A NEW ART CENTRE IS COMING TO LOWESTOFT

MESSUMS EAST Is a new international arts space in Lowestoft at

The Old Post Office, 51 London Road


Fostering creativity, learning and global artistic exchange on environment and creativity through accessible programming and outreach.

Exhibitions & Events

  • Artist Residency: Sammy Hawker

    SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2025

    Australian photographer Sammy Hawker will stay in Lowestoft looking at land change and community in the area. She will explore near and long term changes to landscape and the environment, anthropocentric living and migration choices and the resonances of the past creating a publicaton and filmed to be stored in Lowestoft.

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  • First Light Festival: Laurence Edwards 'Shimmer'

    JUNE 22 2025

    Continuing his ongoing relationship with the Lowestoft community Laurence Edwards will contribute Shimmer and Borrowed Breath.

    Part of Messums East inaugural Sculpture on the Sand.

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  • First Light Festival: Ephemeral Beauty

    JUNE 22 2025

    Ephermal Beauty is an ambitious project by artist Zena Holloway to grow three large-scale works from grass root. Part of a collaboration with Messums East the three pieces will range in size from 2m to 4m in height. Every part of Ephemeral Beauty will eventually decay and return to the earth.

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  • First Light Festival: Workshops

    JUNE 22 2025

    Messums East presents a programme of art and activities in their marquee on the beach. Join artist Zena Holloway to explore working with grass and organic material. There will be a range of activities based around art and the environment.

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  • First Light Festival: Oliver Steeds

    JUNE 21 2025

    In partnership with Messums East and Ocean Rising – connecting culture with the Ocean.

    Explorer, broadcaster, submersible pilot and Director of the Ocean Census, Oliver Steeds, dives into our aquatic evolutionary heritage to share stories about the extraordinary life in our ocean – the life that makes all life on Earth possible.

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  • First Light Festival: Lisa Blair

    JUNE 21 2025

    Lisa Blair, a sailor and climate activist, became the first woman to sail solo around Antarctica, overcoming a dramatic dismasting on her yacht, Climate Action Now..

    Lisa currently holds 8 world records, she also collected ocean data, and gathered microplastic on her voyages.

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  • Watercolour Workshop with Francesco Poiana

    SATURDAY 15 MAY 2025, SEAGULL THEATRE

    An en plein air watercolour workshop to explore the expressive and fluid qualities of watercolour while capturing the movement, light, and atmosphere of the sea.

    Set in a stunning coastal location, this immersive workshop will encourage you to observe and interpret the natural surroundings, painting directly from life.

  • Clay-Making Workshop with Mirka Golden Hann

    TUESDAY APRIL 15 2025, SEAGULL THEATRE

    Free one-day clay-making workshop led by celebrated ceramic artist Mirka Golden-Hann. Participants worked with white clay to hand-build and model a flat-back ornament featuring seated figures, inspired by the 18th-century "Pew Group" ceramic tradition.

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  • Watercolour Landscapes with Francesco Poiana

    FRIDAY 13 DECEMBER 2024, BATTERY OF IDEAS, LOWESTOFT

    Led by acclaimed artist Francesco Pioana, participants were shown how to make paints from natural materials and supported to use them in a watercolour landscape.

    The workshop was free and open to all skill levels and abilities and includes a complimentary lunch.

  • First Light Festival: Julia Lohmann Seaweed Workshops

    22 & 23 JULY 2024

    In the Planet Positive tent at First Light Festival, Messums Creative & artist Julia Lohmann offered free drop-in workshops where they shared their passion for making, science, algae and the environment, demonstrating the materials and techniques for her seaweed sculptures.

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  • Laurence Edwards 'Walking Men'

    JUNE - AUGUST 2024, SOUTH BEACH, LOWESTOFT

    Laurence Edwards’s five 8ft Walking Men were installed on South beach, Lowestoft ahead of the First Light Festival and for the duration of summer 2024. The Walking Men sculpture had travelled throughout the UK, including a stay at Messums West and Blenheim Palace and were previously on display in Australia.

  • Laurence Edwards 'Chthonic Head'

    JUNE - AUGUST 2023, SOUTH BEACH, LOWESTOFT

    For the duration of the First Light Festival 2023 and throughout the summer, Laurence Edwards’s six-foot bronze ‘Chthonic Head’ resided on South Beach, Lowestoft. The sculpture was bedded into the sand on the tideline, exposed at low tide and submerged under the waves when the water was high.