A renowned UK artist who is taking part in the 2018 Look Again festival of art and design will showcase her work as part of the prestigious La Biennale di Venezia.
Emily Speed’s commission for Look Again, a key cultural initiative of Robert Gordon University (RGU), will explore human beings’ transition to adulthood and the forming of identity though a series of workshops with young people, in collaboration with choreographer Jack Webb.
Working in partnership with Aberdeen-based Citymoves Dance Agency, Emily’s project will bring the streets of the city to life with costumes which are all based around local architecture.
The project, ‘Facades/Fronts’, will provide a playful and supportive space to develop ideas, with the final work being both a film and a public performance.
The film will also be shown as part of ‘The Happenstance’, Scotland’s contribution to the 16th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia in May, which is being led by WAVEparticle.
Emily will be in Aberdeen this weekend to start work on her project, which will be filmed at various sites across the city.
“Facades/Fronts will look at Aberdeen’s architecture and the imposing granite buildings which the city is famous for,” Emily said.
“We will be collaborating with young female dancers, who will wear costumes, which reference the city’s architecture, to create a film and a live public performance.
“Some façades within the city very clearly communicate power and money and the project will look to play with these qualities as a metaphor for the identity of the individual and how women in particular are positioned in public life.
Sally Reaper, Look Again festival director, added: “We are really excited to be working with Emily for the 2018 festival and it’s amazing for Look Again and Aberdeen to have this international link.
“This project, and much of the other work we are doing at Look Again, is really at the core of the new cultural strategy for the City. Through engaging young people in this project we are developing and nurturing our creative talent - empowering them to be bold and take risks in their practice, developing them both artistically and professionally.
“Emily’s project will help showcase the city on an international scale – the work being exhibited in Venice will have Aberdeen as the back drop with Aberdeen young people at the heart of the content and the cities architecture used as inspiration for the costume.”
Also taking part in La Biennale di Venezia will be 2017 Look Again artists, Pester + Rossi, who will repurpose some of their wearable sculptures for their submission to the project.