Side Gallery relocates to BALTIC in new cultural partnership

The Side Gallery, the home of humanist documentary photography and film, will this month establish a new curatorial base at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead. The move follows the gallery’s closure in 2023, after critical funding cuts and rising living costs made it financially unsustainable to continue operating independently.

Founded in 1977 by the Amber Film and Photography Collective, Side gained an international reputation for documenting the lives of working people in the North East through lens-based documentary and archival film. Its AmberSide Collection (recognised by UNESCO) continues to grow, capturing themes such as migration, precarity, resilience and everyday solidarity.

Despite nearly five decades of activity, Side faced a major setback in 2022 when the Amber collective lost its Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation funding. A fundraising campaign raised over £10,000 in its first 24 hours in an effort to keep the gallery open, but this fell far short of the £120,000 it previously received annually. The gallery was forced to close in April 2023, marking the loss of an accessible cultural space dedicated to working-class stories. Earlier in 2026, the BBC reported that the former gallery space had been turned into a pilates studio.

However, it was good news for supporters of Side, then, as Laura Laffler, Managing Director of Side, announced that a curatorial office was to be established at BALTIC in February. While a decision ultimately rooted in the increasing economic pressures facing arts organisations across the country, it is also a potential opportunity for both parties. Particularly for Side, who may now have increased capacity to expand their community and education projects.

Managing Director Laura Laffler emphasised that working-class culture “doesn’t belong in the past,” while BALTIC Director Sarah Munro highlighted the importance of collaboration to ensure Side’s legacy survives and thrives.

The partnership is a positive step towards ensuring that working class voices are preserved, exhibited, and celebrated in the region. The move to the Gateshead-based facility means that not only could the AmberSide collection reach new audiences, but an opportunity to commission and co-create new works to continue and deepen the original community purposes.