This September, Quay Arts in Newport will host an exhibition organised by Planet Aware.
The Great Nurdles Exhibition was created to shine a light on one of the ocean’s lesser-known but widespread pollutants: nurdles.
Artists reponses
The exhibition includes works by mostly local artists but also national and international artists, who were invited to respond to the environmental impact of nurdle pollution.
The aim is to raise awareness of the effects of nurdles on our planet, ocean and communities following both chronic and acute spills.
What are Nurdles?
If you are unfamiliar with what nurdles are, they are small plastic pellets which are shipped all over the world to create our everyday plastic goods.
Sadly, due to lack of proper procedures and legislation, these pellets are lost to the natural environment causing great harm to wildlife and to humans through the food chain.
The spills off the East coast of the UK and more recently in the Port of Tyne make the call for legislation in managing nurdles even more urgent.
Local threat
The Isle of Wight is close to busy shipping lanes. Approximately, 41 containers were lost off our shores last winter, luckily none containing nurdles.
However, with more frequent and severe storms over winter, we potentially could find ourselves in the same situation as the communities desperately trying to clear these plastic pellets from the shores of Tyneside and facing the long-term impact of any spill.
Despite not having experienced a nurdle spill off our coast, it is interesting to note that our beaches do suffer from nurdle pollution as a consequence of spills elsewhere or loss from Mainland factories.
Where and when
The exhibition is open daily from 9am-4pm between Saturday 19th September to Saturday 10th October 2026.
Quay Arts can be found at 15 Sea Street, Newport PO30 5BD. Entry is free.
