Baltic Neighbourly Showcase We all came here from somewhere

Presented in Baltic’s Learning Lounge, We all came here from somewhere is a showcase of artwork and objects made in collaboration with the communities we know, we welcome, we work and create with. 

The presentation spotlights the idea of ‘welcome’ at Baltic and the people, objects, food, and stories that make it possible. We all came here from somewhere is an evolution of the relationships and ways of working which form part of our ongoing community activities known as Neighbourly, driven by the question: 'How can we be a good neighbour and support people seeking sanctuary to feel welcome and at home in the north east?'

Officially recognised as a Gallery of Sanctuary since 2022, we embed a culture of welcome and seek to promote understanding and celebration of the ways those people seeking sanctuary enrich society. This display makes visible the communities who help create welcome at Baltic and provides a platform for reflecting on experiences of welcome and belonging through a variety of creative activities and conversation starters.

Portraits of community members and a living archive of objects from past community events will celebrate our established hospitable tradition here at Baltic. A book selection curated with the Multilingual Library, and an Orange Heart display, made in collaboration with Schools of Sanctuary, will allow us to reflect on welcome and make a pledge to practice it in our daily lives. The showcase also features Asylum: Portraits of a Long and Painful Process, a collection of images and hard-hitting personal accounts of people whose search for sanctuary has landed them in the North-East. Their stories and pictures – photographed by an award-winning photographer who is herself a refugee – are an urgent reminder that, even after surviving the journey here, the pain continues. Videos and prints from the Birds, Bees, Bikes and Trees project will invite us to consider a more welcoming world for humans, plants and animals alike.  

Whether local or international, human or non-human, we all came from somewhere, and we all deserve to feel welcome.