Including curated show ‘New Scots’
10 May - 25 June 2008. All RSA Galleries, Admission £4 / £2 Conc.
The RSA Annual Exhibition is a highlight of the exhibiting year for artists, architects and members of the public. Showcasing around 350 works by the best of both established and emerging artists from across the country, it aims to present a comprehensive cross section of contemporary art in Scotland. In addition to selected works, expect to see RSA Members such as Elizabeth Blackadder DBE, Calum Colvin, Bill Scott, Adrian Wiszniewski, Michael Visocchi and Barbara Rae. The exhibition takes up all 12 of the magnificent RSA Galleries and includes painting, sculpture, film making, photography, printmaking, architecture and installation. There are also a number of cash prizes and awards in kind available to artists. Most works are for sale.
This year the RSA 182nd Annual Exhibition will have four distinct aspects to it:
•The main body of the exhibition will be by RSA Academicians and selected submissions from leading and emerging artists from across the country.
•The exhibition will include a specially curated aspect New Scots, which will highlight the work of contemporary artists who have made Scotland their home. Invited artists include Alex Pollard, David Shrigley, Hanneline Visnes, Ilana Halperin, Erica Eyres, Nathalie de Briey, Louise Hopkins, Shauna McMullan, Barry Atherton, Sam Ainsley and RSA Members Thomas Joshua Cooper, Beth Fisher and Joe Fan. This is the second in a series of exhibitions highlighting our nation as a creative and innovative force: following on from ‘Highland: Visual responses to Highland Scotland’ in 2007, currently on show at An Lanntair, Isle of Lewis and continuing with ‘Homecoming: a celebration of Scottish artists abroad’ in 2009.
•The exhibition will also showcase new works by two RSA award winners of 2007. Morton Award winner, Leena Nammari’s new film and associated work deals with ideas of being a ‘new’ Scot, displaced from her native Palestine and deeply affected by the memories of her childhood in the Middle-east and in Scotland. As part of Refugee Week 2008 Leena will be taking part in discussions on the notion of ‘belonging’. Barns-Graham Travel Award winner, Mair Hughes new body of research looks at the role of art and food technology across Europe.
•A complementary show in the RSA Library called New Scots: A Reflection on Cultural Diversity will be drawn from the Academy’s permanent collection and archive and will reflect on the rich, multi-cultural nature of the RSA as an institution. Since its foundation, the membership of the Royal Scottish Academy has embraced artists and architects whose origins are from not only other parts of the United Kingdom but also from Europe, Asia and the United States, thus echoing to an extent the ethnic diversity of Scotland as a whole. Artists represented include Albert Morocco RSA, Benno Schotz RSA, Jack Coia RSA and also Fanindra Nath Bose ARSA, the RSA’s first Indian Member who emigrated from Calcutta and died in Peebles in 1926.
To compliment all of this activity there will be a comprehensive series of gallery tours, artist talks, meet the artists evenings and associated educational events to encourage the public to get involved and learn more about the art/artists in the show. This range of activities will be hosted by the Friends of the Royal Scottish Academy.
About our sponsors:
The Royal Scottish Academy is delighted to acknowledge State Street and Skene Edwards as sponsors of the RSA 182nd Annual Exhibition.
State Street Corporation is the world’s leading provider of financial services to institutional investors. As part of the company’s commitment to supporting the communities in which it invests and works, State Street has contributed more than £68 million (US$120 million) to community development programs worldwide, since the State Street Foundation was<
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