Look Again. Robert Gordon University & Aberdeen City Council

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2 Look Again Aberdeen has a huge amount to offer and, alongside existing festivals, Look Again will showcase the city s ambition to become recognised for its cultural offering. Robert Gordon University & Aberdeen City Council The Look Again Visual Art & Design Festival aims to showcase the very best in visual art and design in North East Scotland by putting the region firmly on the map as a centre of excellence for innovative and imaginative visual projects. It aims to enable new connections to be made locally, nationally and internationally while supporting and promoting both the current and next generation of artists and designers from the region was our pilot year and the main aim was to re-engage the residents of Aberdeen to look again at something that already existed within our cultural offer and learn something new about our cultural heritage. By placing art work into to the everyday it became part of the urban landscape, allowing for a by chance interaction, an important element in making art available and accessible to all. A highlight of the 2015 festival was the Look at Me Sculpture Trail, which saw seven artists commissioned to re-dress six of the city centre s civic Victorian sculptures, inspiring the general public to become tourists in their own city. It used contemporary visual art and design to engage the public, without the hierarchal association of entering a gallery. Over 21,000 people engaged with the public artworks, which saw people interacting, discussing and enjoying the installations and discovering new facts about the history of Aberdeen. In 2016 the Look Again Festival will run from 27 April - 2 May, aligning with the Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design and seeks to build upon the successes of the 2015 programme. Central to this years festival are two large-scale projects focussed around Aberdeen city centre. Six new urban interventions will be commissioned in response to the architectural heritage of the city, highlighting architectural and urban features. Each of the commissioned artists will be invited to respond to the architecture itself, to a street name, to architectural terminology, to historical references, material, scale, light and reflection and also to the internal workings of a space and its place. A temporary mirrored pavilion will also be placed in the city s Castlegate, reflecting the historical architecture of the area. These are considered particularly important given that in 2015 Aberdeen was the winner of the dubious accolade of the Plook on the Plinth Carbuncle award by Urban Realm magazine. Collectively these six commissioned artworks and the mirrored pavilion, along with other festival activity, will inform, expose and reflect our city in a new light.

3 the journey It was identified through local cultural providers that the region lacked a large-scale festival which celebrated visual art and design in the North East. Look Again was born out of these discussions and 2015 was the start of a three year journey in developing a significant project that we hope will become an important event in Scotland s cultural calendar. Over the next two years it is important for Look Again to move from commissioning temporary artworks to a more permanant approach, leaving a lasting legacy on the city. If we are to acheive this permanancy then we need to develop a sustained engagement over a two-year period with high profile artists to ensure they have time to research the area and embed themselves in our local community. Your support will help Look Again grow over the next two years and allow us to achieve the following: Increase the range of artistic excellence presented and produced by the festival, by engaging a greater range of internationally recognised artists and designers. Strengthen and broaden the range of our audience engagement and participation by extending the area in which the festival presents activity from largely Aberdeen City into Aberdeenshire and by encouraging individuals to visit the festival from a wider geographical catchment area. Develop the festival s approach to creating new audiences for visual art and design by presenting its major commissions within the public realm and shift from creating a range of temporary installations to interventions that leave a legacy on the region and thereafter include permanent public artworks within the region. Provide unique opportunities for local talent to be commissioned and showcase their work as part of the festival. Export local, national and internationall work commissioned by and for the Look Again festival. Other cities such as Dundee, Glasgow, Bristol, Liverpool and Stavanger have benefitted from producing vibrant cultural events which showcase excellence across contemporary visual art and design. These events have created a buzz and energy on an international stage, providing economic growth and civic pride. Look Again allows the public to become tourists in their own city. In 2016 we invite them to become lost as you would if you were to visit another city, by wandering and discovering. This is the chance to be part of something exceptional in the heart of Aberdeen.

4 #blueskythinker Albert The Prince Consort Union Terrace, Aberdeen Colin Priest Look at Me Sculpture Trail 2015

5 21,000 people engaged, photographed, filmed, glanced, discussed, laughed and enjoyed Look Again Oor Mannie The Mannie Castlegate, Aberdeen Philip Thompson Look at Me Sculpture Trail 2015

6 Number one in The Herald s things to do this weekend arts section. Flock Robert The Bruce Broad Street, Aberdeen Gabrielle Reith & Morag McGee + Sunnybank Community Centre Look at Me Sculpture Trail 2015

7 Keep doing what you re doing! This should have happened long ago... Im glad the council are backing it, It s really brightening up Aberdeen! Above and Beyond Robert Burns Union Terrace, Aberdeen Gordon Burnett Look at Me Sculpture Trail 2015

8 I usually stick to my own circuit when walking around Aberdeen but the festival has encouraged me to walk different ways. I didn t even know Charles Gordon had binoculars! Voyage General Charles Gordon Schoolhill, Aberdeen Salmena Carvalho Look at Me Sculpture Trail 2015

9 Guardian William Wallace Rosemount Viaduct, Aberdeen Helen Schell Look at Me Sculpture Trail 2015 Fantastic! It s shameful how many times I ve walked past these sights and not taken much notice. The colour has brought them to life, very impressed!

10 It s been fantastic and has really encouraged myself & others to engage more with our city and its spaces.

11 Look Again caught the imagination of over 195,0o0 people online and across social media.

12 SMART Look Again comes at a critical time for Aberdeen and the North-East. It has been proven time and time again the important role a vibrant culture plays in strengthening a region s economic outlook and quality of life for its people.

13 your support By supporting the Look Again Visual Art & Design Festival you will help us build an exciting, vibrant and engaging programme for 2016 including: A series of six commissions which will seek to Re-dress the City providing opportunities to highlight and celebrate the unique architecture and urban space within Aberdeen, working with local talent and internationally acclaimed artists. Reflecting the City mirrored pavilion (the winning design from the 2015 architecture student design competition) will be constructed as a temporary venue and situated in the Castlegate. We will be running a similar design competition for students this year, to create a temporary structure to be located in Aberdeenshire during the 2017 festival. Caravan Obscura, by Kenny Bean, will tour both Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire, engaging local schools and communities during the festival to explore their urban and rural environment. A series of exhibitions and events presented at Robert Gordon University - Garthdee campus, focused around how the themes of Innovation, Architecture and Design are used across the facalities. Talks and workshops programme taking place across the city and on the Garthdee campus. A series of exhibitions and events co-produced with festival partners from across the region. Look Again Visual Art & Design Festival is delivered by a partnership between local art agency, SMART and Robert Gordon University. The festival is governed by a festival board, which is made up of representatives from RGU, SMART, Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Council, independent practitioners and local art organisations.

14 What is the 7th Plinth? Made in Aberdeen Artist Commission Dominika Hadelova, Caitlin Hynes, Morgan Cahn Look at Me Sculpture Trail 2015

15 #LookAgainFestival 27 April - 2 May 2016