Scotland + Venice

Artwork spotlight 💡 ‘Make-Do’ by Ism

How do we learn to make do with what we have? What creativity forms and what resilience is bred when parameters are placed in front of us?

In isolation, an island can be geographically fragmented with limited access to resources. Orcadians have, for centuries, become accustomed to finding resilience in the face of adversities such as colonisation and climate change.

In Make-Do, means of creating and innovating with less are celebrated, by reinforcing the importance of vernacularism to honour the land and harmonise with it.

Swipe to see some more of the work and the Ism team ➡️ The exhibition has now closed in Venice, but you'll have a chance to see the work when opens in V&A Dundee next November!

Artwork spotlight 💡'Working Title for a Working Model’ by /other and made by Mahbuba Choudhury.

This experimental landscape model is inspired by the environments of Loch Ness across several scales, in particular the micro-scapes upon forest floors and tree branches that are layered with moss, lichen and other forms of life.

The model does not faithfully recreate the topography of a place local to the area; instead, it is used to question the design certainty with which architects and practitioners arrange the landscape, to create something that is ‘finished’, rather than embrace the fragile and ever-changing seasonal form and appearance of the land.

With this in mind, the model has been created with materials and tools used in textile design practice that allow for plasticity and an easy reconfiguration. The ground can be altered and layered with information, creating a working model that functions in time as much as in space, anticipating the seasons and cycles of extraction from the land.

At the same time, the reference to the soft, small-scale textures of the forest reflects a desire to bridge the gap between map and territory, between representation and reality, giving the landscape model the same unclassifiable status as the architecture that so often sits upon it.

Swipe to see some more of the work and the /other team ➡️ The exhibition has now closed in Venice, but you'll have a chance to see the work when opens in V&A Dundee next November!

We're delighted to announce that A Fragile Correspondence, the Scotland + Venice partnership collateral event for the 18th International Architecture Exhibition, will return to Scotland after successful run at La Biennale di Venezia!

The exhibition, curated by Architecture Fringe , Ism and /other, will be showcased at V&A Dundee from November 2024.

Head to our website to read more! 🌿🌊🏭

https://scotlandandvenice.com/news/a-fragile-correspondence-to-return-to-scotland-after-successful-run-at-la-biennale-di-venezia/

We have one final event in our exhibition space at _docks_cantieri cucchini before closes on Sunday 26 November, and it's taking place this Saturday!

Expanding the Lexicon: Lessons from the Landscape will feature in-person conversations between the curators of A Fragile Correspondence and special guests from across the Biennale reflecting on the themes of topics presented throughout The Laboratory of the Future.

🗓️ Saturday 25th November 11am to 1pm at _docks_cantieri cucchini

Click the link in our bio to find out more and register for free (there’s the choice of attending in person or via zoom) and swipe to see who's on our wonderful panel.

We have two final events in our exhibition space at _docks_cantieri cucchini before closes on Sunday 26 November, and the first of these is this Friday!

Wanderlands: Earth, Story, Time - Australia, Ireland, Scotland at La Biennale di Venezia is a curated wander between the exhibitions of Ireland, Scotland and Australia, and will feature round table discussions between the national curators reflecting on the intersecting themes of time, earth, and story.

The morning starts with a roundtable discussion at the Scotland + Venice exhibition space before moving on to the Arsenale and Giardini.

🗓️ Friday 24th November 10.30am to 1.15pm, starting at _docks_cantieri cucchini, S. Pietri di Castello, Venice, Italy.

Head to this page to find out more and register for free – there’s the choice of attending in person or via zoom!
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/architecturefringescotland/1044208?

Artwork spotlight 💡’Extraction’ by Frank McElhinney and Hamshya Rajkumar.

Extraction consists of two clusters of silver birch saplings, one of six and the other of twenty-six. Six is the atomic number of Carbon, twenty-six that of Iron. When Carbon is added to Iron in the correct quantities, steel is formed.

The birch saplings stand in metal containers. Each sapling is smeared with birch oil. The oil has a strong carbolic aroma. The sculpture reveals something of the process of its making. The oil has been extracted from birch bark using destructive distillation. Bark is packed within sealed metal containers that are placed in fire.

Starved of oxygen, the bark carbonises and releases the oil that leaches away through a hole in the bottom of the container where it is then collected. Birch seeds are embedded within the oil on the saplings. These tiny seeds have wings, they fly on the wind setting down roots and growing as a pioneer species wherever they land on virtually any soil. The materials used were gathered from Ravenscraig.

Swipe to discover more and see how the piece looks in the exhibition space ➡️➡️

Artwork spotlight 💡’Pioneer’ by Frank McElhinney and Hamshya Rajkumar.

Pioneer is a series of twenty two silver gelatin prints tipped-in to a hand made artist’s book. These photographs were originally made as pinhole paper negatives. Each exposure typically lasted several minutes. The views are of the landscape of Ravenscraig and a pioneer figure exploring that landscape. �

Thirty years after the closure of the vast steelworks, a resurgent natural environment is now being challenged once again by human development of roads, housing and other amenities. The pioneer asks: What if exploration and discovery were about understanding unfamiliar spaces rather than conquering or taking ownership of them? What if a pioneer was someone who tried to merge with nature through empathy and care rather than seeking to dominate?

Swipe to see some more of the work and how it’s presented in the exhibition ➡️

What if rammed earth can be built with locally sourced materials instead of timber formwork?

Join us for Part 2 of this fantastic workshop at ran by Scarlett Lee, one of our PDP participants!

⏰ Sat 18 Nov, 6:30pm - 9.30pm
📍_docks_cantieri cucchini
🔗 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/earth-workshop-part-2-building-rammed-earth-with-fabric-and-bamboo-tickets-759879278377?aff=oddtdtcreator&fbclid=IwAR3Mkkn6FRUS34kjCUbRhN7a_m1zJbYc4fbWsxQli8bnSX0EXVuZMnvJKs0

A Fragile Correspondence is presented as the closing lecture of the first semester at Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture this Friday 17 November, 5pm - 6:30pm.

It's free to attend for ArcSco members or £8 on the door.

After an Open Call asking artists & writers to respond to the themes of , Harvey Dimond wrote Atlantic Assemblages, a three-part text considering how colonialism has shaped the natural ecologies of Scotland, South Africa & Barbados. Read the full piece on our website 👇

https://scotlandandvenice.com/writing/atlantic-assemblages/

Artwork spotlight 💡’Doire Gheugach (branched grove)’ by Raghnaid Sandilands.

Doire Gheugach draws attention to fragile ancient woodlands: often out of sight and far from memory, there was another time when they were known and named.

Names in a language indigenous to place carry knowledge; of life growing, descriptions of colour. They speak of human capacity, attention to conditions underfoot; the quality of the light or weather; old beliefs, encounters with the otherworld, stories of lives lived, gatherings and partings. Everything is an echo, everything resounds.

Maps are a way of noticing and remembering, a means to measure value and care.

The colours here are taken from Doire Gheugach and the forest’s birch, heather, and lichen. This map aims to observe the branching organic shape of Doire Gheugach and its particular colours, letting the forest speak through them. Stitching the thread is an act of care, mending and connection, which is what these fragile places need.

Swipe to read more about the work and see what it looks like amongst the wider exhibition ➡

Join us at Docks Cantieri Cucchini for Earth Talk & Workshop Part 1, ran by one of our PDP participants, Scarlett Lee 🌎

The workshop will discuss adaptation to climate change, especially to flooding, and explore earth buildings and rammed earth. Everyone is welcome, and this event is ideal for those who are interested in sustainable materials, design and buildings.

⏰ Sat 11 Nov from 6:30pm - 9.30pm at Docks Cantieri Cucchini. Register for free here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/earth-talk-workshop-part-1-can-earth-buildings-be-flood-resilient-tickets-753260702037

Part 2 of this event will be held in November 18th - more information soon!

Artwork spotlight 💡 'Boundary Layers' by Dr Amanda Thomson.

Boundary Layers is a dual screen filmwork, projected onto a steel table, that takes as its starting point the landscape of Ravenscraig as it is now. It explores the traces of the former steelworks that remain and how new communities of plants, and how they grow, re-inscribe what was there before, revealing a legacy grain to the land.

Using contemporary film and archive footage of the steelworks, the work considers changes in place over time, drawing attention to the minutiae of mosses and lichens and the often overlooked but remarkable nature and value of the plants and wildlife that have reclaimed the site and made it their home.

Swipe to find out more about the work and read a quote from Dr Amanda Thomson ➡

“A Fragile Correspondence challenges preconceived views of Scotland in the context of the climate emergency.” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - The Times and The Sunday Times

November is your last month to visit at Docks Cantieri Cucchini as part of La Biennale di Venezia ! The exhibition is open between 10:00 – 18:00, from Tuesday - Sunday.

Located in the Lowlands of Scotland by the town of Motherwell, Ravenscraig was the largest hot strip steel mill in Western Europe at the time of its closure in 1992.

Ravenscraig’s current condition is often perceived through binary understandings of place: construction/demolition, technology/nature, old/new, visible/invisible.

asks us to see and read the landscape as found, as a place of authenticity and value, neither negating its contemporary condition through nostalgia for the past for the steelworks which are no longer there, nor by a blind sprint into the future, to a place of reconfigured contours, roundabouts, and scattered, developer-led housing.

Erase (English) - remove all traces of; destroy or obliterate.

Saunt (Scots) - To disappear, to vanish, especially in a sudden or mysterious manner, to be silently swallowed up.

How can we engage with existing places without causing destructive erasure?

After an Open Call asking artists and writers for a creative promotional response to the themes of A Fragile Correspondence, Harper Walton was commissioned to write Abundant Nectar, a poem which explores the geographically distinct areas of Highland, Island and Lowland as q***r spaces through a transgender and non-binary lens.

You can read the poem on the writing section of our website: https://www.scotlandandvenice.com/writing/abundant-nectar/

📸 Alyesha Choudhury.

Artwork spotlight 💡 ‘Raining Memories: Orkney as a linguistic palimpsest’ by Professor Donna Heddle 🌊

Raining Memories looks at the Orkney landscape as a palimpsest of words and memories superimposed upon each other from different eras. It explores the chronological succession of languages in the Orkney archipelago as a series of rain showers falling upon the earth and enriching it. It starts with an Ogham inscription from a spindle-whorl dating from the Early Middle Ages, probably the 8th Century, which was found in 1970 in Buckquoy, Orkney.

The work continues with Futhark runes, which are the only inscriptions found to-date in Orkney scribed by the Norse settlers. Overlaid upon the runes is the Norn language, now extinct, which was similar to modern Icelandic and Faroese. The final layer, or rain shower, is of Orcadian Scots from the Orkney dialect of the Scots Leid (language) found in use today.

Swipe to see some close-ups of the artwork, which was illustrated by Erin Bradley-Scott ➡️

"Time is a language, shape-shifting across landscapes."

In Island Time, Natasha Thembiso Ruwona responds to themes presented in the Orkney section of .

Read her specially-commissioned piece on our website: https://scotlandandvenice.com/writing/island-time/

In Orkney, A Fragile Correspondence examines how the local population have for centuries negotiated the forces of nature, in particular the dynamic and powerful sea, as an example of an evolving relationship between people and place.

The two words explored are:

Fragment (English) - a small part broken off or separated from something.

Adapt (English) – to modify or adjust to new conditions.

Facing new challenges and changes, what do we need to modify to work with the environment and landscape, and not against it?

The Lexicon forms a key part of the exhibition, gathering words and ideas from the research undertaken for A Fragile Correspondence. The Lexicon is offered as an alternative glossary of terms, concepts and ideas for Architecture. View the Lexicon website via this link: https://afragilecorrespondence.org

Commissioned by the Scotland + Venice partnership around the themes of , Diyora Shadijanova explores the erasure of contemporary landscapes in HeraldScotland.

Agenda: Why new build may not be the answer for Ravenscraig

Ravenscraig at the centre of a new controversy Wikipedia describes Ravenscraig as a "village" and a "new town", but when I travel there one sunny afternoon, it's all roads and…

“What captivates me most about the exhibit is this emphasis on language. Exploring how this powerful tool shapes our thoughts and actions presents a compelling argument for cultivating a more interconnected and sustainable relationship with the Earth and its diverse inhabitants.”

The creative team behind A Fragile Correspondence asked the PDP participants to select a piece of writing from the reading room and add their own personal reflections. Maxwell Wilson selected Ways of Being by James Bridle, and writes about the use of language throughout the exhibition.

Read his reflections on the Scotland + Venice website: https://scotlandandvenice.com/writing/pdp-reflections-maxwell-wilson/

📸 Fiona Wylie

PDP Reflections: Maxwell Wilson Maxwell Wilson formed part of the Professional Development Programme, during the summer. From Lhanbryde, Moray, he was a Stage 6 student at the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture in Aberdeen, graduating in July. Before going to Venice Maxwell said, “Throughout my time in architecture school, ...

Artwork spotlight 💡 ‘A Dance of the Pines’ by Dele Adeyemo

‘A Dance of the Pines’ exposes the violence hidden within romantic picturesque notions of the Scottish Highlands to foreground the ways in which the land speaks of the value of the Scots Pine.

At the centre of is the remnants of a 4,000 year-old Scots Pine. Preserved within the peat bog where it died, the tree root dates from a time when the Scottish Highlands were covered by the rich ecology of the ancient Caledonian Forest. The absence of the tree from the heather-clad hills today speaks to deep and often violent impacts human activity has had upon the landscape.

In the 18th Century when the wealth derived from the profits of slavery reshaped the Highlands into monopoly estates for agriculture, shooting and fishing, an ideal of wilderness was projected onto the landscape through the Picturesque imaginary.

Discover more about ‘A Dance of the Pines’ below ⬇️

The thoughts of the Scotland + Venice team are with all those affected by the tragic incident on Tuesday night, and we are thinking about all our friends in Venice at this difficult time.

Looking at the forests of Loch Ness, explore the issue of extraction and how it affects the biodiversity, cultural identity and environmental sustainability of the land in a local context.

The forest landscape has been subject to mass material extraction and deforestation for industry, war, and managed for sport. All of this has caused severe ecological degradation alongside profound cultural loss, such as Gaelic place names that have so vividly described a landscape that is no longer the same.
Related terms that are tied to Loch Ness include:

Extract (English) - to remove something, to take it out of its surroundings, especially by effort or force
Cothromachadh (Gaelic) - the act of balancing, finding equilibrium.

Where do you see extraction happening in your landscape?

The Lexicon forms a key part of the exhibition, gathering words and ideas from the research undertaken for . The Lexicon is offered as an alternative glossary of terms, concepts and ideas for Architecture. View the Lexicon website: https://afragilecorrespondence.org/

Visiting at Docks Cantieri Cucchini? 🌿

The opening hours have been updated to 10:00 – 18:00, from Tuesday - Sunday. The exhibition continues until Sun 26 Nov.

Find out all about here: https://scotlandandvenice.com/project/a-fragile-correspondence/

📸 Image by Daniele Sambo

Artwork spotlight 💡 Standing Words and Gaa by Aaron McCarthy

On display as part of , Standing Words and Gaa form an assemblage of sculpture and lens-based work which explores the meteorological landscape of Orkney in the Neolithic and modern periods. Created by Aaron McCarthy, an artist based in Angus, Scotland, who uses lens based media, installation and sound to critically explore ideas of place, heritage and language.

Constructed from laser-cut steel and wrapped in a water-resistant fabric, the sculptures become potential construction material in an uncertain future whilst reflecting a deep past.

Discover more about the piece ⬇️

Part of , the lexicon provides terms and definitions, collated through research and project development, to bring unfamiliar, evocative world perceptions to light 💡

The lexicon wall situates the themes introduced through the three locations in a network for related terms. Provocations tied to these terms, in turn, invite us to think more broadly about how we view and shape landscapes, architecture and the world around us.

You can explore the full lexicon, with more terms and content, here: https://afragilecorrespondence.org/

📸 Photo credit: Robb Mcrae

We're thrilled that will be presented at this year's Architecture At The Edge Festival in Galway, on Friday 8 October! 🌱

In response to Architecture At The Edge’s provocation of Re-Mapping, the curators of A Fragile Correspondence will present ideas on how we might deepen our correspondence with these landscapes, to renegotiate our perceptions of language, land and place.

Presented by co-curators Aoife Bláithnaid Nolan, Mia Pinder Hussein, and Andy Summers.

Tickets go on sale this Thursday. Find out more about this year's festival: https://www.architectureattheedge.com/festival-2023

Some of the beautiful cyanotypes created at last Friday's workshop, Stories of the Sea, ran by our PDP participants 🌊

Cyanotypes are created by placing objects or negatives on paper and exposing the light-sensitive surface to the sun, which turns blue ☀️

Tonight: We're delighted to be hosting Stories of the Sea 🌊 at Docks Cantieri Cucchini, ran by our PDP participants!

This Cyanotype workshop explores themes of community, tourism and water. Cyanotype, also known as sun printing, was originally a process used to create blueprints. However the aim of the workshop is to explore it creatively.

⏰ Fri 25 August from 6.30pm until 9.45pm at Docks Cantieri Cucchini
Free workshop, all materials will be provided. Please do bring photo negatives or items with interesting textures surfaces along!

It was a pleasure to host a Hands-on Model Making workshop recently at at Docks Cantieri Cucchini!

Curated by Kiana Eskandani from the , participants created miniature structures and drawings inspired by the architecture they had observed during their time in Venice. Showcasing the city's rich history and unique design, it was amazing to see Venice from people’s eyes.

We love that the space is being used as a place for creativity to grow and flourish! 🌱

In response to the themes of , writer Eilidh Akilade explores land ownership - imagined, formal, and otherwise. Centring around the Isle of Lewis, the piece looks to the island’s history, familial encounters with the natural landscape, and the Gaelic language.

The piece interweaves the island’s complex history of land ownership with a collective voice looking to a family’s experiences & imaginations.

Land now fantastical when jarred Eilidh Akilade touches on our relationship with land, a subject of examination in the Scotland + Venice exhibition this year