Coast - Festival of the Visual Arts

Not the Jubilee 2012

2012-02-24T01:39:00.000-08:00

Not the Jubilee - is this year's fundraising event. Why should the Queen have all the fun? If you want to celebrate that important date, wedding anniversary, birthday, anything, why not let Coast provide the party! Hall, brilliant band, buffet and fun, organised for you. You'll get free tickets but your guests pay - must remember it's a fundraiser. Get in touch now!

Not the Jubilee - Just email us at info@coastfestival.org.uk or use FB link on this page...

COAST 2012

2012-02-24T01:37:00.002-08:00

For several years now Coast Festival has been run by volunteers from the communities of Banff and Macduff and each year has successfully held exhibitions, performances and workshops. Each year events are presented free to the public to celebrate the start of the summer season and to invite people from far and wide to enjoy the beauty of our coast.

Gray's School of Art Students join us for 2012...

2012-02-24T01:36:00.000-08:00

This year at Coast we have a group of 3rd Year Painting students from Gray's School of Art doing a project. The first time outside a gallery for most of them, Coast will provide an opportunity to learn how to work with a commissioning body, and for Coast we get a brand new exciting addition to the Festival. Watch out for more details...

COAST 2011 Photo Diary

2011-06-01T06:51:00.000-07:00

Banffshire Artists' Collective Invite

2011-05-25T04:01:00.001-07:00

Brian's story in the "Banffie..."

2011-05-25T03:48:00.000-07:00

We just had a meeting, the last one before the festival happens. Only seven committee members could make it, so many people were busy. It was a short meeting, where a few key things were discussed – money, the opening event, signs. We were left feeling there seemed to be almost nothing left to do for the next week. I’ve felt those moments in the past, a quiet space before an event where you can be lulled into thinking, ‘…surely it’s all going to go really, really well’.

Well, we’d like to think so, but there were enough nervous faces to really describe what’s going on. Here’s a group of volunteers from Banff and Macduff – with some committee members coming from as far as Findochty, Cornhill and Turriff – who have spent the last nine months giving up their time because they want to see a festival continue. Nine months getting their own event sorted, helping get other people’s events sorted, raising money, talking, planning, and even dancing at three weddings. Nine months getting a single weekend ready, to be presented to the public, in the hope they’ll enjoy it, that it will do its job.

And it is reasonable to ask what a festival’s job is. If you don’t normally get involved with whatever it is – art, football, fishing, music - it can easily seem an indulgence for the enthusiasts. But public events have a number of useful purposes. Festivals provide you with a moment to look up from the daily grind and remind yourself of the good qualities about where you live, and who you live beside. It gives you a moment to try something new, to just look and see, or maybe get hands on. Done well, a festival can give a community a sense of pride and distinctiveness that little else can. It can give a moment where for at least one weekend the High Street doesn’t seem deserted because everyone is away at a shopping centre or multiplex.

But it’s only once a year, it’s gone in a few hours. A festival like ours isn’t the answer to economic decline, we know that – but it can be a spur to tourism, bringing visitors. And maybe they’ll tell their friends and come back to stay longer next time. A festival like Coast can also be the spur to cultural activity. There are examples across the UK and beyond of arts events and artists moving into areas that over the years created a slow-burn growth in enriching places, helping them find a new identity and a new sense of purpose. Perhaps most of all this year it can be a community cross-over point, where organisations and their people talk to each other in ways they otherwise would never do.

The job for Coast 2011, in Year One for the community-led event, was to follow on from a great deal of expectation, built up by public funding. That often used word – sustainability - was mumbled darkly in the first meetings. We don’t have a lump of money, so how to we make it possible for it to happen, not only this year, but every year? And funding for non-essential things isn’t going to get any better for a long time. So, the route we took was, as far as possible, to have each event running independently. There is no deep central pool of money or staff time to dip your bucket into – each event must be there because someone, some group in the community, wants it to be there. But as a greater group we have a ‘glue’ that holds the event together, we do two main things: organise some events, such as free workshops so there are activities, plenty to do; and we all join together in fundraising, publicising and marketing the festival.

Where will Coast go from here? I’d really only like to think about that after this weekend, but if I have to I’d say we may have created an open space, a forum where something will continue to happen, and it’s up to everyone to see it go forward. Often in community events there’s a small group of constantly exhausted people who have any ‘Big Society’ selflessness drained out of them. But, with more people involved, the weight is spread and we not only have a greater consensus, but more sustainability – there’s that word again.

There is no fixed structure for Coast that will cause new proposals to be rejected out of hand, but only a few simple guidelines – will your event fit into a festival, is it aimed at and/or from the community, are you going to deliver it? We’d love to see more ideas coming forward, people coming with events, with the offer of venues, ways of raising funds, or other resources we haven’t even thought of yet that will make a big difference to Coast 2012.

We’ve had words of support for future events from the professional arts organisations in the north east, and this year many artists are making artwork and getting involved for no financial return – but it’s the people who meet round the table once a month who will make Coast happen. Within the last generation we’ve lost a lot of the cultural events that came from the rhythms of nature, naturally generated festivals in the spring, harvest time and mid-winter. There is a real void in a community if it never takes a moment to actively enjoy the fruit of its creative labour.

There’s going to be a public meeting in a couple of weeks, why don’t you come along? It’s more fun than you think.

COAST Workshops...

2011-05-25T03:45:00.000-07:00

COAST is almost here! It's still not too late to get involved....Check out some of the workshops still available...

Get involved - the Umbrell-Arts workshops spaces are going fast, but there's still time to sign up on 01261 812276.

Don't forget the Robot Making workshop for 7 to 10 years old, call 01261 818281.

Also drop in to Bridge Street CommunityCentre for the Elements Project - 10am to 4pm. All workshops are free...

More details about the Umbrell-Arts Workshops...

Art – come rain or shine!

Getting ready for the Coast Festival weekend some local people have been making mobile art, to walk about the towns.

Last year Pauline Littlewood, an artist based in Findochty, was inspired by the sun and rain that ran through the Coast weekend in equal measure. She thought everyone should have either an umbrella or a parasol. So was born Umbrell-Arts, a project that features in four venues – with your own chance to decorate an umbrella at free workshops in Macduff Town Hall

Last week a group got together with Pauline and artists from Banffshire Artists’ Collective to practice making umbrella creations. The results will be in four custom made umbrella stands at Banff Castle, Duff House, Macduff Town Hall and Bridge Street Community Centre (Comm Centre Sat only). The public are free to pick up an umbrella in case of rain or danger of much too much sun – as if! Or just because they want to carry one about. They can then take it to the next Umbrell-arts Stand and swap it for another.

There are also four umbrella decorating workshop sessions led by artists, two each on Saturday and Sunday (1pm to 2.15 and 2.30 to 3.45pm), at Macduff Town Hall. Workshops are free, all materials provided – including umbrella. Must be booked in advance by calling 01261 812276.

Full details in Coast brochures, available from shops, libraries and tourist information.

To the lucky couples

2011-04-26T05:11:00.000-07:00

We are all looking forward to Not the Royal Wedding on Friday evening at the Banff Springs Hotel.

Not the Royal Wedding Update

2011-03-29T03:51:00.001-07:00

Not the Royal Wedding update

Good news for two of the three couples getting married and sharing their reception with us on the 29th - the Banff Spring Hotel is providing complimentary Honeymoon Suites - a wonderful gesture. The third couple prefered to travel that short distance home - I don't blame them.

Also, David Smith, a piper from http://www.twapipers.co.uk/ has offered to pipe in the couples on the night. Again, great support, and we look forward to hearing him on the night.

The Home Bakery from Banff High Street will be helping us ice the cakes, and Dorothy reid will be creating surprise decorations for the three cake cuttings!

Local artists Alita Porter and John Glynn have offered works of art to be auctioned. Many thanks, and great to see art involved on the night. For more info go to http://www.johnglynnart.com/ and http://www.doricdragons.co.uk/ (and select abstract paintings from the left hand list).

There will be more to come, as people from the area, and well beyond, start getting behind us. It seems to be a very popular idea, helping people celebrate that special day, that so many are delaying due to lack of cash.

Remember, it's a celebration night for everyone - get your ticket soon!

We have a couple!

2011-03-08T01:43:00.000-08:00

It looks like we have found a couple! Dolphin Pete and his girlfriend Ulrike have decided to get married at the Not the Royal Wedding Event on April 29th. Congratulations!

Not the Royal Wedding?

2011-03-07T07:56:00.000-08:00

PRESS RELEASE

Coast Festival vows to make bride’s big day

While royal sweethearts William and Kate plan a lavish wedding celebration with no expense spared, festival organisers have come up with an incredible proposal for brides on a budget by offering to host a FREE reception.

The Coast Festival will provide the cake, band, buffet and photographer – all they need is a couple to say ‘I do’ to being the stars of their ready-made party. It takes place on the same day as the royal nuptials on April 29, but while world leaders and celebrities will gather in the grandeur of Westminster Abbey, the lucky bride and groom will toast their marriage in a North-east hotel with dozens of ‘guests’ they may not even know.

The committee came up with the idea of hosting Not The Royal Wedding as a quirky-fund-raiser for the annual arts festival, but soon realised they could go a step further by helping a couple turn their dreams of a big white wedding into a reality.

Coast Festival chairman Bryan Angus said: “It costs on average over £7,000 for the reception, cake, entertainments and decorations, and the Coast committee will be providing most of it.

“If there’s a couple out there about to tie the knot, they should get in touch. We’ve got a fantastic ready-made night set up, with band, cake and even a host of well meaning long-lost ‘relatives’. If they don’t mind a raffle in the middle of the evening, I think it would be a great way to celebrate their wedding day.”

Not The Royal Wedding will be a celebration the joy of weddings. ‘Guests’ who buy a ticket for the event at are encouraged to wear big hats, flash suits and fancy frocks that see the light of day once in a blue moon.

The official wedding photographer will snap guests as they make their way into the reception, and the party will get underway with the happy couple leading the Grand March on the dance floor. The ‘father-of-the-bride’ and the ‘best man’ will be making speeches before the cake cutting, and a buffet will also be thrown in. Guests are encouraged guests to donate a less-than-loved wedding present that has been languishing for years in the loft as a raffle prize, and can take their own wedding photograph to put on display. The best – or possibly the worst – will receive a special prize.

Bryan added: “We’re sure this will be a fun and happy evening, and I would encourage all ages to come along. We’re celebrating weddings and of course wishing Kate and William, and everyone who is planning to get married, all the luck in the world. The money we raise from the night will help us to keep providing free events each year at the festival.”

Follow the development of Not The Royal Wedding on the Coast blog:

http://coastfestivalofthevisualarts.blogspot.com/

Regular updates will keep people informed of what’s happening, and offer the opportunity to comment. The Coast blog is being expertly managed by the IT group at Banff Day Services.

Anyone interested in taking up the offer of the ready-made reception, or who would like to donate wedding present raffle prises, should call Bryan on 01261 812276.

Photo Opportunity:

Banff Springs Hotel – Friday 4^th March, 10am. Coast Chair Bryan Angus will be available with a display of wedding pictures, hats and dresses, preparing for the big night. Call 01261 812276 to confirm.

Editor’s Note

· Coast Festival first opened to the public in May 2008. Funded for 3 years by Scottish Enterprise and Aberdeenshire Council, that funding came to an end after Coast 2010. The new Coast group aims to become a self-sustaining, community led event.

· Not the Royal Wedding will be on 29^th April 2011 at Banff Springs Hotel. Tickets will be available mid-March from the reception at the Banff Springs Hotel and The Laptop Shed on

Duff Street

in Macduff and the Candy Box on Banff High Street. Tickets £20, and £10 for under 12s.

· Coast Festival 2011 will happen on the weekend 27^th to 29^th May.

Click on the below link to see the featured story in the Scottish Daily Record: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2011/03/07/couple-get-royal-occasion-at-scots-hotel-86908-22972081/

and the Press and Journal
http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/2165632/?UserKey=

'Elements'

2011-02-18T05:36:00.000-08:00

Just one of the opportunities to get involved with making your own artwork for Coast, 'Elements' is being run by Community Learning staff at Bridge Street Community Centre. More projects to come!

COAST AGM

2011-01-26T03:46:00.000-08:00

The Coast Annual general Meeting was held on January 18th 2011 and a Coast Festival Committee is now in operation!

Lots of exciting artists are organising their exhibtions for COAST - watch this space for further details coming soon...

A sub fundraising group met just before Christmas a small group to discuss ideas. It was agreed that a buffet dance with the theme of Not the Royal Wedding should be promoted. The night will be for families, just like a wedding, with entertainment – but including a raffle and auction. Watch here for more details coming soon...

Next meeting is 15^th Feb, 7.30pm at the Arts Centre.

Coast exhibition in Banff

2011-01-10T02:15:00.000-08:00

Coast exhibition in Banff

You don't need to wait until May to see artwork brought to you by Coast. Today (10th Jan), sees the work of Gabi Reith on show on Banff High Street. At the Green Tree Cafe.

For anyone attending Coast 2009, you will remember a giant black and white artwork, a building wrap as you entered Banff, welcoming everyone to the festival. The initial idea of sponsoring a building wrap came from Paul Thomas of Allinhouse.com, a Macduff based exhibitions and conference display business. The idea was offered out to artists and Gabi was the winner, seeing her design of 20ft high Gannets in a highly visible position just over Banff Bridge.

Gabi was born and brought up in the Aberdeen area. She studied Drawing and Painting at Gray’s School of Art, graduating with an honours degree in 1998 and has been described as one of the top 20 young artists currently showing in Scotland - talented, committed and innovative. Gabi is inspired by the natural world and the traditions of Scottish story telling. With a young daughter at home‚ there is always inspiration from stories in the local dialect.

Coast exhibitions at the Green Tree

h the help of the Banff and Macduff Community Trust, the Coast organisers will be showing artwork at The Green Tree throughout the year. Income from sales will go to supporting the Trust and helping fund Coast events. If you would like to know more about Coast you can contact us at www.coastfestival.org.uk. The next festival will be 27th to 29th May 2011.

Plan to show Artist Books

2010-12-08T02:45:00.000-08:00

Artist Pauline Littlewood who showed her fascinating and moving artists' books during Coast 2010 at Banff Library is planning to create a second event. These hand-crafted works examine the birth and effects of conflict and in 2011 will range chronolgically from WW2 to today. They will have a closer focus on the Middle Eastern conflict: how geography, history, politics and religions have shaped the situation and how the conflict in turn affects life there. The exhibits will include objects which further explore the expressive potential of The Book as an art form.

COAST meeting update...

2010-11-24T07:57:00.000-08:00

Last Meeting

A chilly Coast 2011 group met on 23rd November to look at a few key things - including our new constitution. After informally adopting the tabled document we will make that formal on 18th January 2011 at our first AGM, where we'll become a community association. Do get in touch if you want to come along or join the group.

Programme ideas and Venues

I'll update more fully when we have information on events from people involved, but right now, we're still keen for people to come forward with projects - and in particular we're looking for new venues. We have some art groups who would appreciate a space, either for the weekend of the 27th/29th May, or maybe event for the week before too. The current plan is to gather as many events as possible around two main hubs. The first is Banff High St and Low St, and of course Duff House, and in Macduff going from the Town Hall up Duff St to the Arts Centre. More on programme later.

Coast Photos

Is there anyone out there with pictures from the 2010 festival we should see? We're looking for images to go on our blog and website, so any help welcome there. Just email them to Emma at coastfestivalbanff@gmail.com...............................

Flotsam, Jetsam, Lagan and Derelict

2010-11-17T01:11:00.000-08:00

The Banff & Buchan Arts Forum are creating an exhibition which will be exhibited at the Macduff Town Hall; it will include invited artists and have an 'open' element for everyone to submit work - further info to be announced later.

Flotsam, Jetsam, Lagan and Derelict
Launch of the Banff & Buchan Arts Forum exhibition project “Flotsam,
Jetsam, Lagan and Derelict” to be organised by the BBAF during the
Banff and Macduff COAST festival of 27th-29th May 2011.

An exciting exhibition of pieces in a standard small format, designed to make the viewer question the conventional ideas of material value in artworks.

All the work shown, no more than 12”x12”x4” in size, will be created
from: beachcomed, found, foraged, recycled, salvaged, homemade or
reclaimed materials.

All the pieces will be offered for sale anonymously at the same fixed price, by contradicting the standard assumption that it is the artist’s reputation and the purchase cost of materials that creates the value of an artwork we hope to oblige the prospective purchaser to attribute value using only their own judgment.
As a result it is just possible that they will also consider the
intrinsic value of natural resources as distinct from their market
prices.

It is intended that the exhibition, which it is hoped will
include contributions from several noted artists, which will not only
be of visual and artistic interest but will also raise awareness of
environmental problems particularly as they affect the coastal and
marine ecology.

Welcome to COAST 2011!

2010-11-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Coast 2011, a Festival with a focus on visual arts being created by local artists, community groups, arts organisations and service providers in the Banff and Macduff area. The festival weekend will be 27th to 29th May 2011, but look out for lead-up earlier in May.
Our programme will include exhibitions, workshops, music and entertainment for the whole family, in venues across the Aberdeenshire harbour towns of Banff and Macduff. Facing each other across the Deveron estuary, the two towns have played host to three Coast Festivals at the end of May each year, heralding the bright summer months along the beautiful Banffshire Coast.
The programme is still in development, but opportunities will arise if you want to submit work to an open exhibition, sign up to a hands-on workshop or take part of creating an exhibition. If you have ideas for the Festival, let us know.
If you would like to be kept informed of events please e-mail us at
coastfestivalbanff@gmail.com
Postal address:
Bryan Angus, Coast Chair: 5 St Anne’s Terrace, Banff, Aberdeenshire, AB45 1AW.
Tel: 01261 812276

COAST photo diary 2010

2010-11-02T08:59:00.001-07:00

2010-11-02T06:51:00.000-07:00

LIVING-SPACES

Temporary Public Art Interventions for Coast 2010

The Living-Spaces project was an opportunity for the residents of two small towns on the northern edge of Aberdeenshire to work with quality artists to create temporary public art that examined our relationship with the neglected areas of our built environment.

In spring 2009 Banff and Macduff Community Trust (B&MCT) set up a participatory photographic survey of what was most loved and loathed about the two towns. The resounding response was a love for the built environment and open spaces and a loathing for exactly the same things - when they are neglected. These derelict, unused and un-cared for buildings, along with the spaces around them are not only indicative of economic problems, but also of a culture of neglect and disregard for the quality of the spaces we pass through, the capillaries as well as the arteries that connect the communities.

Coast Festival aimed to engage with the communities of Banff and Macduff and bring quality contemporary art experiences to the heart of the towns. To that end, Coast worked to create a temporary public art project that featured over the weekend of Festival at the end of May 2010. Two artists were engaged, Chris Biddleco and lulu Quinn, to produce temporary interventions, based on the artist’s response to defined areas within the towns, research from the community and workshops with residents.

The project was not intended to provide an immediate cure for dereliction or to beautify specific eyesores in any way. But rather to inspire change in the culture of how we respond to un-used buildings and spaces. We hoped it might give the two communities ideas and empowerment to start changing how we relate – landlords, councils, neighbours and artists - to the blankness of un-used places and spaces, and see them as opportunities for a community to reveal its distinction from, rather than its uniformity with, other depressed areas.

Role of the artist

The artists were required to:-

· To be the creative instigator of discussion, ideas generation and debate over the issue of the quality of Living-Spaces in the two towns.

· Develop and deliver an original temporary artwork as part of Coast Festival 2010, working with Cost Festival staff and the residents of the two towns.

· Develop and deliver a series of meaningful creative activities to engage local people in developing ideas for the content of the Living-Spaces project and to enhance their understanding of the processes involved in public art. These creative activities will also explore the community’s sense of place, add meaning to the artwork and add value to the relationship between the community, the artwork and promote a sense of ownership.

Click on the below link to read conversations with artists Chris Biddlecombe

Chris Biddlecombe

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B9Kc0GeDMX3fODA1ZWM1MDMtYmJkYy00YmMxLThiZDQtOGM1MWE0YzQzYmEz&hl=en

Lulu Quinn

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B9Kc0GeDMX3fOTc4NGNjYTctNDFlYi00ZDgzLWEyMTMtMzMwODU2Mzk5YjEx&hl=en