Big move across the water for local gallery

A NEWCASTLE institution which for decades charted the changing face of city life is to have a revival, with renewed focus, over a year and a half on from a shock closure.

- By BARBARA HODGSON

Above, Side Gallery, Newcastle, which has now closed, inset left, Baltic Gateshead

There was widespread heartbreak in summer 2023 when Side Gallery announced it was closing its doors on Newcastle Quayside.

The gallery on Side, adjacent to Side Cinema, had been dedicated to documentary photography since 1977, becoming home to Amber Film & Photography Collective which was established in 1968 to document working class culture.

The arts archive it built up over the years is seen as an invaluable social commentary on local life.

With its closure blamed on funding cuts and the cost of living crisis, a fundraiser campaign was set up in the hope of a future reopening and to buy it time for online cataloguing.

It was recently reported that the building now has a new tenant, in health and wellness centre Reform Studios, and Side Gallery has confirmed it will not reopen there.