He is more at home at Sushi and Cigarettes, a converted Newcastle shopfront that provided an informal art gallery, a performance space and band rehearsal ...

When it comes to art, Marcus Westbury, the presenter of this extremely watchable series, insists on presenting himself as a cultural ratbag. He’s not, of course. He’s organised exhibitions of alternative art and sends himself up by mentioning a poll that voted him one of the most influential people on the Melbourne art scene. Nice one, you might say, but only five people voted for him, equal to 6 per cent of the total vote. His advantage, after 10 years of dabbling in art of one sort or another, is that he understands what young artists need most - affordable space.

Born in Newcastle, he worships the place and has explored its nooks and crannies, wondering about the padlocks on long disused buildings, as he observes it busily intent on rescuing itself from industrial decay. He visits the Newcastle Regional Art Gallery and hears the mayor outline plans for redeveloping a sizeable area of the city as an arts centre, rather on the lines of Melbourne’s Federation Square. Westbury is not sure this will help young artists. He is more at home at Sushi and Cigarettes, a converted Newcastle shopfront that provided an informal art gallery, a performance space and band rehearsal rooms. It’s actually the last night. Sushi and Fags - as somebody will have it - is closing. Can’t afford the rent. Josh, the departing tenant, thanks the band - "I love you boys" - that played the last of 10 Sushi gigs, all free. He points to the success of John Hind, a carpenter who walked in off the street and asked if he could do his own thing. No arty-farty pretensions, he just painted a pair of hands on the walls. Since then he has held two exhibitions.

What should be next? Westbury travels to 20 cities but latches on to Glasgow and visits the vast and abandoned industrial spaces, a chandlery and a sawmill disused for 25 years, that have attracted young artists who simply moved in - ultimately with the city council’s cautious encouragement. Westbury sees Newcastle taking off like that as an arts centre. It’s an interesting theory. Remove the padlocks, provide the empty spaces and they will come.

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