THE Newcastle twins who helped to launch Gateshead's Baltic contemporary international art centre, yesterday collected honorary doctorates from Tyneside's Northumbria University.

Jane and Louise Wilson, 35, now live in London but accepted the invitation from the Baltic to stage their latest exhibition, called Dreamtime, which will run until September 15.

The pair gained special permission from the Russian Space Agency to film a manned rocket launch in Kazakhstan in 2000. This footage became the video installation for Dreamtime.

Jane, a former student of Northumbria, and sister Louise, who studied at Dundee, both completed Fine Art degrees. Now they have been made Doctorates of Civil Law at a ceremony conducted by the university's chancellor, Lord Glenamara.

It became a family occasion, with the sisters' mother and father, Janet and Louis, who still live in Newcastle, and a large number of friends and relatives in attendance.

Returning to the North-East has already inspired the twins to start work on another exhibition for the Baltic.

Louise said: "I think this is an incredible contemporary arts space for the United Kingdom being opened in the North-East, and a project like this has been long overdue."