Past events

Absolutely Cultured / Humber Street Gallery in partnership with University of Hull and the Energy and Environment Institute (EEI) are seeking artistic proposals for a commission that addresses the challenges of living and working on the Yorkshire coastline at the interface between land and sea.

Hull has a vibrant, eclectic community of artist studios. On Saturday 10 May, the city’s artists and studio providers will open their doors to the public, celebrating a diverse range of practices from painting to sculpture, drawing and textiles. 

Hull Open Studios 2025 is a rare chance to see artists at work in their studios, get insight into works in progress and buy work directly from the artists themselves.  

SCREENING ROOMS, our new artist film programme, offers a space to imagine new futures through film and retell histories through the lens of Global Majority artists. In conjunction with our exhibitions programme and our wider engagement activity, we’ll be exploring themes such as family, community, and ecology to celebrate the stories of Global Majority communities and bring new film to the city. 

What’s in an apology? When was the last time you said sorry… and meant it? What are you sorry, truly sorry about? 

Inspired by the artist’s own deeply personal experience of loss, this exhibition is centred on the powerful, restorative and healing experience of saying “I’m Sorry”.  

Live Like Legends is a bold and compelling celebration of Hull’s Street Art and graffiti scene. Taking place across two floors at Humber Street Gallery, the exhibition explores some of the joys and complexities of this unique form of public expression which has had a striking presence in the urban landscape of Hull since the early 1980s.  

Co-Creating a Climate Ready Hull engages primary and secondary school pupils, policymakers, community groups, academics, artists, and the general public in a visual conversation about the city’s response to climate change.

Byland’s Super Saga was the first institutional solo show by Hull born artist Jack Pell. The exhibition highlighted and examined the social history, folklore, industrial heritage and natural landscape of Hull and the East Riding in an imaginative way.

You and Me in HU3 presented the work of two photographers, Russell Boyce and George Norris. The exhibition combined analogue black and white photographs with ongoing collaborative work, and explored half a century of change across the HU3 area of Hull.

Working with artist Jennifer Holtridge and artist-duo Juneau Projects, artists from Creative Connections created a collection of ceramic bird sculptures, focusing on species which are becoming rare in the Humber’s environment.

CHECK OUT is a celebration of Absolutely Cultured’s talent development programme INTER_CHANGE, a fun-filled day of free workshops, performances, and exhibition tours led by the exhibiting artists.

BOOTLEG SHREG & FRIENDS was an exhibition that invited you to enter the world of ‘Shreg’, featuring interactive inflatables, paintings, sculptures, and mixed media pieces in various mediums for visitors to enjoy.

Luke Beech's 'Winner Breaks First' reshaped Space 2 into a snooker hall pocket realm, found by an artist from another world who explores the game for the first time.

Tom Dale Company and Absolutely Cultured presented SUB:VERSION and SURGE, a double bill of dance performances, in partnership with Hull Truck Theatre.

Comprising film, sound, stained-glass installation, sculpture and live-performance, Earth is a Deadname by Lou Lou Sainsbury sought to reimagine transgender experience beyond the limiting language of medicalisation.

Professional florists Floral & Lace joined us for luxury Christmas wreath making classes @ Humber Street Gallery.

To celebrate The Big Draw festival, you helped us bring Humber Street Gallery alive by doodling on the walls in our café space, building a collage that showcased the collective creativity of Hull.

Contemporary artist Harold Offeh facilitated workshops with Hull community groups to co-create Hull Television Workshop episodes in this Humber Street Gallery exhibition.

Harminder Judge made transportive sculptural works and pushed the boundaries of what painting can be in his exhibition for Humber Street Gallery.

Absolutely Cultured proudly presented a double bill of physical performance in partnership with the University of Hull.

Trust Melody was an ambitious new installation made up of audio, textiles, sculpture and moving image works.

An online conversation where we discussed the ins and outs of working with young people.

Local artist Dom Heffer has been working in residency with young people to explore contemporary art.

Diversity and equality are crucial to arts and culture. This online discussion offered an Introduction to Art Council England's 'Creative Case for Diversity'.

Projection and light installations commissioned by Absolutely Cultured, exploring the city of Hull's relationship to water.

In this informal talk, sound artist Jez riley French will discuss the soundwalk he has created about Whitefriargate for Heritage Open Days.

Learn ins and outs of fundraising. See for yourself that this daunting task doesn't have to be so difficult after all. During this workshop you'll learn where to start and how to plan your project, as well as where can you get the funding from.

Leo Fitzmaurice reworks logos and signs as a response to a collection of mounted plaques on display in Hull’s Guildhall in this new exhibition of work, commissioned by Humber Street Gallery.

Creative Hull was a weekend-long celebration of the creativity and culture that Hull has to offer.

HSG Open Call invites artists, printmakers and designers to submit pre-existing limited editions and original artworks to be displayed for free on the walls outside of our Humber Street Gallery spaces.

An opportunity to find out more about local organisations providing funding for arts and culture projects.

2020 was a long year, but we took the opportunity to lift spirits through a variety of cultural activities over the Christmas period.

Find out more about our involvement in We Made This Hull's Christmas tree trail and our festive activities!

Taking inspiration from Radclyffe Hall’s novel The Well of Loneliness (1928), the exhibition addressed the provocations of the book, which has had a lasting impact on generations of queer, lesbian, and transgender people.

Freelance Consultant and Creative Producer Deb Ashby offered a free session to advise on applications for under £15k Project Grants.

Our Creative Micro-Commission Programme offered £350 to creative practitioners from any discipline to produce a new work within the limits of working under COVID-19 social distancing measures.

Lucy Clout's ZZZ presented new video work filmed nocturnally on a phone.

Dook offered up a new version of Jumbo, considered the first modern day animal celebrity, exploring the enormity of his physicality, popularity and impact on the world

Nnena Kalu's colourful sculptures were created by layering and binding materials such as industrial plastic tubing, newspaper, foam, cling film, fabric and tape.

Through a series of sculpture, performance and installation Ecstatic Rituals explored the tradition of Hull Fair.

Tea, cake and conversation. A campaign to get Hull talking.

Chatty Hull is an exciting citywide initiative led by Absolutely Cultured, which had a day of events held across the city on Saturday 28 September.

Instituting Care consisted of large-scale charcoal drawings made directly on the walls of the gallery. The drawings offered fragmented reflections of the artists experience navigating her way through education, working as an artist and living in the UK.

Bursts of sounds guided audiences on a sonic journey of discovery when PRS Foundation's New Music Biennial returned to Hull on 12-14 July 2019.

Athena Papadopoulos' first major institutional presentation in the UK, using her recent two-part novel, of the same title as a point of departure.

Immerse yourself in spinning tales of alchemy and legend from the East and West, brought to life with spellbinding theatre, magic and wonder.

On the eve of the UK leaving the European Union, we opened our doors to the international performing arts community to discuss inclusion through an exciting programme of talks, debates, performance, and networking opportunities for IETM Hull 2019.

Through his art, music, performance and politics, British artist and anarchist Jamie Reid has become somewhat of a punk icon, rebelling against society’s social and cultural injustices. As part of its 2018 programme, Humber Street Gallery presented Jamie Reid XXXXX: Fifty Years of Subversion and The Spirit, which showcased a variety of material spanning several decades from the 1970’s to the present.

From 21 July until 30 September 2018, Humber Street Gallery was proud to present Measures of Life by The Lumen Prize for Digital Art, celebrating some of the most extraordinary and innovative art created with technology.

Building on the huge success of last year’s inaugural festival, we were delighted to partner with the BBC and Wrecking Ball Press to produce the return of the BBC’s national poetry and spoken word festival Contains Strong Language. As part of the programme we produced Home Town Story, captivating theatrical journey through the back streets of Hull.

Residents across the city of Hull were gifted the seventh and final Act of Wanton Wonder from Land of Green Ginger – a beautifully illustrated, limited edition book.

On 8 January 2017, the people of Hull woke up to discover a 75m wind turbine blade had mysteriously appeared in Queen Victoria Square. The 25 tonne structure was transported overnight from Siemens, where it was made, through the city in a complex operation, which saw more than 50 items of street furniture removed.