Dedicated to sharing the experiences of people in Scotland during the coronavirus pandemic, new exhibition will lead the reopening of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (SNPG) this Sunday (8 November 2020), with over 200 public submissions presented in ‘You Are Here 2020: Stories, Portraits, Visions’.
A rotating selection will be displayed alongside five artworks from the national collection, including a bronze bust of Scots Makar Jackie Kay (pictured above). Others include a bust of the pioneering surgeon Dr Elsie Inglis made by Ivan Meštrovic; a selection of works by photographer Iain Stewart from his series Tender for which he shadowed two Edinburgh GPs; a video work featuring Mercury Prize-winning Edinburgh band Young Fathers titled Man Up, and a new acquisition – a portrait of the singer-songwriter Emeli Sandé, painted by Samira Addo, winner of the Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2018 prize.
Acting as a portrait of the nation, ‘You Are Here’ will provide a platform for visitors – booking mandatory for free tickets – to reflect on the experience of lockdown and gain an insight into what people in Scotland have faced during the COVID-19 outbreak. Presented through art, photography and writing, recurring themes of friendship, kindness, heartbreak and resilience are strong throughout.
Each submission offers a new point of view to visitors and allows for a deeper understanding of what individuals and communities have been going through, from stories of babies born during the pandemic to long-distance relationships and lockdown loneliness. Other pieces tell of sacrifices made to beat ‘an invisible enemy’, as described in one of the poems.
Nine submissions will be shown during the opening week of the exhibition, with examples such as photographs from socially distanced garden visits, family Zoom calls and home-school activities. The display will be updated every week and, for those who are unable to visit in person, all works shown will be shared on the NGS website and social media channels. In addition, people of all ages are being encouraged to continue submitting their work until 31 December 2020.
Learning and Engagement Outreach Officer, Richie Cumming, who devised the display, said: “It has been humbling and a privilege to receive these submissions. The project has given participants the opportunity to share intimate and moving stories and portraits that, when taken together, create a powerful portrait of human experience. I know it has been cathartic for many people who have taken part and I hope these stories give visitors renewed perspectives on their experiences too.”
Alongside ‘You Are Here’, visitors to the SNPG will also be able to enjoy the magnificent Great Hall, the ambulatory on the first floor and the galleries on the second floor. The other exhibitions on show will include:
Reformation to Revolution, The King’s Last Day: The Execution of Charles I
Art & Analysis: Two Netherlandish Painters working in Jacobean Scotland
Imagining Power: The Visual Culture of the Jacobite Cause
Scots in Italy: Artists and Adventurers
The Remaking of Scotland: Nation, Migration, Globalisation 1760-1860
Heroes and Heroines: The Victorian Age
The first floor, where The Modern Portrait exhibition is usually held, will be temporarily closed, as will the library and research consultation area in order to maintain physical distancing requirements. Provisionally opening for three days a week due to the staffing levels required to ensure COVID-19 health and safety standards are met, the SNPG will be open every Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
Visitors can book their free ticket to attend on the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) website.
Jackie Kay next to ’Jackie Kay, CBE, b. 1961. Poet, 2004’ by Michael Snowden. Bronze sculpture. Gifted by New Edinburgh Ltd, 2004. © M A Snowden. Photo by Neil Hanna.
Emeli Sand√©, 1987. Singer and Songwriter © Samira Addo
