Aberdeen Culture is an offshoot of Mood of Collapse blog which came about after some reflection on what Mood blog is and identifying areas where it does well and of course areas where it doesn't work so well. Where on this page I tend to focus on the things I enjoy, whether its art or music or skateboarding, I felt the need to have a space to focus more on art and culture from Aberdeen and the surrounding area. Seeing a real lack of engagement from the various cultural bodies in the city I felt a need to cut through the politics of the local art scene, including my own to try and build a platform that can help promote the wealth of talent that the city and shire has produced and also to explore the history of culture in the area that's so often forgotten about.
I decided to try and present and share my ideas through a cultural A to Z which highlights something important or interesting for each letter of the alphabet. This in turn has pushed me to do more research but also to reach out to friends in the city, seeking suggestions for the next volumes. I've found this has sent down many rabbit holes exploring the work of incredible artists who's barely get a mention in the city or who have not appeared on my radar for whatever reason. Although I take great interest in the local art scene there is always a new name that appears, often an artist with an extensive history who's been working in the city for decades but for whatever reason I've not found them. I can still remember Mary introducing me to the work of Joe Fan and being awestruck by the beauty and depth of his oil paintings and indeed Mary herself, my partner of 5 years but how many times had we passed each other like ships in the night? For a smallish city its refreshing to know there's still lots to discover on your doorstep.
I think this is where celebrating other creatives is important. It's easy to stay in our bubbles and to foster our own personal networks, sometimes its essential. But the individual wins we each make, whether its opening a new show, running a creative course or even finishing a new painting when collated as part of a bigger picture has a lot of power. My whole mandate for starting the Mood blog came from being surrounded talented friends and emerging artists from Grays School of Art who'd all done great things in the city and yet I'd still have people say that nothing ever happens in Aberdeen. But when you present the collective evidence it shows a different story and indeed a lot has happened in Aberdeen since the inception of Peacocks Print Studio in the 1970's and even long before that!
So with Volume 2 almost finished I just wanted to say hi, this is a snippet of Aberdeen Culture and I hope that it can grow into a platform that makes connections between the long and storied history of culture in the city but also celebrates and uplifts the artists, makers, designers and creatives that exist in the here & now. And almost as important, if we're still missing people, or events or something you feel should be included then let me know as that collective view is important to help build robust and extensive coverage of the North East's cultural footprint. Mood blog is very much about what I'm into but Aberdeen Culture can only thrive with the input of the community it's intended to serve. Thanks to everyone for the support so far and here's a run down of Aberdeen Culture A to Z Volume 1!
