L-INK 2023/2024

L-INK group members, photo by Colin Davison

Are you 16-24 years old? Would you like to work with artworks, artists, curators & collections?  Do you like meeting new people and working as part of a team? Then L-INK are looking for YOU! 

L-INK are a group of young people who work with the Laing and Hatton Art galleries to collaborate, co-curate, produce events, work with artists and create artworks. In the past,  L-INK have worked on facilitated projects with gallery staff,  and have had the opportunity to meet artists, curators and different gallery teams; they have explored collaborative practice, exhibited their own artworks and delivered creative  interpretations of works on display. 

The group have also worked with other galleries and national partners such as National Galleries of Scotland, Tate and the National Portrait Gallery. 

The L-INK 2023-24 project, offers an opportunity to work  with artists, curators and other gallery staff to engage with themes in three exhibitions across the Laing and Hatton  galleries during 2023-24, Yevonde: Life and Colour and National Treasures: Turner in Newcastle.

 L-INK 2023-24 project will explore the ways in which we record and present our physical and psychological personalities. Through practical activities, discussion and creative & collaborative challenges, the group will be invited to interrogate identity in the context of location, site, community and cultural heritage,

The project will pose questions such as: Who are we, and how do we describe or identify ourselves to the world in which we live? What makes us individual or part of a community? Where and how do we ‘fit;’ into our society, landscape and history? Are we the same people now as we were 5 years ago? Who will we be 5 years from now? What would we say to past or future versions of ourselves?  

The group will work with the galleries’ Art Team, Friends of the Laing Art Gallery, as well as artists and mentors to explore current issues through creative discussion and action. They will visit exhibitions and collection displays as well as having the opportunity to go behind-the-scenes at the Hatton & Laing Art galleries, learning how artworks are handled and displayed. 

This project offers the opportunity for group members to create an exhibition of their own artworks and to   interpret artworks and exhibitions within the galleries for different audiences. 

Artist-led taster session                
Saturday 23 September 2023
Find out more about the project, meet new people and work with a professional artist.
Download the Taster session registration form here and email the completed form to learning@laingartgallery.org.uk.

Application deadline for L-INK 2023-24
Monday 2 October 2023
Download the application form here and email the completed form to learning@laingartgallery.org.uk.

2023/24 Project Launch     
Saturday 14 October 2023

Further L-INK 2023-24 session dates (TBC)
We endeavour to meet on 2nd Saturday of each month. 
L-INK sessions usually run from 10.30am – 4pm with a break for lunch.
Where necessary, some sessions may be shorter and could take place via video call. Advance notice will be given. 

Additional opportunities
Where possible and appropriate, we endeavour to explore exhibitions at other galleries through research and trips to other venues.    

During 2022-23, L-INK co-curated their third exhibition at the Laing, drawing inspiration from the Lindisfarne Gospels, which were exhibited at the gallery during 2022, on loan from The British Library.

The group worked with the idea of community, questioning what communities we have in today’s society, who they are made up of and how they function. They used ideas generated in initial discussions as a lens through which to explore the Laing collections, and produced an exhibition, The Untold Stories and the Tides of Change to Come which sensitively spoke to the architecture of different communities and common / communal spaces. 

L-INK is a fixed-term project and we ask for a time commitment of approximately one day per month plus one potential overnight trip to visit other galleries during the summer. We understand that participants have many extra-curricular commitments and responsibilities as well as school work, so if participants find that they are unable to commit to the project, please let us know so that we can offer places to others.  

To apply: please send your completed application formto learning@laingartgallery.org.uk 

Deadline for applications: Monday 2 October 2023

Got questions? We’d love to hear from you!