RELATE NORTH consists of a congress, exhibition and network meeting. The theme of this years meeting was Practicing Place: Heritage, Art and Design for Creative Communities.

The event was a collaboration between the University of the Arctic, ASAD Thematic Network; Shetland College, University of the Highlands and Islands and the University of Lapland. The Symposium took place in the auditorium of the Shetland Museum and Archives. The theme provided an opportunity to interrogate the heritage and visualisation of northern places, the role  that community-led initiatives play in making places creative, and the different kinds of creative practices that contribute to place-making in the north.

The locality of the Shetland Islands was profoundly presented. One of the keynotes, Dr. Ian Tait, the curator at the Shetland Museum and Archives, discussed on the influence of economics to Shetland indigenous and traditional building skills. Also artist and knitters in residency programmes in Sumburgh and in Island of Yell were introduced both in the symposium and during the symposium excursion to northern Islands of Shetland.

Annual exhibition RELATE NORTH

The RELATE NORTH exhibition was located in several venues in Lerwick in Gutters Hut and as a “pop-up” exhibition space, Mareel and Shetland College UHI. 26 exhibitors representing 7 countries had works in variety of media from indigenous craft to contemporary digital media. The exhibition also included different forms of participatory projects created by artists working within their communities, employing creative engagement to explore their distinct cultures, histories and contemporary issues. The exhibition was curated by Roxane Permar and Glen Coutts.

 

Further information about Annual Relate North exhibition

For more information visit Arctic sustainable arts and design website.