Skye and Lochalsh Archive Centre 24th May – 29th May
Where We Stand, is an exhibition organised by Community Land Scotland, with work by contemporary artists telling the stories and achievements of the pioneers of community ownership, a movement that has transformed Scotland. Artists include Virginia Hutchison, Richard Bracken and Colin Tennant & Saskia Coulson, Francia Boakye, Kate O’Shea, and Emma Duncan, Ann Little & Helen Walsh.
This exhibition looks to connect the work of these artists, alongside community groups to investigate the journey of community ownership over the last 100 years, and ask what do we want next? Curated by Iain Craig, the exhibition originally toured across parts of Scotland in Summer 2024, in
partnership with the Travelling Gallery and was seen by close to 2,500 people.
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About Linn an Fhearainn
This project will create a living archive of community ownership; one of the most important political, economic, and social movements in Scotland in the last one hundred years. At its heart, this is about celebrating the work of all the pioneering communities and their achievements so far – and inspiring future community owners to start their own journey, We are creating an Oral History and Archive training programme that will provide the
skills for all participants to gather and document stories which they can contribute to a new archive website, to mark the collective legacy of all of Scotland’s community owners. You can find out more about the digital archive on the projects website, as well as details of the events and activities happening over the duration of the next year.
project website: www.100years.scot
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Curator’s note
This exhibition acknowledges and celebrates the efforts, ingenuity and passion of all those involved in community ownership over the last century. The exhibition shines light on the tremendous collective effort of people across Scotland working together to make a better future for themselves and the nation; empowering communities and the land they live on, the land which they are custodians of. Each work is rooted in the experience and knowledge of people deeply involved in community ownership, and then honed and shaped by artists embedded in those places.
Each process of creation was about reciprocity, sharing skills and collective vision. It is important to contextualise these contemporary artworks within the larger land reform movement of Scotland, so woven through the exhibition are the milestones and accomplishments of the last one hundred years, and an invitation to look forward towards what the next one hundred years might hold. Everything traces back to people and place; the stories of how people live, how they create a sense of belonging and how we live in harmony with the rest of the natural world. These artworks are about tracing the roots of this social movement to see what has flourished already, and to wonder what blossoms are still to come.
