Hello! Welcome to Deen Scene # 31!
Thanks for checking in and checking out our latest Deen
Scene. This one is packed again with lots of interesting exhibitions and events
to keep you busy over the coming month. Subscribers will have noticed I like to
create artwork toppers for each issue and this months features a painting of
Old Aberdeen by Howard Butterworth which perfectly captures those
Autumnal vibes.
In the meantime be sure to check out the full listing of what's coming up
over the next few weeks in Aberdeen and beyond!
So first off here's a round up of What's On and what's coming up from exhibitions, gigs, artist talks, tours and more! Click on a flyer for more information.
Continuing this month we have the wonderful Art In The
Waiting Room with paintings by Cath Roberts. The waiting room is both
a real and online space to exhibit located at the Newton Dee Camphill site in
Bielside. The project is part of the Camphill Wellbeing Trust who do
fantastic work supporting residents with alternative needs. I've been lucky to
visit a few times and I'm always inspired by how creative the residents
and staff are. The Waiting Room is a great way to continue building engagement
with artists and also helping to support the sites ongoing work.
"Working with local artists we deliver an exciting art programme. The
charity hosts an open night for each exhibition: an opportunity to meet the
artist over a glass of wine or soft drink and enjoy the new work on display.
Each exhibition runs for 6 weeks with a percentage of all sales going directly
to support CWT and its various activities."
You can check out more from Art In The
Waiting Room here.
Other shows continuing this month include Gloss Comfort at ARI, Kenny
Hunter & The Galloway Hoard at Aberdeen Art Gallery, Barbara
Rae at Aberdeen University and Junction Arts at Parx Cafe.
Although I missed it at the Martatime Museum, you can now
see the Pavlovka Pinhole Photography Festival exhibition in Gallery 2
at Aberdeen Art Gallery. Coming from a time before the Digital in DSLR's I find
pinhole photography fascinating and the quality of the images from the Ukranian
festival are quite something. You can read all about it here.
Seed Skateshop are back with another video premiere this time from
visionary artist and skateboarder Pontus Alv and his Polar Skate Co. Skateboard
and the arts have always gone hand in hand and the Polar team have always had a
good focus on fresh board graphics and creative skateboarding so expect to be
dazzled by 'Sounds Like You Guys Are Crushing It'. Catch it this Saturday
in the shop.
Its back to Newton Dee on the 14th for a special one woman show 'Virginia
Wolfe: Killing The Angel' which see's a solo performance based around the
writings of Wolfe paired with music by female composers of the time. The
theatre space at Newton Dee is a wonder to behold and I'm sure the team will
put on a great show. Book your tickets here.
Open Road are back in Fittie this month with events galore including film
screenings and a ceildh this evening. There's also an exciting opportunity to
apply for their writer call out 'Words To Change The World'. You'll find
application details here and be sure to keep an eye on Open Road,
they're doing a lot of great work in Aberdeen.
Second Home Cafe have an exciting proposition with the Departmnt, a
new venture which will see artists and makers given space to display and sell
their work. Details of where haven't been released yet but you can apply for a
spot at the store via their website here along
with deadlines and plans for the Departmnt opening this Winter. Leopard
Arts are keeping up their annual tradition with a halloween themed show
with the deadline for submissions on the 24th October with the show happening
on the 1st of November so get cracking!
Further out the debut Braemar Literary Festival kicks off on the 7th with a host of events, readings and talks with some impressive authors including local loon Shane Strachan. The 'Festival of Darkness' kicks off later in the month celebrating 125 years since the release of Bram Stokers 'Dracula'. Event's include a screening of 'Interview With A Vampire' at Blairs College, The Lost Boys & Dracula at the Port Errol Public Hall. Check out all the events here.
Ade Adesina opens a new exhibition 'Parallel' featuring his incredible woodcuts and etchings at the RSA Academicians Gallery in Edinburgh on the 7th. This is Ade's second show at the gallery as he continues to be the busiest artist I know, the work never stops! Art provocateur Sarah J Stanely also opens an exhibition of new paintings at Nicolls in Glasgow which runs from the 3rd - 9th so if you're down the central belt, buckle up!
Studio friends Citymoves Dance Agency are back
with Dance Live from the 20th October. After a disappointing
Wonderland I'm looking forward to seeing what Citymoves have to offer. I'm the
first to admit that I feel a little out of my depth when it comes to dance or
performance based art but I'm eager to see more and to be challenged too.
Festival performers and groups include Joseph Toonga, Clare Adam
& Lesley Howord, Barrowland Ballet, Katie Armstrong, Jess
Rowell & Hayley Earlam, Levantes Dance Theatre, The Scottish
Dance Theatre, Rob Heaslip, Taylor Han, White & Givan and The
Urban Playground who will all be performing across the festival venues
along with video loops of digital performances by 5 more artists and groups. It
will be interesting to see the Cowdary Hall and Marischal College as
performance spaces both on screens and in the physical sense.
Citymoves also celebrate a milestone year with 35 years of service to
Aberdeen's dance and creative communities! Be sure to check the listings and
ticket information on the Dance Live site and be open to new experiences.
October 1st Barbara Rae at Aberdeen University Library runs til 16th December
Junction Arts continues at Parx Cafe
George Birrell opens at Gallery Heinzel
Kissy My Kunst pop up at Utopia Body Arts
Papermaking workshop at Four Pillars at 11am
Gloss Comfort at GHAT runs til 4th December
October 2nd Images, Words & Deeper Self workshop at Aberdeen Art Gallery 1pm
October 3rd The Union Street Tour by Hidden Aberdeen 7pm
October 5th Re-naming Our Colections talk at Aberdeen Art Gallery 12.30pm
October 7th Morag Myerscough talk at Aberdeen Art Gallery 1pm
Braemar Literary Festival runs til the 9th
Black Wolf Trap & Depeche Choad at Krakatoa 7.30pm
October 8th Creative Aberdeen Art Club from Arkade Gallery 11.30am
Lino Printing workshop at Four Pillars at 11am
BRUK Club Night at D2
October 11th Anatomical, Botanical & Life Drawing class at Arkade Aberdeen 7pm
October 12th Speakin Weird at Spin 8pm
October 13th Halloween Headdress workshop at Poison Hearts Studio
Life Drawing at Second Home Cafe 7pm
October 14th Killing The Angel relaxed performance at Newton Dee Village 7.30pm
October 15th Sharing Our Stories workshop at Fittie Community Hall 10am - 1pm
Embroidery, Stitching & Crochet workshop at Four Pillars
The Little Kicks at Aberdeen Art Centre 8pm
Like A Daydream at Upstairs at Blue Lamp 9pm
October 19th Reaching Beyond The Human writing workshop at Foodstory 6pm
October 20th Halloween Headress workshop at Poison Hearts Studio
Dance Live 2022 various venues runs til 24th
October 22nd Collage workshop at Four Pillars at 11am
Plenty Festival at The Barn, Banchory til 23rd
Late Night Tails with kPq at Pigs Wings 930pm
Jungle Nation at The Tunnels 11pm
October 23rd The Galloway Hoard last chance at Aberdeen Art Gallery
October 24th Leopards Arts Samhain submission deadline
October 26th Sound Festival various venues runs til 30th
October 28th Creativity & Mysticism workshop at Second Home Cafe 7pm
October 29th Cyanotype workshops at Four Pillars at 11am
Anatomical, Botanic & Life Drawing class at Arkade Aberdeen 7pm
All Night Passion Halloween Disco at The Tunnels 11pm
Let It Bleed x Cultivate present Absolute +testpress at Unit 51
October 30th Kenny Hunter last chance at Aberdeen Art Gallery
For a quite a few years now I've found myself annoyed by
the lack of cohesion amongst galleries and creative spaces when it comes to
aligning events and openings. I figured its never gonna happen but perhaps
we can bridge that gap while also doing something to help others who might
feel intimidated going to these spaces. The 'Art Club' aims to break down
some of those barriers by creating a roaming gang that will head out into the
city in search of art & culture and maybe a sandwich too!
Check here for info and tickets, its free and anyone
can join so lets walk, talk and see some art.
The Art Gallery have a couple of talks coming up firstly with curator Jessica Barrie who will be exploring the galleries collections that relate our colonial and slavery driven past. I'm sure you could probably wipe out many museum collections if items were returned to their rightful owners but it was heartening to see Aberdeen University return its collection of Benin Bronzes to Nigeria earlier this year. Artist & designer Morag Myerscough returns on the 7th for a Guest at Grays lecture at the Cowdary Hall. I saw Morag's last Grays talk and it was great to learn more about her work and career. Tickets are free and can be booked here.
If local history is more your thing then Hidden Aberdeen Tours are back with a host of events this month kicking off on the 3rd with a Union Street Tour. "Union Street represented the break with and indeed the destruction of the medieval city as it cut through the old, crowded streets and lead the way to a new development at the far side of the Denburn Valley which had once been the border of the burgh. This tour aims to show a little of what was there before, including a look at the vaults, the piers which hold up our main street, as well as explaining the fight the business community had to persuade the council to go ahead with this new development." Book your tickets here.
LGBT+ charity Four Pillars have been working on a load of fun and free workshops around the theme of Body Positivity. You'll find lots of fun things coming up including a Collage workshops, Cyanotype printing and Embroidery. You can check out all the workshops via their eventbrite page and keep an eye out for up coming events.
I met Gayle Burgoyne at our Doors Open Day event where we had a great chat about art and she shared information about an exciting Creative Writing workshop she's hosting on the 19th. "Drawing inspiration from nature, ecology, landscape, myth, folklore, shamanism and the surreal / irreal, we’ll generate ideas, tear them up, grow our souls, write wee pieces, read aloud and respond to others’ work encouragingly". I like that its a totally analog workshop so no laptops or ipads, its all pens and paper with scribbly marks. Find all the details here.
Finally if you're feeling spoopy and want to make a special halloween inspired head dress then Helen Ruth Scarves & Corvid Eyes have you covered with 2 workshops at Poison Hearts Studio on Justice Street. The duo have worked on a few collaborative projects so its sure to be a great few days. You'll find the full details and prices on eventbrite here.
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Aberdeen loons The Little Kicks have just dropped
their brand new album 'People Need Love' and its a good een! Lead
single 'Ruminations' hinted at the direction the band have been
moving as their sound evolves but they still maintain a strong link to their
earlier influences.
Speaking about the album lead singer Steven Milne says, "Personally, some
of the songs are the rawest and certainly most intimate for me lyrically as
there has been so much happen to me since our last album release and the words
can only reflect that. I became a father then quickly after I lost my Dad which
knocked me off compass for a while. I fell into some bad habits and became a
bit lost meaning I wasn’t looking after myself as well as I should. For a while
writing wasn’t a priority but eventually, I found myself at the piano with ideas
coming freely and I feel lucky I can deal with things and express emotions
through music. A couple of times I pulled the lyrics back to being less
exposed, but men don’t talk enough about their problems and I decided to be
open. Hopefully if someone else isn’t doing so good we can encourage them to do
the same and to talk or share".
Its good to have The Little Kicks back and I'm going to enjoy playing
the new album and taking it in with some big speakers. The lads also hit the
road this month in support of the album with a string of Scottish tour dates
including a special gig at Aberdeen Arts Centre on Saturday 15th so
be sure to get your tickets. You can check the album in full here and be sure
to check out the fancy vinyl edition too!
The award for best band name goes to Depeche Choad.
They also have some pretty good song titles like 'Street Shit' and 'Urban Man'.
I feel like they could be about me as I'm into being an urban man who's into
street shit. Although I don't wear a suit & tie. New album 'Realism' dropped
a few weeks ago but I'm catching up now and it's pretty fun. The Choad also
play at Krakatoa on the 7th so if anyone want's to do some urban shit then get
down to the mosh pit!
Listen to Realism here!
Artist KMG recently made the trip back to
Aberdeen to paint a new mural commissioned by the Aberdeen Cycle Forum along
the old Deeside railway line. The mural is intended to inspire people to use
their bikes more, a good thing but often a challenge in Aberdeen where online
forums seem to be full of car obsessed nutters. Cycling during lockdown was
such a dream but now, not so much. Still its nice to see Katie's floaty
characters appearing over the course of a few days as they ride their bikes,
walk their dogs and wheel their wheelchairs. Check it out via POST here.
Katie has also been busy delivering a special street art character workshop for
Nuart Aberdeen along with working on a new Ken print release with BSMT
Space in London, her second release with the gallery where she's also in
their up coming group show 'Alter Ego' which opens on the 6th with a
load of incredible artists. You can cop her previous print 'Drift Tight' here. We all need more Ken on our walls!
Jumping back to Newton Dee for a minute, designer and
creative Miles Works paid a visit to the farm for an informative chat
with on site farmer Scott Dow. The first time I met Miles was for
a workshop he hosted under his Pabyan moniker
which looked to pair creative endevours with the positive impact of meditation.
It was a great experience but of course Covid and other factors have hampered
things a bit. But still Miles continues to explore different forms of
creativity and skills both in his own practice, making natural dyes etc and
those of others like Scott who at one point was a prominent DnB DJ on the local
circuit so you could say he's swapped the heavy beats for the crunchy beets!
Tasty.
Check out more from Miles here.
Creative duo We Are Out Of Office recently paid a
visit to bonny Scotland thanks to one of my favourite art initiatives, The
Jaunt! Based in Holland, The Jaunt sends artists on trips to cool locations
where they explore and absorb their destination and ruminate on their experiences
before distilling their ideas into a special print edition inspired by their
trip. You can buy prints before the artist has left for half price so the money
can be used to support the next artists and so on. We Are Out Of Office hit the
UK and headed straight to Edinburgh before making the journey North to Dundee,
Aberdeen, Inverness and back to Glasgow in under a week.
You can check out all the Jaunts prints on their site along with their
fantastic books which will give anyone the wanderlust! The world awaits
you here.
I thought I'd finish up with a little throwback to a video I found on YouTube featuring local artist Mark McCracken. Can you guess what it is yet?
