Returning for it’s eighth year, the continually impressive ‘Middlesbrough Art Week’ has gained a reputation as being a bold, and inclusive, method of bringing (and creating) interesting art and culture to region. Running for 10 days from the 25th September, 2025 sees MAW event push its creative boundaries even further with a bold programme that includes exhibitions, installations, performances, workshops, and public interventions. Including a wider range of artists and collaborators, as programme Director Liam Slevin admits, is only the start; “This year we’re working with a much larger group of programme collaborators, which is very exciting as they all bring such different flavours to the way they programme and curate. It’s definitely made this year’s festival the broadest yet in terms of ideas, concepts, and the scope of artists involved”.
Supporting the breadth of artistry, and providing a solid infrastructure to the programme, one of the brand new MAW initiatives for 2025 includes the brand-new Auxiliary Project Space, a 13,000 sq ft creative complex in a repurposed industrial warehouse which includes features from Erin Dickson, Richie Culver and Sophie Beresford. As Slevin admits the space not only supports the history of the MAW but also pushes it forward into a new and exciting future; “ The Auxiliary is very much the mothership and all the ideas stream out from it. The new gallery space is beautiful and a step away from our DIY roots – well at least with the material fabric of the building.”
Opening alongside the Auxiliary, MAW will also bring together over 70 artists, curators and collaborators with the intention of inspiring others as well as helping the region, and participants, to imagine new futures through art, care and creative resistance. As Slevin admits, part of the care and attention built into the curation of MAW comes from the desire to ensure that all participants are able to find something which feels both accessible and inspiring; “Aspirationally, my hopes for Middlesbrough Art Week are that it continues to be a catalyst for connection, because we all need a bit more of that in our lives. MAW can be an event that not only showcases outstanding contemporary work but also invites people to see their own place in the cultural conversation. I’d like it to be a week where local communities feel ownership of the art being shown, where emerging artists can stand alongside established names, and where there’s space for honest reactions”.
Alongside a range of artistic vehicles (pop-up exhibitions in ex-retail units and public spaces, workshops, talks, live performances and screenings) MAW25 will also continue to inspire the region through its commitment to artist development thanks to the return of the North East Open Call and New Graduate Award, as well as focusing on opportunities for human connection (“The Auxiliary will be the festival hub with screenings (We are Making a Film about Mark Fisher/Censoring Palestine), gigs (Demdike Stare/Regis) workshops (Furtherfield) and four exhibitions. It’ll be really buzzy”.)
Motivated to make 2025 the most successful MAW yet, Slevin makes no apologies for thinking even bigger in the future as the programme nears it’s 10th birthday (“In the next three years, the expanded infrastructure such at The Auxiliary’s new building, the global attention from MIMA hosting the Turner Prize in 2026, and deeper accessibility initiatives will all boost its visibility and I think thats the last piece of the puzzle”). When something is this good, why stop?