Scotland In Europe; Europe in Scotland, Curated by Sandy Moffatt

Curated by Sandy Moffatt – This exhibition is showing in both Edinburgh & Brussels with support of the Scottish Government – ‘event photographs’ by Richard Demarco.

An exhibition entitled Scotland in Europe: Europe in Scotland celebrating both Richard Demarco’s 80th birthday and marking his unique contribution to the understanding of Scottish and European culture. Previously shown in Scotland House, Brussels.

The theme of the exhibition and of Richard Demarco’s life is connection. The aphorism “ Art begins in the meeting of friends “ with its implications both social and of constant new beginnings has often been associated with him. It may surprise some that a man who has so fully inhabited the often-febrile world of contemporary art is a man of deep religious conviction, and the sense of moral seriousness that has always marked his response to art and artists is rooted in this. The long term personal associations he has built up indicates that art and life are not separate. Art for him does not begin or end with an object.

Demarco’s approach means he has never sought to function as an exhibition curator as the term is commonly understood. It has neither been a matter of presenting a programme of exhibitions in which contemporaneousness or variety is conceived as sufficient raison d’etre in itself, nor of engaging lightly and moving on. On the contrary, running through his exhibitions, journeys, conferences and other events from the 1960’s onwards has been an unwavering purpose to change the terms of public discourse about art, society and politics, in both post-war and post-Cold War Europe.

The foundations of this ambitious project lie in his ethical and political commitments, but also in the relationships he has forged and sustained with individual artists, which clarified his commitment to ideas beyond aesthetics, to cultural pluralism, and the need to overcome the political and other forms of division that have so disfigured Europe during his lifetime. For that reason the idea of an endless flowing dialogue stands at the heart of this exhibition.

For the past three months Sandy Moffat has been acting as curator for the exhibition, working in collaboration with Richard Demarco and his deputy, Terry Ann Newman.

http://theahmblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/scotland-in-europe-europe-in-scotland.html

Dates:

4th August - 4th September

Time:

12 noon - 5pm

Duration:

August

Price:

FREE

Venue:

The Demarco Gallery - The War Memorial Library Summerhall

Tickets:

Further Information:

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