Baltic encyclopedia topics

The Baltic Sea
Baltic states (also Baltics, Baltic countries or Baltic republics): Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia
The Baltic region, an ambiguous term referring to the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea
Baltic governorates or provinces, former parts of the Russian Empire (modern Latvia, Estonia)
The Baltic Shield, the exposed Precambrian northwest segment of the East European Craton
The Baltic Plate, an ancient tectonic plate that is now fused onto the Eurasian Plate
Baltic Ridge, hilly landscape at the southern coast of the Baltic SeaLanguages
Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian language
Baltic, a Lowland Scots word for "freezing cold"People
Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originating from the Baltic countries
Baltic Germans, historical ethnic German minority in Latvia and Estonia
Baltic Russians, Russian immigrant community of post World War II origin in the Baltic countriesOther
SS Baltic (1871)
RMS Baltic (1903)
"Baltic", a type of railroad steam locomotive
Baltic Exchange, UK company that operates as a marketplace for shipbrokers, ship owners and charterers

*Baltic Dry Index, a daily shipping index published by the Baltic Exchange

BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead, United Kingdom
Baltic State Opera, the Opera House in Gdańsk, Poland, State meaning owned by the statePlaces in the US and Canada
Baltic, Ohio
Baltic, South Dakota
Baltic, Kings County, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Baltic, Prince County, Prince Edward Island, Canada

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Sunday May 18, 2008 at 14:39:03 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Sponsored Links Baltic Restaurant
View sample menus, read reviews & book your table at Baltic
toptable.co.uk/Baltic

Wikipedia

The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art (BALTIC) is an international centre for contemporary art located on the south bank of the River Tyne alongside the Gateshead Millennium Bridge in Gateshead, North East England. It presents a constantly changing programme of exhibitions and events, and is a world leader in the presentation, commissioning and communication of contemporary visual art.

Dominic Williams of Ellis Williams Architects won an architectural competition in the mid 1990s to convert the 1950s Baltic Flour Mill into a centre for art. After ten years in the planning and a capital investment of £50m, including £33.4m from the Arts Council Lottery Fund, BALTIC opened to the public at midnight on Saturday 13 July 2002. The inaugural exhibition, B.OPEN, featured work by Chris Burden, Carsten Holler, Julian Opie, Jaume Plensa and Jane & Louise Wilson and attracted over 35,000 visitors in the first week.

Publicly BALTICS’s profile has been considered rocky and despite its youth it has experienced three directorial changes and has fallen foul to much public gossip and speculation. The founding director, Sune Nordgren was appointed in 1997 and was integral in Baltic’s pre-launch period, he oversaw the building of the gallery and witnessed the first one millionth visitor through the doors. After almost six years, Nordgren left to take up a new post as founding Director of the National Museum for Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo, Norway. He was briefly succeeded by Stephen Snoddy who was only with the organisation for one year. Snoddy was succeeded as Director by Peter Doroshenko in 2005, who approached the challenge with plans to increase visitor numbers and resolve the financial situation. Doroshenko organized several exhibitions during his time at the BALTIC, including 'Spank the Monkey.' In November 2007, Doroshenko left the gallery to head up the Pinchuk Art Centre in Kiev, Ukraine..

BALTIC has in only five years welcomed more than 2.5 millions visitors, with an additional 1 million virtually in the last year alone through its websites, webcasts, podcasts and Library and Archive facility. BALTIC has exhibited nearly 200 artists from 24 countries, including Anish Kapoor, Sam Taylor-Wood, Antony Gormley, Ed and Nancy Kienholz and Spencer Tunick. BALTIC remains has commissioned over 30 new works, enabling it to support established and emerging artists.

In the summer of 2007 BALTIC celebrated its fifth birthday with a Beryl Cook exhibition and the opening of Quay, a new Learning and Community Centre within the gallery. This new resource, created following a donation of £500,000 by Rootstein Hopkins Foundation enables BALTIC to widen its education remit to work both on and off site, encouraging more people, young and old, to interact and experience contemporary art ‘up close and personal’. Each year BALTIC provides formal education for over 10,000 school children, during nearly 400 sessions ranging from art clubs, photography courses, artist talks and artist-led workshops.

On 20 September 2007 BALTIC management contacted Northumbria Police for advice regarding whether or not a photograph should be displayed as part of the Thanksgiving installation, a forthcoming exhibition by American photographer Nan Goldin. The photograph entitled Klara and Edda belly-dancing (which, along with the rest of the installation, is part of the Sir Elton John Photograhy Collection) features two naked young girls and had previously been exhibited around the world without objections. The installation, which had been scheduled for a four-month exhibition, opened with the remaining photographs but closed after just nine days at the request of the owner.