‘Paradox’, 2 visual art exhibitions held in Mannheim, Germany, 2016.

The first exhibition opened in Mannheim on 3 April 2016.  It was a 2 person show with the artist Ba Haiden from Kurdistan.  In all, I produced a total of 16 works for this show.

The private view was a very interesting and exciting time.  The introduction was led by Gisela Kerntke, who knew of the Book of Kells and understood exactly where my work had its roots.  Several art critics attended and the opening ceremony was conducted by Dr Lehmann, an art critic with connections to the KulturQuerQuerKultur of the Rhein-Neckar (a large art organisation).  I was approached by a total of 4 art critics who will be writing articles.  Advertising and promotion was widespread.  More than 50 people attended.

Sigrid Shone (left), Mannheim exhibition opening event

The generous funding from the Fife Project Grants enabled me to invest both time and resources into this work and to give central Europe exposure to the Scottish and Celtic heritage first hand.  Many of the people attending were completely unaware of the Gaelic language spoken in the north of Scotland (including by my family) and how I was able to refer to the current oral tradition in the form of Gaelic laments in my work.  I had the original text to hand.

Impact on my practice

The work that I presented was very well received.

Out of this first exhibition, I have 2 more potential exhibitions lined up in Germany.  The first one is with an architect who owns a gallery in Mannheim.  The second show is a definite and will take place in a gallery in Paderborn, Germany (this is happening currently & will culminate with the Night of Museums there this weekend).

The magazine ‘Art Profil’ in which I have an article, circulates in Switzerland, Austria and Germany.

Since returning to Scotland, I have been able to develop new techniques that I used in this exhibition and am starting to produce a new body of work.

Sigrid Shone, Fife-based artist