Look Again Festival 2019 programme revealed

Through the prism of ‘New Narratives’ the 2019 programme seeks to re-activate vacant or underused areas of the city, supporting creative activity and discourse through ambitious, thought-provoking visual art and design installations and events.

Born in 2015 out of a need to celebrate, showcase and support the incredible visual art and artists in the region, Look Again is now part of Gray's School of Art at Robert Gordon University (RGU) and is firmly established as a year-round presence.

Look Again works with the sector and city partners to cultivate the creative industries in Aberdeen, proving the value of creativity and culture to the city, spotlighting and supporting creative talent emerging from the region, and harnessing national and international connections.

Highlights of the 2019 programme include a series of newly commissioned major site-specific installations from two of the of the UK’s most exciting contemporary artists John Walter and Morag Myerscough.

Each artist has their own personal connection to the North East of Scotland, connections which are explored in their work whilst responding to historic sites in Aberdeen’s city centre to reanimate and transform.

Morag Myerscough commented: "Events, such as the Look Again Festival, are absolutely critical. Creativity is crucial to our lives and through these festivals we are able to show people that you can be involved in the arts, they are accessible and sociable, and they provide a platform to make connections.”  

"Hopefully, through my commission, the people of Aberdeen and visitors to the festival will see something they have never seen before at a very familiar landmark in the city centre."

John Walter said: “I’m really excited to be back in Aberdeen again working with this time with Virtual Reality technology, which is new to me, in order to take my moving image work and thinking about Maximalism to a new level in Marischal College Quad as part of this year’s Look Again festival”

The central ethos of Look Again is to embolden and nurture the next generation of creative talent in the North East, providing a strong platform not only to exhibit work but also providing a year-round structure of support and development. Every year, Look Again awards funding to a selection of emerging creatives with strong connections to Aberdeen through its Seed Fund.

The 2019 programme also features a major new commission from Aberdeen based writer Shane Strachan. The Bill Gibb Line is a spoken-word film and exhibition of new narratives across poetry and fashion inspired by the life and work of the Northeast-born world-renowned fashion designer. Strachan is also developing a novel about Gibb, who is from Fraserburgh, in the North East, as he is.

Sally Reaper and Hilary Nicoll, Look Again Co-Directors said: “Look Again really comes of age this year as we launch our 5th annual festival. We're thrilled to be showcasing amazing artists and designers in Aberdeen's most iconic spaces, animating the city with vibrant, experimental, humorous and sometimes provocative new work. Some of the most exciting artists working in the UK right now are showing alongside others who are just starting out, and we love how Look Again brings the creative community together, connecting and emboldening it, while inviting the public to see the city through fresh eyes.”

Libby Curtis, Head of Gray’s Art School at RGU, said: “So much more than a festival, Look Again plays a pivotal year-round role in supporting the creative community in the city, providing training, exhibition space and exposure that create the conditions for culture and creativity to thrive in the north east. The festival is a highlight of the national visual art and design calendar, and is not to be missed.”

Andrew Leitch, Creative Industries Officer, Creative Scotland, commented: “Creative Scotland is pleased to continue our support for  Look Again Festival – a celebration of the very best contemporary visual art and design and showcase of local and internationally acclaimed talent.  

“Through its year-round programme which activates underused spaces, delivers ongoing support for creative practitioners and offers a focus for the creative community in Aberdeen and the shire, the impact of Look Again goes far beyond the festival, as a leader in the ongoing development of the creative industries in the city.”

Look Again Festival takes place from 7th – 16th June 2019 further information available via www.lookagainaberdeen.co.uk.

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