‘Hull is a city that often sits outside the cultural spotlight’
Radio 6 Music DJ Mary Anne Hobbs and concept artist Richie Culver – mentors for this year’s UNTHINKABLE ‘Scaffolding Sessions’ for local artists(Image: unthinkablefilmfestival.com)
“It’s entirely unique within the festival landscape.” That is how BBC Radio 6 Music DJ and festival mentor Mary Anne Hobbs describes UNTHINKABLE, making its return to Hull in September. Mary Anne said: “It’s a place where community connection can build and creative ambition can soar.
“It’s such a joy to be part of the UNTHINKABLE family. The young collective on the ground in Hull build this festival with unfettered imagination. The free mentoring – Scaffolding Sessions – I’ve hosted at UNTHINKABLE are now in their third year and ever evolving.
“It’s so exciting to see opportunity flourish – the wildly talented young artist CAMBO began as a mentee, and went on to host their first major solo exhibition at UNTHINKABLE just one year later. In 2025, I invited the Godmother of Hull’s underground Cosey Fanni Tutti for a takeover of Humber Street Gallery; Mixmag cover star I. Jordan too.
“They played a hardcore set on the waltzers at Hull Fair, then spent a day mentoring with myself, Richie Culver and our team from Hull plus sister city Middlesborough.” Richie, who will also be a mentor at this year’s Scaffolding Sessions, said: “For me, UNTHINKABLE festival continues everything I value about contemporary culture.
“Hull is a city that often sits outside the cultural spotlight, and that is precisely why the things we do there feel so appropriate: using waltzers as performance spaces, staging exhibitions in working butcher’s shops, and creating a contemporary film and arts festival in a place that is too often overlooked. Our connection with Industrial Coast, just up the road, strengthens that sense of a wider regional culture developing on its own terms.
“At a time when almost nothing is truly underground, yet everyone claims to be, I feel that we are doing something genuinely off the beaten track. I hope we can preserve the rawness and energy that the festival has now, even as it grows over the coming decades.
“It can be difficult to recognise that you are living through the great times while they are happening, so I want to make sure I enjoy this moment while we are in it.” This year’s UNTHINKABLE runs from September 11 to October 11 (the core programme takes place from October 6 to 11) with another “thrillingly off-centre” line-up, bringing film, contemporary art and experimental sound into the city’s everyday spaces, including the waltzers at Hull Fair, a former automotive warehouse, and a working butcher’s, rather than a conventional gallery, cinema or theatre.
There will be screenings, performances, exhibitions and projects in some unusual locations across the city. Keaton BMcD, UNTHINKABLE’s creative director, said: “Having mentors like Mary Anne Hobbs and Richie Culver involved in UNTHINKABLE is transformative.
“They don’t just support the festival – they help shape the culture around it. Their commitment to Hull’s emerging artists, their willingness to experiment, and the generosity they bring to mentoring has lifted the whole community.
“UNTHINKABLE was built on the idea that creativity grows when people share knowledge and take risks together, and their involvement strengthens that every year.” Andy Pearson, UNTHINKABLE’S producer, said: “UNTHINKABLE is built on collaboration – between artists, audiences and the city itself.
“As a Hull-based theatremaker and filmmaker, it’s inspiring to work alongside people who are genuinely invested in the city’s creative future. The involvement of mentors like Mary Anne Hobbs and Richie Culver amplifies that energy – their support opens doors, raises ambitions and helps emerging artists see what’s possible.
“This year’s programme brings together work that challenges, surprises and invites people in.” Programme details and tickets are available at UNTHINKABLE festival on Eventbrite.
