This talk by Devron Projects was carried out by Robyn Wolsey on behalf of the organisation. Devron Projects is based in Huntly, Aberdeenshire and is a socially engaged arts centre. The centre is a contemporary arts organisation that use the town of Huntly as a their gallery space as they don’t have one. Their main aim as a contemporary arts organisation is to bring the community together in new fun and inventive ways creating connections between people and art.
Katie Johnston – ‘Semi-Otics of the kitchen’
‘Semi-Otics of the kitchen’ Katie Johnston was a resident artist at the Deveron Projects for three months, during which she worked with various community groups to create artworks using pottery workshops.
It was her intention to have the community make 100 plates and 100 cups before her residency ended. As a result, the cups and plates have been used at a variety of community events and gatherings. Each cup contains an inscription from the maker commemorating something that was said at the time it was made.
I love the fact that the plates and cups have been made by the community for the community as working and functional pieces of art capitulating what it was like to make such amazing objects.
Maider Lopez – ‘How do you live this place’
Lopez used Huntley to determine the life and works of a late local cartographer. Their findings were incorporated into a piece of work that involved gathering and collecting stones and colour-coding them into different meanings.
For example, red would mean “This place means something to me” etc. They invited people to come and choose a stone with a colour that matched their memory and/ or experience connected with the space and place it around town in locations that were meaningful to them.