Scottish Exhibition in Berlin Exposes Key Role of Crafts in Cutting Edge Art
From rural Scotland to urban Germany – Spring Fling invites Berliners to a taste of creativity from Dumfries and Galloway
A performance art collaboration will help launch a Scottish exhibition in Berlin which explores the relationship between contemporary art and crafts.
The Spring Show Making. Art exhibition is at Green Hill Gallery, Kulturschoepfer, from 3 to 25 April and is organised by Spring Fling – Scotland’s premier contemporary visual art and craft open studios event.
The exhibition is about collaboration and shows how craft making in Scotland, far from being limited to the world of tradition, is at the heart of cutting edge art.
There will be a special preview with drinks and contemporary Scottish food and a Scottish DJ, which is free for the public to attend on 2 April from 6pm to 8pm.
Leah Black, Spring Fling Director, said: “This is an exhibition to appeal to all the senses – and which will challenge Berliners to see the relationship and intersection between contemporary installation art and craft, which are often not shown alongside each other.
“The visual artists and makers involved all use craft skills in traditional and non-traditional ways, as part of their process and practice, and often through collaborations.
“The exhibition will also offer a new perspective on Scotland – its art, craft, food, drink and design. More specifically it will be a chance to sample the immense creativity of Dumfries and Galloway, which is one of the country’s most rural areas, and also a hotbed of creativity.
“It is a real pleasure to introduce Berliners to some of the artists themselves through collaborative workshops and performances, and to let them have the chance to work with impressive talents like Shona Guthrie and Suzi Plunkett.”
The Spring Show Making. Art is funded by EventScotland, an agency of the Scottish Government, as part of the 2015 Year of Food and Drink, and Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Major Events Strategic Fund.
The preview will be followed by a collaborative performance work called Making with Cloth by visual and performance artist Denise Zygadlo, international textile designer Morag Macpherson and
installation artist Katie Anderson.
This will be in the form of a chain reaction with each artist’s work triggering the next. Katie Anderson’s soundscape will bring the natural sounds of Dumfries of Galloway into the city and Denise’s sequence will represent the intimacy of human relationship with cloth.
There will be a sharp contrast with the final element, which presents Morag’s vibrant use of pattern and colour and shows her finished designs in the form of robes and silk scarves, working together and interdependently.
Denise said: “I am fascinated by the relationship between people and fabric and I have always been involved in dance. This brings the two together and encourages people to ask questions about textiles and how they relate to them.
“Fabrics are everywhere and in thousands of forms throughout our lives, but we rarely think about them. And yet they can evoke fond and powerful memories – like childhood recollections of the feeling of their father’s jacket or their mother’s dress.”
The collaboration includes two pieces of original music by Rudi Zygadlo.
The 12 makers and artists taking part include established international names such as glassmaker Amanda Simmons and willow weaver Lizzie Farey.
Spring Fling has organised a series of other events and activities during the exhibition. These include:
● Print Studio Zine, with Katie Anderson and Sarah Stewart, 4th April, afternoon.
The artists will create a temporary print studio in the gallery and produce a limited edition run of postcard-sized zines. These will be made in response to our first impressions of the city. The zines will reflect their our rural backgrounds contrasted with our immediate responses to our urban context.
● Make Your Own, with Shona Guthrie and Suzi Plunkett, 4th April, afternoon
Join Shona and Suzi in a workshop to create and take home a bespoke mixed media wall piece. By using a selection of Suzi’s unique designs laser etched onto wood and a range of cherry blossom and pearl rivets, participants will need nothing more than a little imagination to create a personalised and unique piece of art.
● Finnisage, 25th April
Closing event, drinks by donation, with audio visual presentation and short talk about how Spring Fling came to Germany by Kate Brehme – freelance curator and organiser of the Making.Art exhibition.
The exhibition comes ahead of the main open studios weekend, featuring 94 artists, which is in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland, from 23 to 25 May.
