ART HISTORY FESTIVAL 2024 – Scotland

Tania Kovats’ ongoing series SEAMARKS, multiple seascapes captured in brushstrokes, drawings and ceramic, is being expanded with the creation of a new tapestry by Dovecot Studios. Kovats presents the passing of time through the broken surface of the sea, the elemental rhythms of the moon and the meditative qualities of weaving and drawing. As the marks get smaller and closer towards the horizon they invoke a sense of infinity, exploring how art can speak to our critical climate emergency.

The artist has been collaborating closely with Dovecot’s Master Weavers since January to create and interpret her tapestry design. Hand-woven by four weavers, the work has taken four months to complete and measures 1.5 metres square. The tapestry’s incredible depth and texture has been achieved through the gradation of tone towards the light of the horizon and by combining the properties of different yarns.

Alongside the SEAMARK tapestry, three new SEAMARK ceramics will be on display, made with cobalt blue glazes on handmade ceramic tiles, as well as a group of drawings exploring the phases of the moon. These recent works are contrasted with an important older work, All the Islands of All the Seas (2016), which comprises 196 drawings layered in 32 frames. Made using the Times Atlas as a source, Kovats traced and inked in the landmasses of islands in bodies of water designated ‘seas’ onto translucent paper, layering up these drawings over the top of each other in clusters. In bringing these works together, the exhibition will consider how Kovats’ practice explores our connection to nature through poetic, psychological and socio-political lenses, an enduring theme within her work.

An opportunity to discover the artworks of Anne McEntegart with Museum Curator, Judith Hewitt. 

Anne sculpted, created woodcuts and painted with oils.  A new display within Dumfries Museum explores her time not only in Dumfries and Galloway but also in Singapore and the art inspired by its people which she created while living there.

John Lavery was commissioned to produce this painting to mark the state visit of Queen Victoria to the Glasgow International Exhibition in 1888. There are 253 people depicted, including the Queen’s European relatives, local aristocracy, councillors, business people and industrialists, many of whom were involved in running the British Empire and trading with the colonies. It is an exceptional example of a local artist depicting a local event with major global implications.

Join Curatorial and Research Manager Martin Bellamy, Legacies of Empire and Slavery Curator Nelson Cummins and Curator of British Art Jo Meacock to unpick this grand civic portrait, examining the imperialist world of Lavery and the context for the 1888 exhibition and this commission, and highlighting the global connections of some of the key figures represented.

Join curator Katie Bruce for a tour of the exhibition Domestic Bliss. This show presents works from Glasgow Museums’ collection reflecting on the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) building’s history as a former house, Royal Exchange and civic space in the centre of a city (Glasgow) that prided itself on historical connections to the rest of the world. Observing how artists work with fine art, design and craft practices alongside social and political changes, this show explores domestic labour and feminism, public and private space, intimate relationships and historical narratives. We live in a consumerist world where home interior, lifestyle magazines and social media present flawless examples for us to emulate in our own lives. What happens if we question what is seen as ‘domestic bliss’ and whose stories are hidden or revealed?

Join us at The Mitchell Library, Glasgow for an exploration of the work of Scottish artist, war artist and war correspondent, William Simpson (1823–1899).

We have recently completed a project to catalogue, research and digitise 246 art works relating to his career as a ‘Special Artist’ for the Illustrated London News, during which he travelled to India, Ethiopia / Abyssinia, France, China, Afghanistan & Russia.

Many of the sketches he made were reproduced in the ILN, and in beautifully printed books. His adventures were legendary, and included attending the weddings of kings and emperors, documenting the archaeology of Ancient Greece, and being arrested as a spy.

His passion for learning about these cultures shine through his work but must be viewed through the lens of colonialism and orientalism. The illustrations of ‘picturesque people’ may be seen in the context of war against, and colonisation of, their countries.

It was said that ‘though Irish by birth, Lavery was a Scottish painter.’ Join assistant curator Freya Spoor as she discusses Lavery’s connections to Scotland from his schooldays in Ayrshire to his role in the pioneering group of artists known as the Glasgow Boys.

Join us for a free descriptive gallery tour followed by a practical workshop for visitors with a visual impairment. Indulge your wanderlust and dip your toes in the sun, sea and society of the late 19th and early 20th centuries as we travel through the extraordinary life of renowned Belfast born artist, Sir John Lavery as he went ‘on location’, from Scotland to New York via Paris and Morocco.

 New at the National! Every Friday during term-time we dedicate our new gallery spaces to families!

Friday mornings are for our littlest art-lovers. Expect interesting textures, lights, sounds, sensory art-fun … and a cuppa for the parents/carers.

The afternoons are for the big kids! We’ve got trails, new play activities and, of course, hands-on making with artists. 

Join dance artist Alena Ageeva to experience the Scottish History and Archaeology galleries and collections at National Museum of Scotland, in a new and creative way, using movement, touch, sound and smell.
This creative exploration of the Scotland Galleries uses movement and senses to find new connections with some the most important and beautiful objects. Visitors will be guided through the galleries by dance artist Alena; moving and engaging at their own pace, hearing stories and sounds connected with some of the objects on display. Experiencing smell and touch, visitors become immersed in the museum in a new and mindful way.

Alena Ageeva is a freelance dance and physical theatre artist based in Edinburgh. She has been focusing on site-specific, inclusive and interactive dance performances since 2020. Alena has performed her multi-sensory dance walks at venues across Europe.

 The original gift of 67 works from Margaret Gardiner (1904-2005) forms the core of the Pier Arts Centre and its collection – the heartbeat – around which, everything else happens. This event will provide an in-depth look into the current collection display ‘Akin – Old and New Works from the Pier Arts Centre Collection’ uncovering connections between the modern and the contemporary through significant works of British Modern Art and international contemporary painting and sculpture.

At the end of the 19th century, the botanist and social activist Patrick Geddes worked with painter John Duncan and other young artists enthused with the idea of a Celtic Revival in Scottish culture. They took inspiration from the Book of Kells and Pictish stone carving but also contemporary European symbolism, international theosophy and the occult. This special online event features four speakers exploring local and global aspects of this fascinating movement.

Murdo Macdonald explores Geddes’s international localism, including connections in India and the US. Michelle Foot discusses spiritual and occult dimensions of the Celtic Revival. Matthew Jarron highlights Duncan’s protégé Nell Baxter and her role in Celtic Revival projects in Edinburgh and Dundee. And Joanna Meacock focuses on Duncan’s painting Ivory, Apes and Peacocks: The Queen of Sheba and its connection to Geddes’s Masque of Learning.

Stills Research Associate David Grinly will give a lecture outlining various approaches that photographers consider when photographing the world around them. After the lecture there will be plenty of time for questions and discussion around the topics raised. The lecture will be suitable for anyone with an interest in discussions about photography and the theories which inspire it.

This event is free and open to all – no booking required.

David Grinly is an artist and lecturer in the practice and theory of photography. He is the Research Associate at Stills, where he has also worked as a tutor and curator and in other roles since 2005. His own research interests question the cultural and intellectuals relationships  between photography, philosophy and theology.