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Top Gear at mima

19th November 2009

Type: News

Categories: Love Middlesbrough News

Middlesbrough’s art gallery mima is playing host to a major event featuring automotive art produced by BBC2’s flagship Top Gear show.

Top Gear at mima Thousands of visitors are expected to flock to the town’s Centre Square when the unique event – compiled by the show’s presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May – opens on Saturday morning.

The ground-breaking collaboration between the Top Gear team and Middlesbrough Council followed an initial approach by the production team earlier this year.

The project took shape amid tight secrecy as the presenters began the task of selecting more than 70 pieces to go on display in mima’s galleries.

The works range from drawings, designs and water colours, to car parts, helmets and whole cars.

A Top Gear spokeswoman said: “We are aiming to prove there is some beautiful and inspiring art in the motoring world.”

The three presenters will be filming in the town over the weekend of Saturday, November 21 and Sunday, November 22 and admission to the public will be on a first-come first-served basis on Saturday from 9am to noon.

Thereafter, until 7pm on Sunday, admission will be by ticket with full details, opening hours and booking information available on the Middlesbrough Council and this website. A £1 administration fee will be charged for tickets which are being allocated via Ticketmaster UK, with a maximum of four available per application.

[NOTE: These tickets are now sold out. If you want a chance to see the Top Gear presenters see below for information about the ticketless Saturday morning.]

The free exhibition will then be open to the public until Sunday, November 29 – visitors are advised that while tickets will not be required for the rest of the week, a queuing system may be introduced if demand remains high.

Top Gear – which has an estimated audience of 350 million worldwide – is expected to show the resulting film as part of the current series which began at the weekend.

Speaking today before heading to Middlesbrough to begin filming, Richard Hammond said: “It is an exhibition with fantastic examples of paintings and sculpture of automotive art, covering a huge range of works.

“We have selected some of the best automotive paintings.”

Jeremy, Richard and James have also produced their own artworks for display.

“I hope the exhibition will generate a wide interest across all age ranges - we want to see as many people as possible coming to see it,” he added.

Middlesbrough Mayor Ray Mallon said: “It’s no secret that cars have been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember and I never miss an episode of Top Gear.

“I’m delighted that the Top Gear team has chosen mima for this unique display of automotive art and I have no doubt that many thousands will come from far and wide to enjoy it.

“The programme deservedly has an audience of many millions, and they too will have a chance to see what our town is all about.

“mima is symbolic of Middlesbrough’s relentless drive forward and upward, and an event of this size and stature is yet more proof that that ambition is being realised.”

mima with Bottle of Notes

Event information

From Saturday 21st until Sunday 29th November mima will host an event created by the BBC's Top Gear team.

Filming will take place on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd November with the programme presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May and visitors are invited to take part in this experience.

The aim is to create an opportunity for as many people as possible to enjoy the experience and as such we would like to ask visitors, especially those visiting on Saturday and Sunday, to follow the guided directions and complete their visit within 45 minutes to one hour. We will be issuing visitors with coloured wrist bands to help ensure they are able to move around the exhibition smoothly.

The event also offers an opportunity for visitors to take part in filming for a feature to be included in the forthcoming series of Top Gear and as such we would like to ask visitors not to take photographs or film footage to ensure that when the episode is shown it is done so for the first time and that you, as a visitor to mima, are part of a unique experience.

There are a number of ways in which you can gain access to mima to see the exhibition:

Saturday 21st November 9am to 11am

Saturday 21st November 9am to 11am

The first 1700 people to arrive at mima will be offered access to the galleries without the need for a ticket. For safety reasons only 550 people can be within the gallery building at any one time so if you would like to visit at this time please be aware that:

you will need to queue in Centre Square (potentially for a significant amount of time)
we cannot guarantee access to the exhibition and we will endeavour to let you know as soon as possible if you are unlikely to get in
last entry will be at 11am

Please come dressed for the weather!

Saturday 21st November 12.30pm to 4.30pm

Saturday 21st November 12.30pm to 4.30pm

To visit the exhibition from 12.30pm until 4.30pm visitors will need to have pre-booked tickets through Ticketmaster (the link will appear at bottom of the page as soon as it is live) (Please note there is a £1 admin fee per ticket with a maximum of four tickets per transaction.) [These tickets are now sold out.]

Please do not arrive at mima any earlier than half an hour before the time on the ticket. Please also note that while we will do everything possible to work to the times on the tickets there is scope for flexibility should, for example the BBC need to stop visitors moving around the show while they film. We very much appreciate your patience and will endeavour to keep hold ups to a minimum.

Queuing will be outside the gallery.

Sunday 22nd November 9am to 7pm

Sunday 22nd November 9am to 7pm

To visit the exhibition from 9.00am until 7.00pm on Sunday visitors will need to have pre-booked tickets through Ticketmaster (follow link at bottom of page) (Please note there is a £1 admin fee per ticket with a maximum of four tickets per transaction.) [These tickets are now sold out.]

Please do not arrive at mima any earlier than half an hour before the time on the ticket. Please also note that while we will do everything possible to work to the times on the tickets there is scope for flexibility should, for example, the BBC need to stop visitors moving around the show while they film. We very much appreciate your patience and will endeavour to keep hold ups to a minimum.

Queuing will be outside the gallery.

Monday 23rd to Sunday 29th November

Monday 23rd to Sunday 29th November

The BBC's presenters will leave mima on Sunday evening. However, the display they have created will remain on show until Sunday 29th November. There is no need to have a ticket to visit the show from Monday 23rd November onwards and opening hours are as follows:

Monday 23rd November midday to 5.00pm
Tuesday 24th November 10.00am to 5.00pm
Wednesday 25th November 10.00am to 5.00pm
Thursday 26th November 10.00am to 8.00pm
Friday 27th November 10.00am to 5.00pm
Saturday 28th November 10.00am to 5.00pm
Sunday 29th November midday to 4.00pm

Please note that if demand is high from Monday 23rd to Sunday 29th we may need to introduce a queuing system.

Please note that if you are intending to travel to the event by train on Sunday 22nd November there will disruption to the normal service between Darlington and Middlesbrough this is due to work on the rail lines, a replacement bus service will be in operation.