Little Boro is heading to Centre Square for Ten Days of Art, Making and Play
Image credit: Rachel Deakin
An exciting new neighbourhood is popping up in the heart of Middlesbrough, and everyone’s invited to explore.
From Thursday 24 September to Saturday 3 October 2026, Little Boro will transform Centre Square into a free pop-up creative container village, bringing together national and local artists, makers and communities for ten days of exhibitions, installations, workshops, performance and hands-on activity.
Little Boro will be one of the central destinations for Middlesbrough Art Week 2026: An Island of Neighbours, marking a landmark moment for the town as MIMA hosts the Turner Prize 2026.
Built from repurposed shipping containers, Little Boro takes inspiration from the layout of early Middlesbrough, with its own North, South, East and West streets. Instead of Linthorpe bricks, this new version of the Boro is being built from containers, each becoming a space to discover something different with its own story to tell.
Visitors will enter through an archway created by internationally renowned artist Morag Myerscough, whose bold and colourful installations transform public spaces and put belonging and community at their heart.
Middlesbrough-based Sawdust will invite visitors to Play Out, with a series of structures designed to encourage people of all ages to interact, explore and spend time together.
Eight of Little Boro's containers have been transformed by Sum Place, led by artist Colin Davies and trainee art psychotherapist Nic Quinn. Working with Middlesbrough residents, they have created designs celebrating some of the town's heroes.
The artists are also bringing a familiar piece of Teesside's industrial landscape back to life for the ten days of the festival, with a temporary tribute to the Dorman Long Tower.
Inside the containers, visitors will find a mix of exhibitions, films, installations and opportunities to get involved.
Sidequest, artists Hollie Notman and Kat Lynas, will present The Pop-Up Cardboard Museum of Natural History from the Future. Made from recycled cardboard and illustration, this playful museum asks what species, objects and stories might survive in an altered future.
Film artist Alex Culshaw will premiere Blue Lagoon, moving between the post-industrial landscape of Seaton Carew, club culture, nature and memories of the area's former Blue Lagoon nightclub.
Graduates from The Northern School of Art will explore their own personal and cultural relationships with Middlesbrough, while emerging artists and designers from Middlesbrough College will share work exploring identity, heritage, community and what it means to live in or connect with the town.
Artists Georgia D'Silva and Jessie Marie Butler turn their attention to our homes. Through miniature interiors, sculpture, sound, light and everyday details, their work explores the memories and emotions held within domestic spaces.
Whippet Up will present Boro 2099: Middlesbrough Reimagined. Created with 100 participants, the miniature future city imagines a Middlesbrough filled with bridges, gardens, lakes, space rockets, rabbit cafés and even tiny Boro kits.
At the centre of the village will be Liaqat Rasul's first outdoor sculpture, Ma, amader bhater phaen dao (Mother Give us Rice Water).
The large metal face, whose outline suggests a merged map of Britain and India, reflects Middlesbrough's multicultural community while exploring the Bengal famine of 1943 and Britain's role in the suffering.
Alongside the exhibitions and commissions will be a changing programme of free workshops, talks, making and opportunities to meet artists and creative organisations, including Summat for the Bairns, a programme of playful, hands-on creative activities for children and families.
Little Boro has been developed as the civic heart of this year’s Middlesbrough Art Week theme, An Island of Neighbours, exploring what can happen when artists, communities and organisations share space, exchange ideas and imagine something together. This collaborative approach is central to Little Boro, which is made possible through Middlesbrough Art Week's partnership with Middlesbrough Council, supported by Arts Council England, Borderlands, the Creative People and Places programme, and the Northern School of Art.
Helena Bowman, Borderlands Chairsaid “ By supporting these spaces, Borderlands is creating more opportunities for communities across South Tees to experience and shape creative activity, helping local ideas to grow and making it easier for more people to take part in arts and culture in ways that matter to them.”
Liam Slevin, Middlesbrough Art Week said “ You don't need to know anything about contemporary art to come along. Visitors can explore an exhibition, make something, bring the family, meet an artist, stop for ten minutes or stay and discover the whole village.”
Deputy Mayor Philippa Storey, Executive Member for Culture at Middlesbrough Council, said"Middlesbrough Art Week is nationally renowned and Little Boro is a perfect celebration of the creativity and energy of our cultural scene.
“As we make our case to become UK City of Culture 2029 and look ahead to our bicentenary in 2030, projects like Little Boro show the ambition, imagination and spirit that can help shape Middlesbrough’s next chapter.
“Little Boro is accessible to anyone - I'd encourage everyone in Middlesbrough to visit, bring the family, explore and enjoy what Art Week has to offer.”
Little Boro is free to visit and open to everyone from Thursday 24 September to Saturday 3 October in Centre Square, Middlesbrough.
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Little Boro is a temporary creative neighbourhood at the heart of Middlesbrough Art Week 2026, transforming Centre Square into a vibrant destination for art, making, performance and participation during the Turner Prize.
Constructed from repurposed shipping containers provided by Cleveland Group and animated by a dynamic programme of exhibitions, workshops, installations and public events, Little Boro brings together artists, independent makers, cultural organisations, educators and local communities in a welcoming space that is free to explore throughout the festival.
The programme showcases new commissions, artist-led exhibitions, community-led creative projects and interactive experiences alongside family activities, creative workshops and opportunities to meet artists and participate in making. From speculative futures and immersive installations to children's programming, artist films, student showcases and community-led projects, Little Boro celebrates the breadth of creative practice taking place across Tees Valley and beyond. Public artworks and interventions extend into Centre Square, creating an open and playful environment that invites visitors to explore, linger and return.
Developed as the civic heart of this year's festival theme, An Island of Neighbours, Little Boro explores how creativity can strengthen communities, encourage participation and reimagine public space. It is a place where artists, communities and audiences come together, where local organisations share ideas alongside international practitioners, and where culture becomes part of everyday life in the town centre.
The project is made possible through the partnership between Middlesbrough Council and Middlesbrough Art Week, with generous support from Arts Council England. Little Boro reflects the ‘Made in Middlesbrough’ mentality at the heart of Middlesbrough's UK City of Culture bid, shaped by creativity, innovation, culture and community.
Projects by Sawdust, Whippet Up and Sidequest were first commissioned by Borderlands in 2025 as part of the Communities of Possibilities programme. Borderlands is the Creative People and Places programme for Middlesbrough and Redcar & Cleveland, funded by Arts Council England. Borderlands enable communities across South Tees to connect and create through imaginative projects that celebrate our cultures, share our stories and animate our neighbourhoods.
Borderlands’ collaboration with Little Boro has created four spaces where communities can share creative projects that celebrate the radical potential of collective reimagination, putting our creative communities at the heart of the village and our town.