The plan to display the Lindisfarne Gospels in Newcastle was co-ordinated by the North East Culture Partnership (NECP) and the British Library. Following a competitive process Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums (TWAM) in partnership with Newcastle City Library was selected as the preferred bidder and approved by the Association of North East Councils (ANEC), receiving warm support by local leaders across the area.
This is the fifth time since 1987 that the Lindisfarne Gospels has been on display in the North East. In 2013 the manuscript was the focus of an exhibition at Durham University, which attracted nearly 100,000 visitors, and told the historic story of the Gospels and its spiritual significance. The manuscript has also been to the Laing Art Gallery twice before, in 1996 and 2000.
The 2022 exhibition will focus on the meaning of the Lindisfarne Gospels in today’s world and how its themes link to personal, regional and national pride and identity. Working with curators and other experts from the British Library, academics and cultural professionals from across the North East, exhibition curators will explore the ways in which the Gospel book written on Holy Island in the early eighth century, which helped redefine the identity of its community across 400 years, can bring people together today by inspiring thinking about who we are and where we come from, about identity, creativity, learning and sense of place.
Cllr Simon Henig,Co Chair NECP, said:
“The Lindisfarne Gospels is many things to many people but, first and foremost it is a book created in the North and of the North, by the community of Lindisfarne. “In 2022 this book will be placed at the centre of an exhibition in Newcastle and at the heart of events and activities across North East England. Hosting the exhibition over 20 years since the Gospels last visit to Newcastle, will be our contribution to the national Festival 2022.”
Rt Hon Baroness Joyce Quin, Chair of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums Strategic Board, said:
“Working with Newcastle City Library and partners across the region, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums is looking forward to building on the success of flagship festivals such as the Great North Exhibition; award-winning creative engagement programmes such as Dippy at the Great North Museum and Leonardo at the Laing Art Gallery, and Lindisfarne Gospels Durham 2013, to make Lindisfarne Gospels 2022 a truly memorable celebration – an experience people will tell their grandchildren about.”
Roly Keating, Chief Executive of the British Library, said:
“We are delighted to be collaborating with our partners across the North East of England to display the Lindisfarne Gospels in Newcastle next year. The manuscript includes the earliest surviving example of the Gospels in English and is one of the great national and indeed international treasures in our care, renowned for the intricacy and beauty of its decoration. We are thrilled to be working with the Laing Art Gallery and the Newcastle City Library again to share the Library’s collections, which are for everyone, to captivate and inspire audiences young and old.”
