Hannah Harkes, Lesley Simpson, SMUHA 1st Female Jarl, from As Long As We Make it, 2020. Copyright the artist.

Weemin's Wark: how art helped to transform tradition in Shetland

For 200 years Lerwick's annual Up Helly Aa fire festival allowed only male participants. Since 2020 Burra-based artist-led organisation Gaada has been recording and responding to the decades-long campaign to overturn that rule, which was finally revoked earlier this year. We spoke to Amy Gear, Co-Director and founder of Gaada, about the Weemin's Wark project, which you can catch at Glasgow Women's Library until October 29.

Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme: ‘May amnesia never kiss us on the mouth’ (2022), Installation view MoMA. Photo: Jonathan Muzikar. Copyright the artists.

From young women singing in the kitchen to crowds dancing arm-in-arm in the street, Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme's new exhibition for The Common Guild, May amnesia never kiss us on the mouth, takes us inside the everyday lives and collective emotions of people in the Middle East. We spoke to The Common Guild's curator Chloe Reith about the exhibition, which runs at 5 Florence Street Glasgow until October 9, and shows communities falling back on creativity at times of political strife.

Alberta Whittle, Celestial Meditations 1, part of the Government Art Collection. Copyright the artist.

SCAN to work with Government Art Collection

We're delighted that the Government Art Collection has announced that it will work with SCAN in 2023 to support acquisitions of art works from Scotland's artists as part of a five-year commitment to investing in artists from across the UK. You can find out more here.

During the pandemic we worked in partnership with the GAC, resulting in the acquisition of artists including Alberta Whittle, Jamie Crewe and Rabiya Choudhry. These pieces joined the 14,500 other works in the Government Art Collection which are displayed in Government buildings across the four nations, including in No.10 and No.11 Downing Street, and internationally in British Embassies and Residences, in a total of 130 countries around the world.

Scotland has a wealth of strong and diverse artistic voices and we are looking forward to sharing their vision through this initiative.

Neil Gray MSP, Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development.

SCAN campaigns on the Cost Crisis

In recent weeks we have submitted evidence to the Scottish Parliament's CEEAC committee and have spoken to Scottish Government officials and funders about the Cost Crisis. We wrote to Scotland's Culture Minister Neil Gray MSP to share the impact of the Cost Crisis and rising energy bills on Scotland's artists and arts organisations and asked him to make an immediate and strategic response in supporting the cultural sector through emergency funding support.

This week the UK government has announced energy support measures for charitable organisations and businesses. You can read the plan in full here, and the accompanying press release here.

We are aware that many artists and arts organisations are facing other issues as part of the Cost Crisis over and above energy costs and that individual artists continue to face challenges. We are also aware that a six-month price freeze doesn’t give organisations the certainty that they need long-term. SCAN will continue to campaign for additional support for the contemporary art community due to increasing costs. SCAN Director Moira Jeffrey will also be meeting with Culture Minister Neil Gray on October 24 alongside other sector bodies to share further evidence collected from members.

Majd Abdel Hamid, Wash 3. Copyright the artist.

Here are some highlights from the SCAN community:

Sam Ainsley's Stories Real and Imagined draws on the artist's rich back catalogue, including large-scale paintings, collage works and prints which reflect Ainsley's approach to art as "emotional mapping." The show runs at the Royal Scottish Academy until October 2. Find out more here.

At the Pier Arts Centre in Stromness, Ilana Halperin's The Rock Cycle (Yamaguchi) explores human beings' relationships with geological processes through works of living sculpture: found objects left to calcify in mineral-rich water. The show runs until November 12. Find out more here.

Opening at Glasgow's CCA on September 24, textile artist Majd Abdel Hamid's exhibition Muscle Memory reflects on the legacy of the 2020 Beirut Explosion, which wiped out a third of the surrounding city. The exhibition asks how we can use art in processes of collective mourning. Find out more here. 

In Dundee, artistic duo Nashashibi/Skaer, consisting of Turner Prize-nominated artists Rosalind Nashashibi and Lucy Skaer, present Chimera, bringing together new and existing film, sculpture, painting and print. Opening at the Cooper Gallery on September 30, the show foregrounds ideas of metamorphosis and change. Find out more here.

Katie Schwab's The Seeing Hands, at Edinburgh's Collective Gallery from October 8, will be a site of play, a large-scale interactive exhibition expressing the artist's love of early-to-mid twentieth century design and craft. Find out more here.

Aerial view of Collective, Edinburgh. Photograph by Tom Nolan.

Jobs 
Glasgow Independent Studio: Head of Operations, deadline September 23
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland: Head of Technology and Digital Development, deadline September 23
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland: Development Assistant, deadline September 25
Edinburgh Printmakers: Head of Print Studio, September 26
Kirkcudbright Galleries: Call for workshop hosts: artists and crafters, deadline September 30
Collective: Development Manager, deadline September 30
RIG Arts: Bank of Event Artists, deadline September 30 
National Galleries of Scotland: Marketing Manager, deadline October 2
Glasgow Film Theatre: Marketing and Press Coordinator, deadline October 3
Impact Arts: Youth Volunteering Development Co-ordinator, deadline October 3
Lux Scotland: Project Assistant, deadline October 3
Glasgow Film Theatre: Press Coordinator, deadline October 4
CABN Scottish Borders: CABN Catalyst roles for Engagement and Sustainability, deadline October 5
East Dunbartonshire Leisure & Culture Trust: Freelance artists and tutors, deadline October 7
Impact Arts: Children’s Services & Safeguarding Manager, deadline October 9
Surge: Digital Arts Practitioner and Coordinator, deadline October 30

Opps
Outer Spaces: Aberdeen Micro-commissions for artists, deadline September 25
Film and Video Umbrella: Michael O’Pray Prize for writing on the moving image, deadline September 26
Glasgow Artists' Moving Image Studios: Call out for trustees, deadline September 26
Lux Scotland: Online Commission for Aberdeen-based Artists, deadline September 26
North Edinburgh Arts: Urban Union Heritage & Arts Trail Artist Residency, deadline September 30
An Lanntair, Digital Arts and Music Commission (ages 17-25), deadline September 30
Glasgow School of Art: Garnetbank Creative Residency, deadline October 3
Glasgow City HSC Partnership: Parkhead Hub Creative Commission, deadline October 10
Creative Scotland: Visual Artist and Craft Maker Awards (VACMA), deadline October 25
Centre for Cultural Value: Collaborate Fund, deadline November 25
a-n: Members' Artists Bursaries 2022-23, rolling deadlines up to February 10, 2023