"The 700th Anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath fell on the 6th April 2020, during the run of the 194th Annual Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy. The Declaration of Arbroath is, in essence, a letter sent to Pope John XXII from the lords and noblemen of fourteenth-century Scotland asserting autonomy and independence. Amongst other things it asks the Pope to tell Edward II of England to stop invading Scotland and leave it alone. The most famous quote from the document states "As long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours, that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself". However, it is a complex and layered text and the continual highlighting of this one sentence does not do it justice. For example, the ‘Declaration’ also acknowledges that Robert the Bruce is the lawful Scots King, but significantly that if he stops doing what is best for the people he can be replaced with another leader. This idea was, in many ways, more radical and important than the continual moaning about the Southern neighbours.

"Reflecting on the Declaration of Arbroath and the past present and future of Scotland I’ve made a work that plots 2020 as the mid-point of a 1400-year cycle. Real Life Scotland: We’re half way there…"

Further dimension details: each panel 420 x 120 cm, overall 420 x 360 cm