May 2022
We continue to welcome national and international artists, researchers, and cultural producers to Cove Park this month through our programme of independently funded residencies. Taking part in May for the first time are visual and interdisciplinary artists Amy Albright, Rebecca Buckley, Laura Hynd, Jeni Pearson and Kirsty Stansfield, Daniel Smyth, Julian Stanford, and Leah Storrs-Fisher. Maker Deirdre Nelson returns to Cove Park for planned research time following her participation in our Engagement programme in 2019.
This month we also welcomed the international research group Feminist Art Maintenance, for its Kitchen Conversations residency, and members of the Scottish Artist Union and its Learning Programme.
Cove Park's Taiwanese Writer programme continues with residencies for research-based writer, translator, and curator Yuching Lin and literary writer, journalist, curator, and artist Eric Chi-Puo LIN.
The first residency of our year-long Youth Arts Bursary Programme takes place in May, with the arrival of Antony Lucchesi. Antony was awarded the Digital Practice Bursary, and residencies will follow this summer for the other Bursary recipients: Dylan Bonnar (Theatre), Mathilde
N'Doye (Design), and Bonnie MacRae (Literature).
This Newsletter includes updates on our final Climate Café and the launch of the Argyll Beacon and Year of Stories Commissions. It also features The World Reimagined programme, and highlights several new residencies and related open calls for applications. We are also pleased to announce the recipients of the Cove Park / Varuna Residency, the Royal Scottish Academy Residencies for Scotland award, and to share news of all our forthcoming events and workshops connected to the development of the Unexpected Gardens here on the Rosneath Peninsula.
Some exciting news: Cove Park's Future By Design Outdoor Classroom, designed by Ghanaian-Filipino architectural scientist Mae-Ling Lokko and Scottish architect Tom Morton in collaboration with a Scottish cohort of young professionals, is a finalist in the 2022 Scottish Design Awards. Launched on site in September last year, the Outdoor Classroom is an eco-sustainable gridshell structure that provides additional space on our 50-acre site for those on residency and those participating in workshops and public events. The award winners will be announced on 29 June 2022.
Finally, Cove Park is seeking a Director of Development to join our growing team. This is a new role, developed in response to the ambitions of Cove Park, its renewed vision and its ever-expanding programme, and the current funding climate. Further information is available here. Deadline for applications is 23 June 2022.
Image: The Jacobs Building, Cove Park (photography by Alan Dimmick)
Argyll Beacon & Year of Stories
Commissions Preview at the final Climate Café
The final Argyll Beacon Climate Café will take place at Cove Park on Monday 30 May 2022, from 2.30pm - 4.30pm (please note, this is a venue change).
This Café marks the culmination of a number of Beacon projects developed jointly by Cove Park and Argyll & the Isles Coast & Countryside Trust, focusing upon
Scotland's rainforest with the aim of raising awareness of the importance of biodiversity in effective and inclusive conservation and regeneration.
This free event will feature the preview of Congenial Soils and Favourable Situations, a short film by Rachel McBrinn and Alison Scott, and screenings of descriptive moving image responses to Scotland's rainforest by pupils of Helensburgh's Hermitage Academy and Lochgilphead High School, as part of the Artists in Schools programme led by artist Juliana Capes, The Café will also include the presentation of Cove Park's Year of Stories 2022 Commission, If Our Trees
Could Talk, by artist Katrine Turner.
Speakers at this Café will include the commissioned artists, culture/SHIFT Producer at Creative Carbon Scotland Lewis Coenen-Rowe, ACT Operations Manager Sara Maclean, and Cove Park Curator of Engagement Emma Henderson. Please join us for an afternoon of screenings, audio work, and discussion. Celebratory refreshments will be served. To book your free place, please visit Cove Park's Eventbrite page.
Images: Above, Still from Congenial Soils and Favourable Situations, Rachel McBrinn and Alison Scott, 2022.
The World Reimagined
May sees the first of two residencies connected to The World Reimagined, a groundbreaking international project to transform how we understand the Transatlantic trade of enslaved Africans. This month we host visual artists Jasmine Thomas-Girvan and Tamika Galanis, and look forward to welcoming Ras Akyem and Rodell Warner in June.
Each artist is working on a large globe sculpture which will be displayed across a number of cities in the UK, each responding to an element of historic slavery. The sculpture trails are at the centre of learning, community and heritage programmes that invite everyone to ask what it means to be Black and British, and to be British.
Images: Above, Jasmine Thomas-Girvan.
Magnetic: A New Franco-UK Network of
Artists' Residencies
Cove Park is delighted to be the Scottish residency taking part in a new network bringing together eight organisations to create a programme of funded residencies for visual artists based in France and the UK. The venues in France are CAPC in Bordeaux, CRAC Occitanie in Sète, FRAC Grand Large in Dunkerque, and Villa Arson in Nice; they are joined in the UK by Aberystwyth Arts Centre in Wales, Flax Art Studios in Northern Ireland, Grizedale Arts in England, and Cove Park.
Magnetic residencies are open to visual artists who have been living and working in France or in the UK for at least 3 years, and have presented their work in at least one professional contemporary art institution. France-based candidates are invited to apply for UK residencies and UK-based candidates for residencies in France. Full details about the programme and information about the host institutions is here. The deadline for all applications is Monday 30 May 2022.
Magnetic is a new collaboration conceived by the Institut français du Royaume-Uni and the four UK arts funding agencies, and produced under the umbrella of Fluxus Arts Projects, a charity founded and run by the Institut and supported by French and UK institutions and private donors.
Image: Magnetic.
Young Gaelic Writer Residency
This new residency, a collaboration between Cove Park and
Comhairle nan Leabhraichean / The Gaelic Books Council, will take place from 29 August - September 2022. It is aimed at Gaelic writers based in Scotland, aged between 18 and 25, and provides the time and funding required to develop current projects and focus upon new work. To support this, the resident will also receive one-to-one mentoring from the award-winning Gaelic poet Eòghan Stewart. Further information on the residency and details of how to apply are available here; the text in English is available here. The deadline for applications is Monday 20 June 2022.
We are delighted poet and former Cove Park resident Rody Gorman is an advisor to this programme and we look forward to working with Rody, Eòghan, and everyone at Comhairle nan Leabhraichean / The Gaelic Books Council this year.
Images: Eòghan Stewart (courtesy of Comhairle nan Leabhraichean / The Gaelic Books Council)
The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland - Contemporary Performance Practice Graduate Residency 2022
Our partnership with The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland continues this year, offering a recent graduate from Contemporary Performance Practice a research residency at Cove Park. We look forward to working with RCS again this year, and the recipient of the 2022 residency will be announced in the July edition of our Newsletter.
In the programme's first year, in 2021, the residency was awarded to Sally Charlton, and we are pleased to be working with Sally again this summer and offering one-to-one mentoring with theatre maker, actor and facilitator, Amy Conway, a participant in The Play Park, a pilot programme that took place earlier this year for UK-based mid-career theatre makers.
Image: Sally, Charlton, Cove Park Resident, 2021.
Cove Park / Varuna - the National Writers' House Residency Exchange Programme
This residency exchange, initiated in 2019, is a partnership between Cove Park and Varuna - the National Writers’ House of Australia, and is generously supported by The Bridge Awards.
We are delighted to confirm that the residencies this year have been awarded to the Scotland-based author and Cove Park Associate Nicola White, and to the Australia-based physician and writer Leah Kaminsky. Nicola will be traveling to Australia for her residency in September and October this year, and we look forward to hosting Leah at Cove Park throughout August.
Varuna’s International Writers Residency Programme is partially funded by Australia's Copyright Agency Cultural Fund and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and we are grateful to these organisations for their support.
Images: above Nicola White, below, Leah Kaminsky.
Royal Scottish Academy
Residencies for Scotland
RSA Residencies for Scotland is an artist-led scheme which provides valuable research and residency opportunities for artists. It forges important networks with centres of artistic excellence across Scotland, ranging from traditional residency venues to specialised production facilities.
In our second year of partnering with RSA Residencies for Scotland, we are delighted to welcome the Glasgow-based writer Rhona Warwick Paterson to Cove Park. During her residency Rhona will focus upon a new collaborative project developed with performer Eve Mutso, commissioned by Mount Stuart, where the work will be performed in September in Mount Stuart's Marble Hall.
Image: Still from Niki Niki Builds a Body performance at GOMA, May 2022. Rhona Warwick Paterson in collaboration with Tessa Lynch. Film by Helena Ohman.
NAARCA: Introducing Podcast Producer
Katie Revell
The Nordic Alliance of Artists’ Residencies on Climate Action aims to build a long-term bridge between the Nordic countries and Scotland around the most pressing global issue of our time. The collaboration is founded upon the geological, climatological, historical, and linguistic similarities that unite both regions, and is the starting point for a permanent, expansive and holistic network of radical cooperation.
As part of its wider programme of commissions and events, NAARCA will develop a podcast series. Each episode will feature speakers from Nordic Countries and Scotland representing different scientific, artistic, activist, and indigenous knowledge. The guest speakers and topics will be planned by a Podcast Producer in collaboration with NAARCA members and its advisory committee.
Following an open call earlier this year, we are pleased to announce the Podcast Producer is Katie Revell. Based in Glasgow, Katie is a freelance audio producer and filmmaker with a particular interest in food, climate change, and relationships to the land. Since 2016, Katie has been part of the team behind the award-winning Farmerama Radio podcast, which shares the voices of regenerative and agro-ecological farmers in the UK and beyond. She also co-produced Landed, a personal exploration of land ownership and colonial legacy told by a farmer’s son as he returns home to his family farm. More information on Katie is available here.
Image: Katie Revell
Unexpected Gardens: News, Announcements & Save the Date for Forthcoming Events
The development of our Unexpected Gardens on the Rosneath Peninsula is well underway - at both Cove Sailing Club and Centre 81 in Garelochhead - and we can now announce a number of forthcoming public events connected to the Gardens and developed through our partnership with the nationwide Dandelion project.
We are working with interdisciplinary artist, curator, and culinary designer Rudy Kanhye on this programme, connecting a series of events through locally sourced and shoreline produce, and exploring the social, cultural, and environmental importance of food, and of cooking and eating together.
We are pleased to share advance notice of the Unexpected Gardens events programme at Cove Park, Cove Sailing Club, and Centre 81, and are inspired by Simon Preston's The Town is the Menu. Please save the following dates: (tickets, when required, will be made available via our Eventbrite page in early June).
27 May
Friday Food at Cove Sailing Club
This is an opportunity to try Rudy's first menu and see the Garden in development. Please note, all Unexpected Gardens events at CSC are open to both members and non-members, and a suggested donation of £3.00 may be made at the door.
4 June
Saturday Studios at Craigrownie Park, Kilcreggan, 1-4pm
Following on from the Making Words workshop with Cove Park Associate and writer Alison Irvine, this event will reveal the chosen words to be planted in flowers in the park, with other plant based and family focussed activities. No need to book.
11 June
Regatta at Cove Sailing Club
The Annual Regatta marks the Club’s 50th Anniversary with races, music, and shore-side activities, with a second menu created especially for this event.
24 July
Loch Long Week - Sunday Buffet at Cove Sailing Club
Including on and off water events, and a Sunday Buffet by Rudy Kanhye.
6 August
Unexpected Picnic at Cove Park (2-4pm)
A family picnic to celebrate and thank all those involved in Cove Park's Unexpected Gardens. Food, music and activities for all the family. No need to book.
19 August
Cocktail Night at Cove Sailing Club
Exploring the use of locally foraged botanicals to add new elements to classic cocktails.
10 September
Dandelion Harvest Festival - Centre 81 & Cove Sailing Club
Celebrating the Unexpected Gardens and our partners. This all-day event with music, food and activities for the whole family starts at Centre 81 and concludes at Cove Sailing Club.
Dandelion is commissioned by EventScotland and funded via the Scottish Government. It is Scotland’s contribution to UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK.
Finally, we are seeking an Argyll-based gardener to work with us until September 2022 to help establish both of Cove Park's Unexpected Gardens. Further information on this post is available here.
Image: Rudy Kanhye at the site of the Unexpected Garden, Cove Sailing Club.
Dandelion Day Camp
25 - 29 July 2022
As part of our Unexpected Gardens project, we are piloting a summer engagement programme for up to twenty children between 8 - 12 years of age. Cove Park will host two artists with caring responsibilities who will deliver a full week of all-day arts activities. Over the course of the week, the children will try new activities, such as making banners and posters, taking part in dance and spoken word projects, food art, and more. The work the children produce will be presented at the Harvest Festival on 10 September. We are committed to providing this day camp without a price barrier, so we welcome 'Pay What You Feel' donation-based support to help cover the cost of materials.
From Monday to Friday, drop-off will be at 9am and pick-up by 5pm. To indicate your early interest in this programme, please fill out this form by 25 May. We will provide more details and open registration by mid-June.
Image: Miniature Gardens Workshop with Florence Dwyer, 2021
Saturday Studios: Sensory Forests with
Alkmini Gkousiari
Our regular programme of Saturday Studios takes place at Cove Park on 25 June. 2021 resident Alkmini Gkousiari and environmentalist Michaela Blair will lead an immersive workshop focusing on the plant life around Cove Park – embarking on a sensory exploration of the trees, mosses, ferns and lichens that inhabit our native woodlands. This workshop includes a relief printing activity with participants, recording shapes and textures while learning about the tastes and smells of our woodland plants.
To find out more and reserve your free place on either the morning or afternoon workshops, please visit Cove Park's Eventbrite page.
Images: Still from Congenial Soils and Favourable Situations, Rachel McBrinn and Alison Scott, 2022.
