Edinburgh Art Festival

Edinburgh Art Festival (EAF), the UK’s largest annual festival of visual art, brings together Edinburgh’s leading galleries, museums and artist-run spaces; new publicly-sited commissions across the city; and a programme of special events, in a city-wide, month-long celebration of the very best in visual arts.

The 14th edition sees 50+ exhibitions across more than 40 venues, with solo, group and survey shows by contemporary and modern artists from the UK and beyond. Alongside this, EAF presents the 2017 Commissions Programme, entitled The Making of the Future: Now, with new projects at sites in and around Edinburgh’s Old Town. The 2017 festival also features performances, tours, workshops and talks by some of the world’s leading artists and curators. 

Highlights of the 2017 Partner Programme:

Internationally recognised artists, including Jac Leirner at The Fruitmarket Gallery; Pablo Bronstein at Jupiter Artland; Ed Ruscha at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art; and Patrick Staff at Collective.

Scotland’s leading and emerging artists, including Douglas Gordon and Graham Fagen at Scottish National Portrait Gallery; Stephen Sutcliffe at Talbot Rice Gallery; Kate Davis at Stills; Charlotte Barker at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop; and the next generation of emerging talent at ECA MA Degree Show and The Number Shop.

Historical and survey shows, including British Realist Painting at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art; Beyond Caravaggio at the Scottish National Gallery; an A-Z tour of City Art Centre’s collection, and Britain’s first war photographer at The Queen’s Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse.

Significant group exhibitions including the inaugural exhibition in the six-part series of NOW at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art; pairings of artists at Ingleby to celebrate their 20th anniversary; and Edinburgh Printmakers’ New Edition.

Contemporary artists working in expanded contexts including new commissions at Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Garden; female artists working with textile at Dovecot Gallery, Sue Jane Taylor at the National Museum of Scotland; Thought Collider at New Media Scotland; and a collaborative project with writer Jessica Yu at Rhubaba.

Commissions Programme—The Making of the Future: Now

In Scotland’s Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology, the 2017 Commissions Programme reflects on two important anniversaries for the city—the foundation of the first Edinburgh Festival in 1947, and the 1917 publication of Patrick Geddes’ The Making of the Future: A Manifesto and a Project. Separated by a generation, both were born out of the experience of global conflict, and a belief that artists could play a critical role in helping societies to imagine new and better ways of living.

A new site-specific garden studio by Edinburgh-based Bobby Niven for the urban wildlife reserve, Johnston Terrace Wildlife Garden, hosting artists-in-residence and acting as a venue for environmentally focused-workshops.

A giant dragon within the gothic kirk, Trinity Apse, by Walker & Bromwich, alongside a series of playful, utopian performative rituals and a public pageant—an alternative to the dominant capitalist model.

A major new multi-channel video work by the recent winner of New Zealand’s prestigious Walters Prize, Shannon Te Ao, addressing the physical and emotional depths of love, grief and healing.

A new sculptural work by Glasgow-based Toby Paterson, creating a landscape for reflection in Chessels Court, another site closely associated with Geddes.

A weekend of events exploring the themes of this year’s programme, entitled “A Summer Meeting” (August 11–14), including a rare opportunity to visit the original home of Geddes, Ramsay Garden.

A dedicated showcase for emerging talent, Platform: 2017, selected by Graham Fagen and Jacqueline Donachie, featuring 4 artists, in a new festival venue: a former Victorian Fire Station, Lauriston Place.

For more information, contact: victoria [​at​] suttonpr.com 

Supported by Creative Scotland; City of Edinburgh Council; Scottish Government Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund; Event Scotland.