The Great Exhibition of the North

Showcasing great art, culture, design and innovation from across the North, the Exhibition tells the story of the North of England and how its innovators, businesses, artists and designers have shaped our present and are inspiring our future.

The Duke of Cambridge’s day started at Sage Gateshead, one of the three dedicated Exhibition hub venues – which was opened by The Queen in 2005. Throughout the exhibition, Sage Gateshead had hosted a number events, aiming to entertain, involve and inspire through music.

His Royal Highness then officially opened PROTO: The Emerging Technology Centre, which is a brand new state-of-the-art research and development facility with quality co-working and office space.

Many of the businesses have been involved in the Exhibition, showcasing the work they are doing in emerging technologies such as Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and motion capture.

The Exhibition has been supported by 1,175 volunteers who gave a total of 20,836 hours! At a reception hosted at the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art The Duke met a number of those who have made the exhibition such a success.

Since opening in 2002, BALTIC has welcomed more than 7 million visitors, and during the Great Exhibition it has been home to number of exhibitions including:

• A solo show of all-new work by Turner prize-winning artist Lubaina Himid MBE
• A number commission by Turner prize-nominated installation artist Michael Dean
• A series of displays and projects addressing northern identity, in Idea of Norh​

The final visit of the day was at Ryder Architecture Cooper’s Studios, where His Royal Highness toured the ‘Horse to Hyperloop’ exhibition, hearing about the potential of using Hyperloop technology to travel in the future.

Over 10,000 contributors have been involved in the Great Exhibition, including artists, scientists and inventors and were source from every county of the North of England - find out more.