples and Snakes and Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens.
North East Poetry Network – Conversations: with Clare Freestone, Wednesday 18 November
Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens
5.30pm – 7pm (tickets required, please contact the Museum)
Join Associate Curator of Photographs, National Portrait Gallery in a conversation about her work at the Gallery. Clare’s role involves working with the breadth of the photographic collection comprising 250,000 items covering countless subjects from the 1840s to the present day.
Poetry Voices
Thursday 19 November 2015
Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens
10.30am – 12pm
Listen to members of the Sunderland U3A poetry group and Friends of Sunderland Museums (FOSUMS) as they read their favourite poems. The U3A are enthusiastic group who find varied poems on a chosen topic. These readings are guaranteed stimulate reminiscences, discussion and some laughs.
Refreshments will be provided by FOSUMS.
Museum Takeover Day
Friday 20 November 2015
Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens
10am – 5pm
30 students from the Performing Arts Faculty at Sunderland College will be taking over job roles at Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens as part of national ‘Museum Takeover Day’ supported by Kids in Museums. Students will take over the roles of gallery guides in the Picture the Poet exhibition, object explainers, visitor survey assistants and shop and event promotion.http://kidsinmuseums.org.uk/
First year photography students from SunderlandUniversity have been studying the photographic portraits of poets in the exhibition, and creating their own original photographs inspired by a chosen poet and their poetry. These images along with ‘talking heads’ films of the students explaining what inspired their photographs will be shown on the National Portrait Gallery’s website
http://www.npg.org.uk/
To find out more about what’s on in Sunderland visit http://www.
Picture the Poet will be on display at Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens until Sunday 29 November. The exhibition will then tour to Tullie House in Carlisle.
For more information about the poets in the exhibition, special interviews and videos, and to access learning resources, please visit npg.org.uk/picturethepoet
Picture the Poet is supported by Arts Council England.