Travelling Gallery, a contemporary art gallery on a bus, is back, bringing its third season to Dumfries and Galloway this October.
The Gallery will visit three sites across the region, featuring Repair Café, a 16 mm film by Scottish artist and filmmaker Helen McCrorie. The film was co-created with the residents of Strathearn in Perthshire as part of the Scotland-wide Remembering Together project, which aimed to bring ‘collective acts of reflection, remembrance, hope and healing to communities across Scotland’ in the years following the COVID pandemic.
When asked about McCrories’s exhibition, Edinburgh Council Culture and Community Convener Val Walker said, “[The exhibition] promises to be an insightful exhibition that will inspire us all to reflect on the inequalities that were compounded by the pandemic, and the different ways we made our way through with creativity and connection.
In partnership with the What We Do Now Network and The Stove, they will be visiting:
- Tuesday 22nd October: The Crannog Campus, Castle Douglas DG7 1EU – open 10 am – 4 pm – supported by Castle Douglas Development Forum
- Wednesday 23rd October: First Edition Car Park, Eastriggs DG12 6PA – open 10 am – 4 pm – supported by Eastriggs Community Group
- Thursday 24th October: Tesco, Annan DG12 6JH – open 10 am – 4 pm – supported by Annan the History Town
The film engaged people of all ages through creative workshops, asking them to recall what helped them both during the pandemic and beyond. It weaves hand-drawn animation and footage of beloved community spaces with oral histories and evocative music by local school pupils and musicians. The soundtrack features a special arrangement of the song Strathearn by Carolina Oliphant, Lady Nairne of Strathearn, a contemporary of Robert Burns.
Exhibited alongside the film are a number of additional works that reveal some of the processes and thinking behind its making, including an interactive display with 16mm film reels, a colourful abstract animation and an atmospheric sound work.
McCrorie has also collaborated with Glasgow-based illustrator Annabel Wright to produce several drawings that bring to light more of the personal stories shared during the project: some sad, scary, or poignant, some hopeful, funny, or surreal. The work expands further upon the spectrum of insights and experiences from this time.
The gallery is free to visit and open to all. Visit Travelling Gallery website for more details.