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Gin a Body Meet a Body

The keen eyed burghers of Dumfries may have noticed a lot of activity around the Stove this past week as men in bunnets and leopard skin toting ladies bustled around in ever increasing spirals of agitation, armed only with Stanley knives, paint brushes and reams of tracing paper. It’s been all hands to the deck as the Stove juggles projectors, aliens, keys, broken windaes all to get ready in time for the Big Burns Supper

Yes, after months of deliberation; eureka moments, several shoogly nailed marriages, shortfalls in monies, no monies, no ideas, awful ideas and finally super, nay super dooper ideas and enough monies to cover our costs, the First Foot show is finally about to kick off.

First out of the traps is ‘Windows for Burns Night’, a project that transcends time and place and asks contemporary poets to emulate the hard Bard Burns and speak of their own time via the medium of melinex and a permanent marker.

The results of this project, created by venerable Stovies Hugh Bryden and Dave Borthwick, have been a great success with established poets grabbing permanent markers and making free with the odes. Hugh, working with the primary school pupils in and around Dumfries has produced some sublime poems which are displayed throughout Dumfries. The collected works can be seen in the windows of the Robert Burns House museum, the Globe Inn, the Coach & Horses and on mass in the windows of The Stove.  

Poetry is often a respite from the hubbub of daily life, so it was nice to notice in Dumfries today, not hordes of Doonhamers clamoring to read the poems, but a few people pausing to take a few moments out of their shopping experience and the dreich weather, for a contemplative moment or two. 

Poetry is often a respite from the hubbub of daily life

Here are some of the treats that await you all between now and the 31st of January*

and finally from one our younger poets, Joanne Hiddleston.

* The poems on the Stove windows will be taken down on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings for the First Foot projections.

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Windows For Robert Burns

From a press release by Jean Atkin of Word Sparks:

“Hundreds of poems will be on display in venues across Dumfries from this week as part of the Burns Windows Project. Inspired by Robert Burns’ occasional predilection for writing verses on window panes with a diamond ring or stylus, local artist Hugh Bryden and David Borthwick, a lecturer at the University of Glasgow in Dumfries, have come up with the idea of inviting contemporary poets to submit their own work for display as window poems. Poets were sent a sheet of clear plastic and a pen and asked to write a poem that spoke of their own time ‘in a transparent way.’”

“But David and Hugh had no idea how the project would take off, with The Burns Windows Project attracting almost 200 poems submitted from as far afield as the USA, Belgium, and Switzerland, as well as submissions from some of Britain’s top poets, including Jen Hadfield, winner of the T.S. Eliot Prize, Jean Sprackland, Andrew Greig, and many others.”

“Hugh and David are members of The Stove, a collective of artists and creative individuals involved in regenerating the former Happit store on High Street as an arts venue. The poems are part of The Stove’s inaugural events weekend on the 27–28 January, which is part of the Big Burns Supper. Thirty of the best poems will be projected from the building during the Burns Supper extravaganza, with almost a hundred others on display in the windows.”

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A Wee Picture of a Fishy Fish

What Is Artist Florencia García Chafuén Up To?

An artwork of a fish with textured overlay, blending nature themes in a surreal depiction.
A Wee Picture of a Fishy Fish by Florencia García Chafuén

Florencia is a visual and performance artist originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she trained in theatre and drama at the Norman Briski Theatre School and in movement with Laura Preguerman.

She also studied filmmaking at the Fundación Universidad del Cine in Buenos Aires (FUC) and physical theatre in Scotland under the direction of Al Seed and Simon Abbott.

Performance artist Florencia García Chafuén, stands in an expansive, multicoloured costume designed by Alex Rigg for International Women’s Day 2011 at Tramway, is surrounded by abstract art installations in the background.
Florencia García Chafuén, stands enveloped in Alex Rigg’s vibrant costume creation, commemorating International Women’s Day 2011 at Tramway, amidst a backdrop of abstract installations.

Since moving to Scotland in 1998, she has worked extensively in a wide range of art forms, including dance, film, photography, theatre, and music. She has performed with various companies and directors both in the UK and internationally.

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Faces of Dumfries

A Photographic Journey by Jane McLachlan

Close-up of a person with gray hair and a beard.
A distinguished individual with gray hair and a beard. Photograph taken by Jane McLachlan, a social documentary photographer.

For her project, Jane has been traipsing through the streets of Dumfries in gruelling weather, managing to stop and capture the faces and favourite poems of well-known Doonhamers.

Jane McLachlan is an emerging landscape and social documentary photographer. Having spent twenty years as a disability social worker, her passion for fine art photography has led her on a new career path. Her work is inspired by the natural environment, landscapes, and the people of Dumfries and Galloway.

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Curtains: A Film by Jo Hodges

Crafting Narratives of Home Through Film

Jo has been busy with various commissions, but has found the time to contribute to the First Foot event by creating a film that depicts life in the building over the years. Based on the true story of a woman from the area, the film interweaves dreams and memories to craft a narrative about home.

Jo Hodges is a visual artist and filmmaker, boasting a diverse practice that spans site-specific installations to community-led films, animations, and artworks.

In her solo practice, she crafts interactive installations and interventions. Collaboratively, she develops large-scale, site-specific public artworks. She harbours a keen interest in work outside traditional gallery settings and devises new strategies for audience engagement.

Her collaborations include The Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow, The National Museum of Scotland, and The National Portrait Gallery in London.

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