We’re hosting a thought-provoking panel talk, asking a question which is bound to ignite many opinions – “Is all art activism”?

Guido Reni’s painting style is sublime, yet the subject of the central painting in The Bowes Museum’s ‘The Power and The Virtue’ exhibition is violent- a woman who has committed suicide after being raped. This apparent contradiction raises the familiar question of whether art is purely for art’s sake, or is it driven by, or accountable for, a social purpose?

We’ve bought together a diverse range of speakers from the cultural sector to help us explore these rich and rewarding questions:

Dr Howard Coutts, Keeper of Ceramics at The Bowes Museum and scholar of Italian Renaissance painting

Richard Bliss, a socially engaged artist who lives and works in Newcastle

Alison Tweddle, Learning Coordinator for The Auckland Project

Lexie Sewell from the Elementary Sisterhood writing group.

Please join us for an enlightening afternoon of debate, or even better, come for the whole day of events. Everyone is welcome.

Free admission if attending the Make Do and Mend screening prior to this or normal museum admission fees apply.