East Lothian Council, in partnership with greenspace scotland, has launched a call-out to commission an artist or artists to contribute to the region’s Covid community memorial, part of the Scotland-wide Remembering Together project.
Remembering Together East Lothian is managed by the Council Arts Service, and is being developed by artists Barbara Gardner-Rowell and Sophie Ferguson. In the project’s first phase they explored with local communities how best to reflect the region’s experiences during the pandemic, in order to create a lasting opportunity for the community to connect and reflect.
The result is a series of six accessible walking trails which have been mapped across the region, in Dunbar, Haddington, Musselburgh, North Berwick, Tranent, and Preston Seton Gosford.
The walks will encourage communities to come together and connect socially with the healing qualities of nature, reflecting the daily walking practice that many people adopted during lockdown. Each starts and finishes on local transport routes, offering an inclusive community resource that is easily accessible, that can be integrated into various facets of everyday life.
For the latest phase of the project East Lothian Council is seeking to commission an artist or artists to create a focal point of reflection for each of the six walking trails.
The commissions will be selected for their relevance and sensitivity to the project themes of Reflection, Remembering, Hope and Healing, and could be physical pieces situated on the walking route, or a soundscape, mural, piece of music or film, or digital artwork accessed via QR code.
The artist or artists selected for the commissions will be encouraged during the research phase to visit the walking trails and the archive to develop their final proposal. Funding of up to £60,000 is available to realise the artworks.
Submissions are required by 12 April 2024. Further details and information on how to apply can be found at rememberingtogethereastlothian.com