COAST meeting update...

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

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!

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

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