- Venue
- Portobello Beach & Promenade, Edinburgh
- Starts
- Saturday, September 5, 2020
- Ends
- Saturday, October 31, 2020
- Address
- EH15
- Location
- Scotland
- Organiser
- Art Walk Projects
‘ALL AT SEA’
10 outdoor, socially distanced artists’ projects centred around 3 weekends
5TH/6TH SEPTEMBER
26TH/27TH SEPTEMBER
17TH/18TH OCTOBER
PROGRAMME
‘All At Sea’ draws upon the collective, working together mood that this turbulent Covid-19 period has come to evoke. Out of the bewilderment, and confusion, a growing sense of resolve can hopefully emerge, and no more so than within the arts.
We at the Art Walk have felt it important to keep going, to adapt and change, during this uncertain period, enabling artists to continue their residencies & projects working with us. To that end a small and distanced programme has been devised over 3 separate weekends, all outdoors, with newly produced work much of which responds to our recent times, taking place in and around Portobello Beach & Promenade.
The works involving beach installation, live art, conversation & projection are centred on subjects critical to these times: of freedoms of movement; of food value; of personal protection; of a sense of ownership about public space; and to times for change; the pairing of place, and shared neighbourhoods, near and far.
Participating Artists:
Felicity Bristow (Scottish Borders), Christopher Kaczmarek (New York), Annie Lord (Edinburgh), Geri Loup Nolan (Edinburgh), Deirdre Macleod (Edinburgh), Jenny Martin (Edinburgh), Jenny Pope (Edinburgh), Iman Tajik (Glasgow/Iran), Rhona Taylor (Edinburgh), David Williams (Edinburgh), Susie Wilson (Edinburgh), Two Places By the Sea (Portobello & Akureyri, Iceland)
Details of some works:
– Iranian artist, Iman Tajik (based in Glasgow), uses his artwork as a tool to weld together trauma and awareness. He will bring this frustration to the fore with jarring silence in his performance ‘Where the Body Meets the Land’. In an almost unwavering manner, Tajik will create an undented space as he paces hundreds of thousands of steps from his installed flag pole, hoisting up a shimmering gold emergency blanket, to the seashore and back. This act of line making refers to the thousands of refugees and migrants that have disembarked, including those that did not survive, onto UK shores. (26th & 27th September)
– Artist duo Felicity Bristow & Susie Wilson (Scottish Borders & Edinburgh) who have been working together since 2019 on a project working an edible growing plot of land at the local Telferton Allotments, have over the last five months had to find a way to continue to work together, whilst alone. ‘Growing in Isolation’ a mail art growing project has emerged, that emphasizes how we have turned to growing on our doorsteps, on our window sills, on our streets at this critical time. Our relationship to food has changed for many. The artists invite participants to an online potluck dinner via Zoom to share food and experiences. (9th September)
– Rhona Taylor (Edinburgh) creates an installation that looks at the role of the Firth of Forth as a shelter for the ships that have gathered there during the global pandemic. During the lockdown, four cruise ships and two English Channel ferries were given refuge in the Forth, becoming a visual reminder that the world had come to a standstill. ‘Gatherings’ invites visitors to the space of Joppa bandstand on the Promenade to view the work, to consider some of the language that has changed or been given new significance during 2020, as gatherings first became illegal, and then subject to new rules and laws. (26th/27th September)
– Jenny Pope (Edinburgh) creates a beach installation ‘Sea Masks’ that draws attention to protective clothing, not only to how mask wearing has taken over our recent lives, but also she looks at the industrial working conditions once in Portobello, and at what precautions workers took to protect themselves from the heat as they unloaded ceramics from the once vibrant kilns. The masks now have additional meaning as we navigate the new uncertainties, personal responsibility and public health. Her masks made for Portobello Beach are also mindful of the strategies people use to protect themselves during demonstrations protesting their freedom and rights against police and repressive authorities around the world. (5th/6th September)
– Four projection evenings on Porty Prom, include a large-scale video projection from David Williams ’‘The Promenader’ project sharing a glance to the local goings-on on Porty prom and beach, from photographs taken over the last few years. David was head of photography at Edinburgh College of Art until his retirement in 2017. The projection will take place on Portobello Prom at a site recently taken over by the ‘Portobello Eye’; a temporary ferris wheel which has caused much local controversy. (26th September)
– ‘Two Places By the Sea’ pairs Portobello, Edinburgh with Akureyri, Iceland. Involving two groups of photographers one from each location, who have worked together in pairs in recent months, the work responds to a range of themes inspired by the two similar though very different landscapes. The photographs displayed on Portobello Prom at the side of Portobello’s boat club emphasise our connections to other place particularly through the navigating of our oceans and seas, drawing together a striking mix of paired photographs. (5th Sept to 31st October)
Full programme available at: https://www.artwalkporty.co.uk/2020/all-at-sea.html
