Published: 24 May 2016
On the occasion of the unveiling of the major new commission, Dazzle Ship Scotland, Edinburgh Art Festival are delighted to announce the seven new commissions that will form the 2016 Commissions Programme, bringing together artists working in Scotland and internationally. In Scotland’s ‘Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design’, the programme explores one of the most important points of intersection for art and architecture in our city: the monument.
Dazzle Ship Scotland, co-commissioned by EAF and 14-18 NOW, is the first of EAF’s public art commissions to be unveiled. Entitled Every Woman, Turner Prize-nominated artist and long-term resident of Scotland, Ciara Phillips, has developed a striking design to adorn the iconic vessel MV Fingal, celebrating the role of women during the First World War and commemorating the battle-ready ships that were docked at Leith 100 years ago.
The title of the full EAF 2016 Commissions Programme is More Lasting than Bronze, referring to Horace’s Ode 3.30, in which the Roman poet boasts that he has ‘built a monument more lasting than bronze’. As communities around the world begin to question the value of monuments to certain individuals (most recently Cecil Rhodes in Oxford), More Lasting than Bronze explores what and how societies choose to publicly commemorate, as well as reflecting on some of those voices or individuals who are not remembered with a monument.
Through film, sound and light, as well as the more familiar monumental form of marble statuary, the seven projects explore issues as varied as gender and age diversity, and highlight people and voices who have been deliberately written out of history. Many of the works have been inspired by the city and architecture of Edinburgh itself, drawing parallels between the contemporary and historical city.
The festival is also delighted to announce details of the artists participating in Platform: 2016. This new exhibition platform, supporting artists at the beginning of their careers to take part in the festival, was initiated in 2015. The second edition is selected by artists Rachel Maclean and Ross Sinclair.
Highlights of EAF’s 2016 Commissions Programme include:
Sorcha Carey, Director of Edinburgh Art Festival, said: “On the occasion of the launch of Ciara Phillips’ Every Woman, co-commissioned with 14-18 NOW as part of a nationwide commemoration of the centenary of the First World War, we are delighted to reveal full details of our 2016 commissions programme, which this year reflects on the role of monuments in our city. More Lasting than Bronze brings together 7 artists working in Scotland and internationally to reflect on how we collectively commemorate individuals and events, and in tune with a programme which sheds light on histories and individuals who are not well remembered in the official records, we are delighted to continue to present work in several sites across the city which are not usually open to the public.”
Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs, said:“This year’s programme offers a diverse selection of outstanding exhibitions and events, and plays a vital role in widening access to the arts. During Scotland’s ‘Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design’, the festival will also promote our impressive buildings, heritage, and culture.”
Amanda Catto, Head of Visual Arts, Creative Scotland, said:“We would like to congratulate the Edinburgh Art Festival and the invited artists on the announcement of these new works for the 2016 Festival. This is a thoughtful programme that invites us to consider acts of public commemoration and remembrance. The works are set to be highly engaging, and Edinburgh with her vast and varied collection of monuments, provides the perfect backdrop.”
More Lasting than Bronze | EAF 2016 Commissions
A major highlight of the programme was unveiled today, 25 May 2016. Ciara Phillips’ Every Woman is co-commissioned by Edinburgh Art Festival and 14-18 NOW with support from the Scottish Government, Creative Scotland, City of Edinburgh Council, the Royal Yacht Britannia, the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund and by the Department for Culture Media and Sport. Dazzle was a technique invented by the British marine artist Norman Wilkinson during the war where ships were covered in abstract designs and disorientating shapes to prevent the enemy from determining their range, speed and direction of travel. Entitled Every Woman, the new work takes Phillips’ typical medium of screen-printing to a new scale as she covers the entire surface of the ship with a bold gestural design.
In developing her design for Dazzle, Phillips was drawn to the largely untold histories of women in the First World War, inspired by the team of women who worked under Wilkinson to develop the dazzle designs. Women also worked as telegraphists and signallers, and Phillips’ design includes a message in Morse code embedded within the design in retro reflective paint reading ‘Every Woman a Signal Tower’. The message will shine out in the darkness, celebrating the ship’s former role as a supplier to remote lighthouses.
Edinburgh-based artist Jonathan Owen will present a new work in the iconic Burns Monument situated on Calton Hill. The temple-like structure has been empty for almost 180 years and closed to the public for much of this time, since the sculpture originally commissioned to commemorate Burns was removedin 1839. Jonathan Owen has reworked a life-size nineteenth century statue of a nymph, re-carving her torso into a series of interlinked chains. Together the work and the site invite reflection on how we immortalise and commemorate as a society.
Scottish artist Roderick Buchanan presents Understanding versus Sympathy; a film that reflects on the intertwined lives of two great figures in Scottish public life: the Irish historian Owen Dudley Edwards, and the international socialist leader and theorist, James Connolly, a figure widely commemorated across Ireland for his role in the 1916 Easter Rising, but less publicly remembered in the city of Edinburgh where he was born. Presented in the church that was at the centre of Edinburgh’s ‘Little Ireland’ in the 19th Century, this newly commissioned artwork reflects a growing awareness in Scotland of Connolly’s intellectual place in European history.
Graham Fagen will create A Drama in Time, a light installation and monument for the city of Edinburgh. The piece will be realised in neon, illuminating the pavements below Calton Road/New Street Railway Bridge, and explores the journey of life. Fagen's work is inspired by Edinburgh’s Jacob’s Ladder a stairway under the bridge, that leads up from the Old to the New Town, named after the Biblical staircase connecting earth with heaven. It borrows its title from Patrick Geddes, who famously described a city as ‘more than a place in space, it is a drama in time’.
Sally Hackett will create a monument dedicated to the youth of today. In her lively and humorous style, Hackett will create a ‘modern day’ ceramic Fountain of Youth. Referencing the legend of Hero of Alexandria (1st C AD) which describes water as containing miraculous and sacred properties, the new work hints at the commercial value we have come to place on water and the part it plays in youth enhancing products. The Fountain of Youth will be made in collaboration with a local school and will be displayed in the Courtyard of the Museum of Edinburgh.
Trinity Apse will house a reinterpretation of The Voices Project; a ‘living monument’ conceived by the New Zealand based artist Olivia Webb in reaction to the devastating earthquake in Christchurch in 2011. The work was performed in community spaces in New Zealand where buildings had been lost or relocated following the earthquakes, bringing together local residents to form community choirs who learned and developed a piece of choral music chosen by Webb. Webb has reworked recordings of these performances into a sound installation which she presents in her first UK exhibition alongside new video footage of interviews and participants of the community choirs around Christchurch. The artist will also run workshops for the duration of the festival, which are open to everyone, and which will culminate in a presentation of a new work in the final weekend of the festival.
A powerful and emotive sound installation from Pakistani artist Bani Abidi will draw on the words of London-based poet Amarjit Chandan in Memorial to Lost Words. The installation brings together two sets of voices that were generally overlooked in official accounts of the First World War: folksongs sung by women living in the Punjab imploring their fathers, husbands and sons not to go to war, woven with the voices of Indian soldiers whose letters sent home to families, describing the horrors of the war were censored, never reaching their recipients. Memorial to Lost Words creates a platform for these unheard and overlooked participants in the First World War, in a newly composed song recorded by Abidi with folk singers in Pakistan. The work will be exhibited at the Old Royal High School.
PLATFORM: 2016
Following the success of last year’s inaugural exhibition, EAF is delighted to announce details of the second year of this festival initiative, which is dedicated to providing greater opportunities for artists at the beginning of their careers. Four artists or collectives from across Scotland were selected to participate in this year’s project by a panel that included artists Ross Sinclair and Rachel MacLean.
The Brownlee Brothers, Calum and Fraser, will present a darkly humorous work that incorporates a wide range of references including prison tattoos, sigils, and recognizable trademarks, to highlight the power of motifs and the ways they are used to construct social hierarchies.
A new work by Edinburgh-based Paloma Proudfoot & Aniela Piasecka, Made to be Broken will combine sculptural objects with a series of performances, to explore the destructive force that is central to creation.
Dorian Jose Braun will present In Alto and Bass, 2015, a restored version of his sound-based work, remastered in collaboration with Bob Whitney, the recording studio engineer from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. In Alto and Bass re-contextualizes text taken from the Prologue of Goethe’s play, ‘Faust’ (1831), which poetically imagines the sound of the sun.
Jack Saunders will present a new body of text and image work reflecting on ideas of life as a chain, in which things come and go, that reflects the artist’s interest in exploring and exploiting the different tones and strategies surrounding language and media.
Please contact Victoria Mitchell at SUTTON: Victoria@suttonpr.com +44 (0) 20 7183 3577 / +44 (0) 7595 217 616
Founded in 2004, Edinburgh Art Festival is the UK’s largest annual festival of visual art, offering the chance to experience the best contemporary Scottish, UK and international artists in the context of exhibitions of some of the most important artists and movements of the 20th Century and historical periods. Attracting nearly 300,000 attendances in 2015, Edinburgh Art Festival (EAF) brings together the capital’s leading galleries, museums and artist-run spaces, alongside new public art commissions by established and emerging artists and an innovative programme of special events. Edinburgh Art Festival is a charitable organization supported by Creative Scotland and the City of Edinburgh Council.
14-18 NOW is a programme of extraordinary arts experiences connecting people with the First World War, as part of the UK’s official centenary commemorations. It aims to engage as many people as possible with the First World War, exploring how the war has impacted on the society we live in now. 14-18 NOW commissions new work by leading contemporary artists from all art forms, inspired by the period 1914-1918. The commemorative period is marked by three key seasons - the first season centred around 4 August 2014 (Anniversary of the Declaration of War), the second is March to November 2016 (anniversary of the Battle of Jutland and the Battle of the Somme) and the last in 2018 (centenary of Armistice Day). 14-18 NOW is responsible for the UK tour of the iconic poppy sculptures by artist Paul Cummins and designer Tom Piper. 14 -18 NOW is supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England and by additional fundraising. 14-18 NOW has commissioned over 80 artworks to date that have been seen by over 20 million people.
The Scottish Government Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund recognises the exceptional creative talent that exists in Scotland and gives it an international platform on which to excel. It is available to all 12 festivals to support the development of Scottish-based work. The Scottish Government is proud to support the festival via the Expo Fund and have provided £140,000 this year to bring innovative work from artists in Scotland and internationally to new audiences and venues. A further £50,000 has also been provided to support bringing the first Dazzle Ship to Scotland to mark the centenary of the Battle of Jutland.
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland on behalf of everyone who lives, works or visits here. We enable people and organisations to work in and experience the arts, screen and creative industries in Scotland by helping others to develop great ideas and bring them to life. We distribute funding provided by the Scottish Government and the National Lottery. For further information about Creative Scotland please visit www.creativescotland.com. Follow us @creativescots and www.facebook.com/CreativeScotland
The City of Edinburgh Council is a funding partner for Edinburgh Art Festival. The Council accommodates the organisation at City Art Centre and provides regular use of Trinity Apse and other Council owned property for festival activities. The Council aims to maintain and build on Edinburgh's reputation as the ideal location for major events and festivals. Working with the city’s cultural sector, the Council’s arts development team ensures that arts play a vital and lasting role in Edinburgh by developing strategic policy, offering advice on cultural projects and awarding cultural grants.
