Gallery scheme lets artists make their mark
Five artists have been named as the first group to be supported by new scheme that champions blossoming creative talent.
Emerging artists Aideen Doran, Rosie O’Grady, Sulaïman Majali, Stephanie Mann, Tako Taal – all of them Scotland-based – are the inaugural cohort of a programme run by Talbot Rice Gallery, the University of Edinburgh’s contemporary art gallery.
Supporting talent
The Talbot Rice Residents Programme invites the artists into the University and gives them space, time, and support to significantly develop their artistic practice and career.
The scheme is part of the Freelands Artist Programme, a new UK-wide initiative that is providing more than £1.5 million to support national institutions to champion emerging talent.
Meet our artists
Rosie O’Grady was awarded the Glasgow Open Bursary for Glasgow International 2018.
Ms O'Grady’s work questions the histories and visibility of information, through re-enactments or temporary interventions.
Tako Taal is an artist, filmmaker and programmer. Born in Wales to Gambian and Welsh parents and based in Glasgow, she uses personal narratives to trace the shifts and splits in boundaries between body, land and state.
Edinburgh-based Stephanie Mann works mainly in print, moving image and the written word, but with a keen interest in the sculptural potential that objects hold.
Northern Irish Aideen Doran works across moving image, sound, installation and writing. She will investigate how technology is transforming our experiences of speaking and listening.
Sulaïman Majali is an artist and writer from London. Their research touches on diasporas and ideas around disruption.
The Talbot Rice Residents Programme will provide a welcome opportunity for critical discussion with peers and vital financial support to enable a focussed period of research and development. I am delighted to be participating on the inaugural programme, and look forward to working alongside the other artists, and with staff at Talbot Rice and ECA.
Over the next five years, Talbot Rice will invite 20 emerging artists to take part in the Residents Programme.
The current group will work alongside established artists who are exhibiting at Talbot Rice – including Lucy Skaer, Jesse Jones, Samson Young.
They will have access to the rich research environment and University’s collections. The residents will be given financial, curatorial and technical support. Facilities, such as workshops and studios, will also be made available.
Other initiatives
The Freelands Artist Programme is funding similar initiatives in each of the UK’s home nations. Talbot Rice is the recipient in Scotland, with Sheffield’s Site Gallery the winner in England, Cardiff’s g39 in Wales and Belfast’s PS² (Paragon Studios/Project Space) in Northern Ireland.
Funding will also be available for an annual symposium where each organisation will participate.
The Freelands Artist Programme is part of the Freelands Foundation, which was founded by Elisabeth Murdoch in 2015. Its mission is to support artists and cultural institutions, to broaden audiences for the visual arts and to enable all young people to engage actively with the creation and enjoyment of art.