It was lovely to see PBS Autumn Selection Andrew McMillan and our Pamphlet Selector Degna Stone in the Great Exhibition of the North Backbone of the Land musical, poetic film about Northerness at Sage Gateshead.
What does it mean to be Northern? Why do we live here and why do we stay here? A host of leading Northern poets and folk musicians have been asking these questions.
Led by Peter Brewis and Degna Stone, this premiere Folkworks commission of new music and spoken word features new work by PBS poet Andrew McMillan and Kim Moore and performances by Peter Brewis, Bella Hardy, Sarah Hayes and Dan Rogers.
Here are a few of our favourite quotes from the evening:
We built these cities on migration - Degna Stone
The North as loneliness... The north unreachable... Again - Kim Moore
North shifts depending where you’re stood
You are your own compass - Andrew McMillan
This project was funded by Art50, a scheme commissioned by Sky Arts to explore the notion of British identity in the wake of Brexit.