Where Soul Meets Body

by Sarah Grant, 24 Oct 2009

Tasked with reflecting on RE: IMAGINING THE CENTRE 2009 in this month’s blog I seem to be suffering from what they must call ‘writers block’! My issue is not being a lack of material to blog about, but in fact the entire opposite – too much! Where do I begin?! So I have today taken myself to a café in Leith [my new locale] in an attempt to get some caffeine motivation and jog down all my memories….

So double shot Latte in hand…. here I go….

RE: IMAGINING begun on a exceptionally windy Tuesday – I was still working here in Edinburgh – but was getting updates throughout the day from those involved and monitoring comments starting to appear on the IOTA social networking sites. As Jen & Annie [Sundog’s] began to take over the old town with red wool, I received updates of wild weather, flying pom poms and old ladies clinging to lamp-posts! Sounded insane but already people were commenting on the ‘red’ takeover of the city; “Church Street was looking great this morning!”

Day 2 [Wednesday 9th] – the graffiti artists arrive into town * cue cowboy western music *. They loaded up their spray cans and strutted down Baron-Taylor Street and set upon their attack. Meanwhile elsewhere in the city artist Ginny Hutchison was on a Willy Wonka style crusade covering locations in gold-leaf for the ‘lucky’ public to find as part of the Seven Sunsets project.

That evening I made my way en-route to the Highlands, excited for the days ahead……

On Thursday evening, philosophical debate was on the menu. I was invited to attend The Philosophers Salon, held at Leakeys Bookshop, with many of the original philosophers present. The original 2007 debate was used to steer lead artist Matt Baker’s decision-making process when selecting the cities three virtues Insight, Perseverance and Open-Heartedness were the chosen ones]. Two years on and had Matt selected wisely? Were these virtues evident amongst our community today? These were a couple of the questions raised. Community and social inclusion was a prevalent topic throughout the evening [our own open-heartedness to new cultures in the city] and the need to embrace the change to the Highland community; being less concerned about where people came from but more accepting to the reality that we are all different and should rejoice in this fact. The importance of public art and spaces was also examined and its contribution to the quality of life ideals for our community – reminding some of the councillors present of its relevance to our city and the planning process. Perseverance seemed to be the culminating topic of debate in regards to how the city could continue to diligently move forward.

Where should we go from here? Particularly if perseverance is the virtue we have selected to abide to…..

As the week progressed regional and national press had began to pick up on the happenings, triggering a debate on the various online and offline mediums. With debate being a key objective for the RE: IMAGINING event the ball was evidently rolling………

By Friday debate was still rousing, on the streets and in the media, and it therefore seemed a fitting time for the Clanjamfrey to begin. The Clanjamfrey was a two day debate where invited speakers were to act as catalysts, introducing a topic before extending the dialogue to the floor, covering issues such as our cities heritage, religion, creativity and identity – leading on nicely, I thought, from Thursday’s philosophy debate.

There was lively debate and people from around Britain brought their own expertise and experience to bear on our beloved Sneckie it was only a shame that few local artists had taken up the opportunity to attend these debates – it felt like a missed opportunity for them to get their voices heard, and having sat in on the discussions that day that the content of the seminars would have been particularly relevant to many.

Friday evening I ventured into the Victorian Market with friends to experience ‘Big Fat Electric’ in the ‘Secret Life of the Victorian Market’ project – in which the cities Victorian shopping arcade was re-opened in the early evening for those quick enough to obtain the limited tickets. I attended the later showing [10pm] and it was a rather surreal experience to be standing in this familiar shopping venue but in an entirely different context – i.e. electronic music and projections. The bizarre circumstance made the attendees, including me, more reserved than the norm and perhaps if we should have been encouraged or instructed to dance, explore, participate a bit more. All the ingredients were certainly in place…….beautiful music, a quirky location, stunning installations and projections – but it felt like we were all waiting for someone to make a move, break out into dance and unfortunately nobody did. Maybe it was the introverted nature of us Highlanders that held us back?

Whisky! That’s maybe what was missing……

Saturday for me was catching the start of Neville Gabies lecture – part Deux of the Clanjamfrey – at the Cathedral and running back to a busy Church Street to meet with the local radio presenters whom were covering the events live on the street. The ICA magazine team had put on a special RE: IMAGINING event in Hootenanny’s as part of their own counter-culture movement ‘Le Parade Noir’ which involved Manga Anime projections and a customised play-list for people to enjoy. The good weather actually played havoc with the projections meaning the event was taken indoors due to too much sun! I caught the tail-end of the Amy Marletta dance troupe which attracted a large crowd, and as the sun continued to shine it was fantastic to see an amass of people exploring the displays around the city. The graffiti, now complete, looked fantastic and was gaining much praise from passer-bys. I took a group of my friends along to the Church Street graveyard to see the ‘infamous’ graveyard cosies by Sundogs which seemed all that more strikingly ‘red’ in the glare of the sun!

Saturday evening was one of my particular highlights of the week with Dan Norton’s ‘Ablab’ projections and music beamed out onto the walls of Church Street. In the crisp autumnal air, we stood that evening on the street gazing up. A mixture of RE: IMAGINING spectators and city revellers stopped in their tracks to see the gradually changing images projected onto the buildings. To finish the evening we experienced the eclectic collaboration of artist collective GANGHUT and our own local muso Jeep Solid, taking to the ganghut-assembled stage and rocking out Church Street as we all danced along.

I had a few moments on Saturday night where I felt almost emotional with the realisation that three years had passed from the original IMAGINING the Centre ²⁰⁰⁶, where IOTA really began. Our very much missed colleague and friend – public art co-ordinator Evi Westmore – who was sadly taken from us in 2007, would have been so utterly thrilled with what was taking place in the city this week and what has transpired over the past three years. The city has certainly had ambition with the major streetscaping regeneration and the IOTA projects of past. Looking back to my original blog on PAR-RS it’s amazing to me what has been achieved over the years; and whether people loved or loathed each project….things were happening! Artists and community members that may have not worked together have as an outcome formed strong relationships. The city has been reformed with new street furniture, works and public art. And make no mistake there is still a lot that needs done, but its progress in a relatively short space of time.

So where does the IOTA project go from here? Who or what will spur the movement on so that the city can continue on its ambitious crusade to make its voice heard amongst the international arts community? From my own studies last year into urban culture the key findings were that events and cultural celebrations were great tools to generate civic pride but in regards to legacy development, the importance of supporting the local creative industries out-with these events, is vital so that they can take lead on the cities cultural growth. Previous research highlights that the top-down management approach of governmental authorities can exclude the consensus of the community, and therefore community-led advancement seems in most cases to be the most beneficial route.

“They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself” [Andy Warhol]