House of Hexham is a new international partnership between Queen’s Hall Arts and Kunstverein Zeitz, a vibrant arts organisation based in Zeitz, Germany.
Supported by Cultural Bridge, the project creates new opportunities for creative exchange between artists, freelancers and communities in Hexham and Zeitz, providing space to share ideas, develop new work and build lasting connections between the UK and Germany.
Since the partnership began, we’ve been developing ideas and connections with our partners in Zeitz. In August 2026, Artistic Director Katy Taylor, Engagement Manager Amanda Gould and Visual Art Manager Dominic Smith travelled to Germany to present House of Hexham at Zeitz’s annual arts festival.
Examples of previous exhibitions and community projects at Queen’s Hall were shared with festival-goers, offering an insight into the breadth of creative work that happens in Hexham. We also shared a film documenting life behind the scenes at Queen’s Hall Arts — celebrating the people who make what we do possible and exploring what the organisation means to them. Watch the film here.
The visit marked an exciting first step in this international collaboration and gave us the opportunity to meet artists, explore Zeitz and begin thinking about what future creative exchanges between communities in Zeitz and Hexham might look like...
A visit to Zeitz
"Our recent visit to Zeitz was an experience that will stay with us for a long time. This historic city, once shaped by industry and now being reimagined through creativity, offered a powerful reminder of how artists, performers and makers can breathe new life into a place.
We stayed in the refurbished NudelFabrik, a former pasta factory, and from there set out to explore the city. We were welcomed with extraordinary generosity throughout our visit, including a wonderful breakfast in the garden of local artists whose warmth and hospitality set the tone for the entire trip.
Zeitz, a city of around 28,000 people near Leipzig, hosts an annual arts festival that brings life to empty spaces across the city. Derelict buildings become galleries, performance venues and studios; forgotten corners are reclaimed through imagination and creativity. Walking through these spaces, meeting artists and experiencing their work, we felt the city’s creative energy everywhere we went.
Zeitz is undeniably beautiful, its castle, churches, squares and historic buildings are breathtaking, but it is also quiet, shaped by the familiar challenges of deindustrialisation. There are reminders of its industrial past everywhere, including the sugar factory on the outskirts of the city. At certain times of year, the wind carries the sweet smell of the factory across Zeitz, and suddenly the whole city smells like Sugar Puffs. It’s one of those wonderfully unexpected details that makes a place feel real and stays with you long after you’ve left.
For anyone from Northern England, the parallels are striking. Yet there is something different too: a sense of possibility, of artists actively reshaping the future of their city.
This blend of the familiar and the new has given us a much deeper understanding of Zeitz and its artistic community. It has already begun to influence how we think about future collaborations between Zeitz and Hexham, and how our organisations might work together to explore shared ideas and creative opportunities.
Among the highlights of our trip were seeing a former derelict church being transformed into an exciting new venue, exploring the underground world beneath Zeitz, and having the opportunity to share Queen’s Hall’s work as part of the festival.
Most of all, though, it was the people who made the biggest impression. Their welcome, passion and commitment to their city made Zeitz feel alive. It reminded us that creativity is not just about art — it’s about community, connection and the belief that places can change.
The people we met in Zeitz shared many of the same motivations, challenges and ways of thinking that we see among artists and creative communities in Hexham. But that’s where the value of an exchange like this lies. By spending time in each other’s towns and cities, we can compare how we respond to the challenges we face, learn from different approaches and perhaps see our own places in a new way. There is always something to learn and something to give."
Katy Taylor, Artistic Director
What’s next?
This is just the beginning for House of Hexham. We’re excited to continue building relationships with artists, communities and creative organisations in both Hexham and Zeitz, and to see where this exchange of ideas and experiences takes us.
The project is supported by Cultural Bridge, which celebrates bilateral artistic partnerships between the UK and Germany through collaboration between Arts Council England, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, British Council, Creative Scotland, Fonds Soziokultur e.V., Goethe-Institut London and Wales Arts International / Cyngor Celfyddydau Cymru | Arts Council of Wales.
Keep checking back for updates on the project, including news about the artists involved, creative exchanges and what’s happening next.
