The UK’s largest annual festival for visual art, The Edinburgh Art Festival (EAF) is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The city is hosting over 55 exhibitions and events. This year’s theme bridges local and global perspectives, celebrating those who inspire change and foster solidarity through persistence.
Persistence covers everything from personal histories to post-colonial landscapes and the global political stage. This edition focuses on themes such as queer and post-colonial perspectives, public and live experiences, historically overlooked subjects, and the interconnectedness of our ecological environment.
After a short walk away at the Royal Botanic Garden, there is a locally crafted table made from a diseased cedar tree. According to Giles Sutherland in The Times, it has become a “literal and conceptual space for discussion.” The Colombian cultural foundation Más Arte Más Acción is hosting a series of performances and readings here to explore the connections between humans and plants during the age of biodiversity loss.
Prem Sahib’s “Liquid Gold” (2016-ongoing) is a site-specific light installation located at Bard, a gallery and studio housed within one of Scotland’s oldest customs buildings. The installation consists of a subtle, dusty-yellow glow emanating from the building’s windows, visible only “after hours” when the daylight in Edinburgh diminishes.
Sahib’s interest in color, form, and spatial relationships is further explored in this installation of Liquid Gold. The glow of the installation not only reflects the financial and legal history of the Bard building and the surrounding portside properties but also alludes to ideas of divinity, power, spirituality, solar energy, and higher philosophical ideals such as those presented by Plato or Kant.
The exhibition at Stills featuring contemporary Ukrainian photography is a powerful portrayal of life in Ukraine. It includes striking images capturing the urgency and reality of the situation. An old man picks up his shattered belongings in a blown off house. Displaced Ukrainians squeeze themselves into small spaces.
The work ranges from semi-abstract images of charred landscapes and deserted chairs at the Polish border to gravely captivating portraits of citizens and bunkers. It shows the power of photography and reminds the situation in Ukraine. It proves that photography is the most dramatic and effective way to share knowledge.
In the former Glasite Meeting House, the Ingleby Gallery is currently showcasing California Gardens by the LA painter Hayley Barker. The paintings depict abundant and vibrant gardens that they almost overwhelm the viewer. The scenes include a violet twilight over winding paths, glimmering nasturtiums and cyclamen at dusk, and a pale moon rising over fronds. These paintings represent the four seasons, despite the fact that Los Angeles does not have distinct seasonal changes.
The festival perfectly captures the Fringe’s spirit, enriching the city’s dynamic art scene with its diverse and vibrant exhibitions.
