Visual Arts Scotland (VAS), a leading platform for national and international contemporary artists, are holding their biggest-ever exhibition in Scotland’s historic Dalkeith Palace this August.
Now and Then: Dalkeith Palace (Part Two) continues a year of centenary celebrations for VAS and will showcase over 540 artworks and 341 artists, making this a record breaking exhibition for the arts charity as it honours its 100th year.
This exhibition celebrates 100 years since VAS was established in 1924 and follows the successful 4 star exhibition, Then and Now: 100 Years Of Visual Arts Scotland (Part One) which took place in Edinburgh’s Royal Scottish Academy earlier this year. Now and Then: Dalkeith Palace (Part Two) will showcase artists from Scotland and beyond, exhibiting a breadth of disciplines across the sprawling 17 room exhibition, including painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, installation, and jewellery.
The exhibition will run from Saturday 17th – Sunday 25th August 2024 and will be open daily from 10am – 4pm with free access. Dalkeith Palace is located just outside Edinburgh and the exhibition expects to reach a global audience as it aligns with the city’s busy festival period.
Tavienne Bridgwater, VAS President, said: “2024 marks 100 years since Visual Arts Scotland was founded. The organisation began as the Scottish Society of Women Artists in 1924 with the aim to empower women after their contribution to the war effort.
“Today, we’re known as Visual Arts Scotland and we’ve spent the past couple of months celebrating our centenary through art fairs, archival reflections, and our successful centenary exhibition (Part One) which took place in Edinburgh’s Royal Scottish Academy and showcased 242 artists and over 300 contemporary artworks.
“Part Two of our centenary exhibition is proving to be even bigger than we’d anticipated and with over 1800 applications, we’re on track to set a new record of participating artists in a Visual Arts Scotland show.
“The exhibition will be held in the beautiful Dalkeith Palace in August, and the palace’s rich history and centuries of stories are fitting with our centenary year ambitions to dig a little deeper into our history whilst also showcasing the best of contemporary art in Scotland.”
Charlotte Rostek, Development Lead for Dalkeith Palace, said: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome Visual Arts Scotland to Dalkeith Palace this August.
“VAS is such a prestigious and dynamic organisation with international reach and this partnership is a perfect match for us as we are beginning to write a new chapter for this beautiful, multi-layered building.
“Dalkeith Palace is one of Scotland’s most significant early classical buildings with an illustrious history reaching back to the middle ages and closely associated with some of our nation’s most important stories.”
“The palace that we see today was the single-minded vision of Anna Scott, the first Duchess of Buccleuch, in the early 1700s paving the way for three centuries of the Buccleuch family’s engagement with culture and patronage of all the arts.
“However, today the palace stands almost empty and, having been very much hidden from public view for more than a century, we are excited to take steps for it to become, once again, a place for culture, community and creativity.
“We can’t wait to see VAS’s artists from all disciplines ‘take over’ the palace this August and very much look forward to a uniquely curated experience. These kinds of partnerships are so important to the Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust as we are re-energising our mission to engage with the past, present and future of this wonderful heritage.’’
Full details on Now and Then: Dalkeith Palace are available here.
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