Fit D’You Know About the Bon Accord?, Council Baby, 2023 © the Artist (installation in Aberdeen Art Gallery)
The Spectra festival will light up Aberdeen this weekend with free artworks and installations at city centre locations. At the Art Gallery, we have commissioned award-winning artist Council Baby to create a large-scale video installation which will be projected against the magnificent backdrop of the Sculpture Court. Fit D’You Know About the Bon Accord? comprises four striking digital ‘stained-glass’ designs which have been inspired by works in the Archives, Gallery & Museums’ collection and visits by the artist to the area, including St Machar’s Cathedral. Each animated panel captures different aspects of Aberdeen's rich history, from the Picts to the Dandy Dons. At the centre of the artwork is a river goddess Divona, a nod to the Rivers Dee and Don.
In one panel, Divona is adorned with Pictish symbols, reflecting the Picts’ tradition of body painting before battle. The artist was inspired by the Pictish symbol stone at the entrance to the Treasure Hub, our museum store in Northfield. The stone was discovered in the River Don at Dyce during summer 2018 when the river levels were low. It had been used as a perch by fishermen! It’s carved with common Pictish symbols such as the mirror and comb.
In another panel, Divona wears a tartan skirt, inspired by the green tartan used by the flamboyant Frances Farquharson in the 1950s, in her striking ensembles worn to the annual Braemar Gathering. A large part of Farquharson’s wardrobe was donated to the AAGM collection in 1996.
There’s another chance to enjoy the Art Gallery commission for Spectra 2024, this year presented at Union Terrace Gardens. Set against a backdrop of Scottish wind farms and the oil rigs of the Cromarty Firth, Winds of Change by Heinrich & Palmer journeys through aspects of Aberdeen’s maritime and industrial story from tall ships and granite, to oil and the transition towards renewable energy and wind power.
View of Winds of Change by Heinrich & Palmer, commissioned by and presented at Aberdeen Art Gallery for Spectra 2024 © the Artists. Image: Ian Georgeson
