It was with great anticipation that we awaited the arrival of Kate Scardifield and her work at St Andrews Museum in late 2017.
Choreographed by the Glasgow-based project curators, Catriona Duffy and Lucy McEachan of Panel, she had visited the museum (and Fife Council’s Museum Collection) the previous summer when she had a mini residency to explore the content of museum & archive collections of 6 local authorities around Scotland.
Exploring Fife Council Museum Collections, 2016
She’d also shared photographs of the developing new work, so we did have an idea of what to expect. But what excitement when the beautifully printed black velvet panels were unrolled for the first time!
Unwrapping the black velvet panels!
Kate Scardifield, This New Past
The whole installation week was packed with activity. As we were fortunate to have Kate with us for the week, various press interviews had been arranged including one for Janice Forsyth’s radio show, a filmed interview for STV, and 2 with University of St Andrews student art publications:
Kate Scardifield interview for STV, 28 Nov 2017
Nor did Kate just spend her time doing press interviews! She took a very active part in the installation process of her work, ensuring that it looked its best for the public to see. During the opening event in December, Kate also gave an interesting guided tour/talk of the exhibition.
Kate giving gallery talk
The exhibition continues at St Andrews Museum until Saturday 3 March (open Wed to Sat, 10.30am to 4pm, admission free). ‘Ley Lines’ is a wonderful show to visit if you haven’t done so already – a combination of film, textiles, sculpture, historic objects that links Scotland and Australia.
There are also free drop-in activities in the adjoining room for younger visitors (plus a free banner-making workshop on Thurs 15 Feb).
Curated by Panel in partnership with Fife Contemporary; Co Create (Maggie Broadley); Falkirk Community Trust; Heriot Watt University; Live Borders; and supported in kind by the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (MAAS) Sydney; Ley Lines is kindly supported through Creative Scotland’s Open Fund.
