AV Festival

It took place across Newcastle, Gateshead, Middlesbrough and Sunderland, including 22 exhibitions, 38 film screenings, 15 concerts, six walks, a 744-hour continuous online radio, plus 16 new commissions and 18 UK premieres.

It attracted 24% of visitors from outside the region, contributed £516k GVA to the local economy, and achieved a return on investment of £2.88 for every £1 of public funding received.

New commissions included a coal-fired computer, a café importing via social networks, a film tracking the movement of the sun, and compositions based on the 'energy' of rivers.

Highlights of AV Festival 2010 included: new commissions by Charlemagne Palestine, Graham Harwood, Kaffe Matthews, Lee Patterson and Jana Winderen; Kate Rich's Feral Trade Café with its daily menu; exhibitions by Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Felix Hess, artificiel and Zilvinas Kempinas; and the closing night performance with Iain Sinclair, Alan Moore, Susan Stenger, FM Einheit and Stephen O'Malley.

In addition, the festival included a focus on recycled film with Kenneth Anger, Craig Baldwin and Rick Prelinger, an underwater concert by Cluster, Liliane Lijn's Power Game and a guest lecture by Gustav Metzger.

The AV Festival 2008 included new commissions by Chris Watson and Marko Peljhan, the live performance of John Cage's Variations VII, and solo exhibitions by Harun Farocki, Sonia Boyce, Staalplaat Soundsystem and Joyce Hinterding.

In addition, the festival ran three FM radio stations across the region, a special tribute to the radiophonic workshop, performances by Jean-Jacques Perrey, a series of TV screenings at the cinema, and a symposia about music, sound and broadcasting technologies.

AV Festival 2008 took place across Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland and Middlesbrough, and included 12 exhibitions, 37 screenings, 18 performances, 18 talks, symposia and workshops, 14 new commissions, 4 launch events and 3 radio stations.

The AV Festival 2006 included new commissions by Ryoji Ikeda, Michael Nyman, Gina Czarnecki, Anthony McCall and Kenneth Rinaldo; a live performance by Alva Noto (Carsten Nicolai); Suguro Goto's robotic orchestra; and the premiere of Critical Art Ensemble's Marching Plague.

AV Festival 2006 took place across Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland and Middlesbrough, and included 13 exhibitions, 29 screenings, 8 performances, 17 talks, symposia and workshops, 9 new commissions, and 4 launch events.