January 2023
The year begins with wonderful new individual and group residencies, welcoming national and international artists, writers and researchers to our 2023 programme.
Cove Park's funded residencies continue in January with the Glasgow-based performance maker Nic Green. Nic's residency was awarded through our 2022/23 funded residency programme and we look forward to welcoming Mele Broomes, Hatty Nestor, Miranda Bellamy & Amanda Fauteux and Zain Dada & Dhelia Snoussi in the first part of this year. Further funded residencies, being awarded via the recent open call for applications, will be announced in April.
The Paris-based artist David Douard returns this month for the final weeks of his Magnetic residency, part of the Franco-UK exchange programme made possible with support from the Institut français du Royaume Uni and Fluxus Art Projects.
January sees the launch of our Subsidised Winter Residencies and we are pleased to welcome writer Caroline Brothers and visual artists Jana Kühne, Karen Maxted, Freya Pocklington, and Sylvia Waltering. This programme continues during February and March and we can accept applications for subsidised residencies up until 6 March 2023. Please contact Nicola Jamieson directly for more information on how to take part.
Read on for the announcement of our 2023 Ecologies in the Making residency, the return of The Flames/Tricky Hat to Cove Park, news of the Playwrights' Studios Scotland programme, exciting developments taking place within the NAARCA collaboration, and a new Saturday Studios Workshop at Cove Park on 28 January. We are also pleased to share from our archives a wonderful online event from January last year, with poets Kathleen Jamie and Joséphine Bacon, marking the month when Scotland and the world celebrate Robert Burns.
Wishing all our residents, friends, partners, and supporters a happy and peaceful year ahead.
Image: Cove Park's site and Loch Long, January 2023.
Ecologies in the Making
We are thrilled to announce the Helsinki-based artist Santtu Laine is the recipient of the 2023 Ecologies in the Making residency. This residency is the second in a four year programme developed by the Academy of Fine Arts Uniarts Helsinki, Cove Park and Scottish Sculpture Workshop.
The residencies support making practices at a time of climate breakdown and are aimed at MFA alumni of the Academy of Fine Arts, particularly those with sculptural methods or material processes. The programme supports research and the development of new work and Santtu will be based at Cove Park in March and April this year, before moving to SSW for a further eight weeks and the opportunity to produce new work in the residency's workshop. Further information on Santtu's residency and work is available here.
The residency is made possible by a donation to Uniarts Helsinki from the Saastamoinen Foundation. We are also grateful to former resident and interdisciplinary artist Hang Linton, Curator of Glasgow's Common Guild Chloe Reith, and Lecturer at Uniarts Helsinki Academy of Fine Arts James Prevett for taking part in the selection process for the residency this year.
Image: Santtu Laine (courtesy of the artist).
The Flames at Cove Park
The Flames make a very welcome return to Cove Park this month. Devised by the theatre making company Tricky Hat, The Flames is an acclaimed performance company for people aged 50+. Participants come to Cove Park at the beginning of each year to explore and experiment, to challenge themselves, and to create new ideas and approaches collaboratively. The work produced at Cove Park feeds directly into multiple live performances over the course of the coming year.
The Flames work with members of Tricky Hat's team, including Artistic Director Fiona Miller, digital artist Kim Beveridge, composer Mick Slaven, and dancer and choreographer Aya Kobayashi. This year's participating Flames will be announced online at the end of January.
Image: The Flames, 'Don't Stop Me Now', 2022 (photography, Jassy Earl)
Playwrights' Studio Scotland at Cove Park
Cove Park and Playwrights' Studio Scotland have a longstanding collaboration through which many Scotland-based playwrights have received residencies to support the creation of a new play. We are delighted to host Robbie MacLeòid this month and look forward to welcoming Mamoru Iriguchi in early February through PSS’ Play Development Bursary programme.
Images: above, 2023 PSS residents Robbie MacLeòid (photography, Lightbox, St Andrews); below, Mamoru Iriguchi.
News from NAARCA
The Nordic Alliance of Artists’ Residencies on Climate Action (NAARCA) is delighted to announce a new partner: Narsaq International Research Station is an independent non-profit research residency with a focus on cultural and scientific research in South Greenland.
NAARCA is a collaboration between seven artists’ residencies: Cove Park, Saari Residence (Finland), Artica Svalbard (Norway), Art Hub Copenhagen (Denmark), Baltic Art Center (Sweden), Skaftfell Art Center (Iceland) and Narsaq International Research Station (Greenland). We are working together to develop, test and communicate new ways of living that are ecologically, socially, mentally and financially sustainable. We believe artists’ residencies are exceptional institutions within the arts sector: safe environments for experimentation, where private, professional and public life intertwine.
This year NAARCA release TESTING GROUNDS, an 8-part conversational podcast series. As the climate crisis accelerates, how can artists’ residencies be testing grounds for new – and better – ways of living and working? Through this series, NAARCA brings together artists, researchers and activists from across the Nordic region and Scotland to explore this question.
The introductory episode of Testing Grounds will be released on 27 January with new episodes available on the last Friday of each month. To subscribe and listen to the teaser trailer, visit naarca.art/testing-grounds-podcast/ or search for Testing Grounds in your favourite podcast app.
Image: NARSAQ, South Greenland.
From the Archive
Exploring Environment through Literature: Kathleen Jamie & Joséphine Bacon
In January 2022 Scotland's Makar Kathleen Jamie was joined by Innu writer Joséphine Bacon for readings of their own works followed by a discussion and Q&A facilitated by Dr Pauline Mackay, Associate Director of Robert Burns Studies at the University of Glasgow.
Marking the month when Scotland and the world celebrates Robert Burns’ poetry, we recorded two internationally acclaimed poets from Scotland and Québec, who share Burns’ strong appreciation for nature. Listen to this wonderful event here.
This event was presented by Cove Park in partnership with the Québec Government Office in London and Scottish Affairs for Canada, with the support of British Council and the collaboration of Scottish Poetry Library.
Image: Left, Kathleen Jamie; right, Joséphine Bacon.
Saturday Studios in January
Plant Based Photography with Edd Carr
Our first Saturday Studios of 2023 will take place at Cove Park on Saturday 28 January and will be led by 2022 resident Edd Carr, a visual artist based in Leeds and co-founder of The Sustainable Darkroom,
Edd creates photographic animations and chemigrams from sustainable and natural materials. Chemigrams are typically made by painting a mixture of chemicals onto light sensitive paper; however, in this workshop, Edd will share a process which uses plant-based developers instead of harsh chemicals.
This free workshop is part of our NAARCA programme and is open to children aged 11 years and over. No prior experience is necessary. For more information and to book your place please visit Cove Park's Eventbrite page.
Image: Courtesy of Edd Carr.
