Coming up at Collective

Upcoming Exhibitions and Events on Calton Hill

1 June – 4 September

A Matter of Precedents by Annette Krauss opens on 1 June, as a research resource in the Library.

This collaborative long-term research project reflects on Collective’s move to the City Observatory and explores the site’s designation as a ‘common good asset’.

The project launches with two walking conversations on 1 & 2 June led by Annette Krauss and other artists and cultural thinkers, and will visit common good sites in Edinburgh.

18 June – 4 September

backwash, an exhibition of new work by Camara Taylor, opens in the Hillside on 18 June. The exhibition consists of new video and mixed-media work relating to the artist’s ongoing conversation with Scottish waterways and a collection of public papers spanning several centuries. Camara Taylor is a participant in Satellites, Collective’s development programme for emergent pracitioners based in Scotland.

25 June – 18 September

On 25 June The Beast by Ruth Ewan will open in the City Dome.

A new animation, presented alongside archival material, focuses on the Scottish/American steel magnate Andrew Carnegie and his namesake Diplodocus carnegii. The exhibition explores intersecting ideas around power, exploitation, culture and the history of capitalism. The animation has been co-written with Marxist magician and professor of theatre studies Dr Ian Saville.

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Collective: H-E-L-L-O, a performance by Cauleen Smith

EVENT

Thursday 28 April 2022, 7pm

In-person event held at Collective

Free | No booking needed

Collective is delighted to host artist Cauleen Smith in Edinburgh to produce a new public performance, in association with her 2014 film H-E-L-L-O currently screening in our City Dome.

At the centre of H-E-L-L-O is John Williams’ famous five-note musical motif from Stephen Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Working with Collective’s unique landscape, architecture and backdrop, the artist’s specially devised performance will take place across Calton Hill and will feature five locally based musicians playing Williams’ score as a ‘call and response’ on their bass clef instruments.

The installation of Cauleen Smith’s film in our City Dome, which is screening until 15 May, brings the themes of H-E-L-L-O into conversation with her long-term interest in astronomy and coastal cities. The piece bears witness to the devastating impact and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and hones in on the damage that has been done to the long established African American community through the city’s eagerness to embrace regeneration.

Collective is situated in an exposed location on top of Calton Hill and this will be an outdoor performance, so please check the forecast and dress accordingly.

This is a free, drop-in event, no pre-booking needed.

New show: Cauleen Smith

Exhibition

22.01.22 – 01.05.22

Open Thursday – Sunday, 10am – 4pm

Free

COLLECTIVE are delighted to launch our 2022 programme with a presentation of Cauleen Smith’s film H-E-L-L-O, which brings together themes of historic erasure, presence and loss.

H-E-L-L-O takes John Williams’ famous five-note musical motif from Stephen Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind, translating it into a greeting for sites across post-hurricane Katrina New Orleans.

The various interpretations of the sequence speak to the enduring spirit of the city. Although situated in the geography of New Orleans, Smith’s film allows us to contemplate Edinburgh’s relationship to its own landscape, inhabitants and history in a time of turbulence and change.

Cauleen Smith is an American born filmmaker and multimedia artist, best known for experimental works that address African-American identities. Smith currently teaches at the California Institute of the Arts.

H-E-L-L-O will be screened on loop in the City Dome from 22 January – 1 May. Entry is free and there is no need to pre-book, but some social distancing measures will be in place.

Collective is currently open Thu-Sun, 10am-4pm (Tue-Sun, 10am-5pm from April 2022).