Alberta Whittle: create dangerously
1 April 2023 – 7 January 2024
Free
National Galleries Scotland: Modern One
Alberta Whittle | create dangerously | National Galleries of Scotland
New multi-media works by the celebrated Barbadian-Scottish artist, Alberta Whittle, will be revealed today [Saturday 1 April] in a free exhibition at the Modern (Modern One) in Edinburgh. Alberta Whittle: create dangerously will run until 7 January 2024.
Experience the ambition and breadth of Alberta’s career to date and come away feeling her call to ‘invest in love’. At the heart of Alberta Whittle: create dangerously is the artist’s generous spirit and her powerful and poetic storytelling. Alberta pulls apart the belief that ’racism and police brutality is [just] an English problem or an American problem’.
Instead, she underlines Scotland’s complicity in the structures of white supremacy. Often deeply personal, weaving stories of family and belonging, Alberta offers a message of hope, asking us to imagine a world outside of these damaging systems and ways of thinking.
Step inside a sound installation and listen to the voice of poet Kamau Brathwaite (1930-2020), a much-loved and hugely influential figure in Caribbean literature. Dealing with the themes of grief and loss, Alberta made this in personal tribute to Brathwaite, who was a close friend of her family as well as a collaborator.
Titled A portal for breathing love into the Elders or an Adoration for kith-folk who we long for (2021), this installation is comprised of objects of significance to the artist.
There will be a room dedicated to addressing the themes of rest and care, and connection and belonging in Alberta’s practice, where you can slow down and pause. Inside this room, visitors will find a beautiful bespoke quilt hanging on the wall, crafted by a group of women from North Edinburgh.
Inspired by Alberta’s practice and use of textiles and fabrics in her work, the quilt is being caringly made by a sewing group run by Project Esperanza, a charity dedicated to supporting women of African heritage, as well as women from other culturally diverse backgrounds. Facilitated by textile artist Francia Boakye, this quilt draws upon the makers’ lived experiences, weaving together their stories and their journeys as migrants to Scotland.
To coincide with Alberta Whittle: create dangerously, Edinburgh Art Festival and the National Galleries of Scotland will also support a new performance by the artist due to take place during the festival this summer (11-27 August).
The National Galleries of Scotland recently announced the acquisition of two major works by the celebrated Barbadian-Scottish artist, Alberta Whittle. The artist’s extraordinary installation with tapestry, Entanglement is more than blood (2022), and thought-provoking film, Lagareh – The Last Born (2022), will form an integral part of Alberta Whittle: create dangerously.
The two works were at the heart of the artist’s critically acclaimed exhibition at the 59th Venice Biennale, 2022, where she represented Scotland. Their entry into the national collection forms a significant legacy of this landmark project.
Indicative of Alberta’s art practice, Entanglement is more than blood and Lagareh – The Last Born promote compassion and collective care as a means of resisting racism and anti-Blackness. The sculpture and film installation confront the violence of colonialism, the legacies of transatlantic chattel slavery, and the impact of the climate crisis.
Co-commissioned and created in collaboration with Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh, Entanglement is more than blood is a large-scale tapestry on a gate-like structure. It is imbued with the artist’s rich symbolism, including water, snakes, diamonds, hands, and shells. Acting as a portal, the tapestry explores the meaning of family, kinship and ancestral histories, themes that will echo throughout the exhibition.
The imagery in the tapestry is also seen in Lagareh – The Last Born, which was co-commissioned and produced by Forma Arts, London. Centring the collective strength of contemporary Black women, this 43-minute film is anchored in ideas of abolition, rebellion, grief, and love. 6
Shot on location in Scotland, London, and Barbados, and featuring footage from Sierra Leone and Venice, Alberta has woven together contrasting stories of individual acts of resistance against racist violence with gentle moments of intimacy.
Lagareh – The Last Born will play continuously throughout the day, and for visitors who wish to see it from the beginning, screening start times will be made available in the gallery and on the National Galleries of Scotland website.
Alberta Whittle said: ‘This is an exhibition about hope. It is about the hope we can nurture within ourselves, but also the hope that we can have difficult conversations about the harm caused by colonialism, the Transatlantic trade in enslaved people, and the climate crisis.
“The exhibition presents an opportunity for self-reflection, and to think about the types of power we hold in the world and how we can use it compassionately.’
Lucy Askew, Chief Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Galleries of Scotland, said: ‘We are incredibly happy to reveal more details about Alberta Whittle: create dangerously.
“This hugely important exhibition, devoted to the work of one of the leading artists working in Scotland today, is underpinned by Alberta’s deep generosity and warmth. Alberta speaks of fundamental truths about the violence and injustices of our past – ‘the burden of proof’ – and the legacy of systemic racism which permeates through our society today, asking us to confront this with her.
“With compassion and care, she holds and guides us, encouraging us to pause, to breathe, and to think differently.”