The 19th edition of the Edinburgh Art Festival is the first under the direction of Kim McAleese, connecting the people and city of Edinburgh with a ‘global dialogue’, through a range of exhibitions, commissions, performances and events. The Festival incorporates over 55 ambitious projects and exhibitions, across more than 35 galleries and venues, with the most innovative and renowned partners working in visual art in the city all set to take part, including many working with the Festival for the first time.
Edinburgh Art Festival Director Kim McAleese at Jupiter Artland. Image Neil Hanna
‘Jupiter Rising’, 2022. Image Tiu Makkonen. Courtesy of Jupiter Artland. The 19th August sees 2023’s ‘Jupiter Rising’, curated by artist Lindsey Mendick, whose installation ‘Sh*tfaced’ is on show at Jupiter, alongside Glasgow’s Bonjour art collective.The Festival’s new format brings to the foreground reasons to come together, with the emphasis on collaborations between gallery partners in the city taking various forms such as opera, poetry, with details in the sound of a ricochet along a peace wall, a newspaper excerpt, a bodily gesture or a warming meal.
Christian Noelle Charles, ‘WHAT A FEELING!’ Edinburgh Printmakers. Image courtesy of the artist
Maria Fusco & Margaret Salmon, ‘History of The Present’, which launches the Festival at an event at the city’s Queen’s Hall on 11th August (see below).The festival launches at The Queen’s Hall with the world performance premiere of History of the Present, which sees Northern Irish writer Maria Fusco – who grew up beside a peaceline in Belfast during The Troubles – collaborate with Scottish artist film-maker Margaret Salmon. The work incorporates a new composition by Annea Lockwood and vocal improvisations by Héloïse Werner, and commemorates the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. It will be screened live.
Elizabeth Blackadder, ‘Still Life with Orchid’, oil on canvas, The Scottish Gallery
Carol Rhodes, ‘Town’, City Art Centre Edinburgh
