Our monthly reading group on the many topics related to socially engaged art, taking place the second Wednesday of every month. Join us for lunch and a chat about the text(s) of the month!
Home Programme
This event was part of the Home Programme, a series of regular community events taking place at Deveron Projects programmed by our Art & Community Worker. The Home Programme celebrates local knowledge and experience, and explores what it's like to live and work in and around Huntly. It includes Friday Lunch, as well as the monthly Food Chain cookery workshop, Art Club and stall at the Huntly Farmers' Market.
Previous readings:
Wednesday 16th November 2022: The Art of Conversation, by Monika Szewczyk, chosen by Sarah Forrest & Virginia Hutchison
Our artists in residence Sarah Forrest and Virginia Hutchison chose a text that reflects their current thoughts and musings for their project TV Dinners. Sarah and Virginia chose a section of The Art of Conversation, written by writer and curator Monika Szewczyk, which explores conversation, gossip and overhearing in many of its forms. TV Dinners also plays with these topics, through Sarah and Virginia's collaborative practice, thinking about the processes of making, and through the form of a regular film club where the artists are inviting folk to come together to watch a film, have a meal and share a conversation. For this Reading Together, we focused on a section of the text beginning at the start of 'Quiet as It's Kept' to "…something that is done when making work is impossible.", but feel free to read beyond this section!
Wednesday 12th October 2022: Afterword: Have you had a productive day? By Annette Krauss & Binna Choi, chosen by Jenny Salmean
Our Producer and Square Deal Coordinator Jenny chose Afterword: Have you had a productive day?, a reflection on the Sites for Unlearning project at Casco Art Institute in the Netherlands. The project explores ways in which art institutions can start to 'unlearn' taken for granted values and ways of working, in order to make way for a culture of equality, difference and fairness. The text dives into the politics of being busy, cleaning, and team work, and through it we chatted about ways of working together and our own unlearning! The text can be found at pages 165-182 (or 84-93 if you're reading it on Acrobat).
Wednesday 14th September 2022: Wilderness Cure: Ancient Wisdom in a Modern World by Mo Wilde, chosen by Kawther Luay
This month, The Gathering Table project artist-chef Kawther Luay chose our Reading Together text as extracts from Wilderness Cure: Ancient Wisdom in a Modern World. We looked at 'First Frost' and 'Location Location Location' to explore our relationships with the land and the herbal and medicinal plants that grow around us. Email jess@deveron-projects.com for the text!
Wednesday 17th August: CARTO CITY (Mapping City) by Denis Cosgrove, chosen by Januario Jano
Deveron Projects' artist in residence Januario Jano has been developing his project Sonic Border, tracing (and imagining) the journey of non humans – birds, plants, animals – from the Global South to Northern Europe through sound, and exploring the links to the physical migration of people through diasporic experiences. For August's Reading Together, Januario chose CARTO CITY (Mapping City) for us to read and discuss, through which we thought about the roles that maps play in creating, defining, regulating and representing a place.
Wednesday 22nd June: Potential History: Unlearning Imperialism by Ariella Aïsha Azoulay, chosen by Hussein Mitha
Hussein Mitha, our current The World is Ours, In Spite of All artist in residence, recently joined us for Friday Lunch to chat about Ariella Aïsha Azoulay’s book Potential History: Unlearning Imperialism, which explores the nature of imperialism, and ways to begin repairing the world and social relations from the effects, issues and falsehoods of it. For this month's Reading Together, we continued the discussion that started at that Friday Lunch and looked deeper into the text and the themes and topics it presents.
For some exciting essays discussing what a radical practice of history can look like, including imagining robots going on strike and the imperial nature of documentary films, check out Verso's Unlearning Imperialism roundtable.
Wednesday 11th May: The Three Sisters and companion planting, chosen with Lindy Young
As part of Aberdeenshire Wellbeing Festival 2022, whose theme this year is reducing loneliness, we thought about how plants support each other in their growth through companion planting. Our text was a chapter of Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer called The Three Sisters, which explores the indigenous agricultural technique of planting beans, corn and squash in the same patch of soil – in doing so, the plants support each other to promote better growth and yield through nutrients exchange, shade and structural support. After chatting about the text and eating lunch (made with ingredients from our own garden), we headed outside to have a hands-on go at planting our own 'three sisters' with beans, corn and courgettes or sunflowers, nasturtium and sweetpeas.
Wednesday 13th April: User's Manuals and Also-Spaces: How to Share, chosen by Jess Carnegie
As we moved into a new phase of Square Deal, our Art & Community Worker Jess chose two texts that explores sharing and working together. We thought about what it means to have one building that is used in multiple different contexts, through Draft #3 of Birmingham based gallery Eastside Projects's User's Manuals – which sets out the whats, hows and whos of the artist-run space – and a short essay by Indonesian based artist reinaart vanhoe called 'From Alternative Space to Also-Space: Learning From Indonesian Artists and Art Initiatives' – which explores how spaces can be an integrated 'also-space', as opposed to an alternative.
Wednesday 16th March: Re-reading Fairytales, chosen by Irineu Destourelles
Our Does It Fall from the Skies Above? project artist Irineu has been researching, reading and writing fairytales as part of his time here. Huntly is the birthplace of the fantasy writer George MacDonald, and for March's Reading Together we thought about the imagery, histories and contexts of monsters and princesses alike with two fairy tale themed texts; Irineu chose the first chapter of MacDonald's book The Princess and the Goblin, which he'd paired this with Decolonizing Fairy-Tale Studies, an essay by Donald Haase.
Wednesday 16th February: Identities in type, chosen by Petra Pennington
Ahead of her project exploring how we set out who we are and want to be, artist Petra Pennington chose a playful selection of sources that aim to do just that through written word. From Tristan Tzara’s Dada Manifesto of 1918 (excerpt – 1st 5 paragraphs up to and including ‘I hate common sense.’) to the Flat Earth Manifesto, the corporate annex of manifestos, and an iconic Nirvana band t-shirt.
Wednesday 19th January: 'Art, Anthropology and The Gift' by Roger Sansi
Our first Reading Together of 2022 was chosen by Deveron Projects founder Claudia Zeiske, who is currently working on her PhD Place / Art / Folk, to think about how an organisation in the rural context can be sustainable for future generations. Claudia chose Art, Anthropology and The Gift by Roger Sansi, which looks at the crossovers between art making and anthropology.
2021
Wednesday 8th December: 'Calanas and Clò-mòr: Speed, Scale and Song' by Col Gordon
Our December Reading Together text was chosen by Flax project artist Christine Borland, as she returned to Huntly to continue working with the flax that she and many other have been growing over the past two years. Christine chose Calanas and Clò-mòr (The Big Cloth): Speed, Scale and Song by Col Gordon, which explores the West Highlands and Islands Calanas processes of transforming raw wool into a finished cloth. Col explores the songs, beliefs and speeds that are tied with those processes; through that, we thought about how that reflected Christine's next stages in turning flax into linen, and the place that these crafts have in society today. You can find the text here
Wednesday 10th November: Jamaica Kincaid and The Coloniality of Planting
Our November Reading Together texts were chosen by artist Hussein Mitha, who will be joining Deveron Projects in the near future. Hussein chose two chapters from Jamaica Kincaid's My Garden Book – 'In History' and 'To Name is to Possess' – and notes from Ros Gray and Shela Sheikh's discussion The Coloniality of Planting. Through these texts, we were thinking about the politics and histories of growing and gardening, and how we might treat these histories now.
Wednesday 20th October: 'Utopia, not futurism' by Murray Bookchin
Our Reading Together texts this month were chosen by artist Januario Jano, who joined Deveron Projects to work on a project growing cassava in North East Scotland. Januario chose a 1978 speech by American philosopher Murray Bookchin called Utopia, not futurism: Why doing the impossible is the most rational thing we can do which discusses ecology, land, how we interact which each other and ways that we can protect, sustain and develop our planet.
Wednesday 15th September, 1-2pm, Brander Garden
In September, we were thinking about new ways in which the arts can be organised, looking through the lens of manifestos. read Harry Josephine Giles' blog post I Woke Up and The Arts Was Gone alongside the Visual Arts Manifesto (2017) from Scottish Contemporary Art Network, Scottish Artists Union and Engage Scotland and Grayson Perry's Red Alan's Manifesto (2014), commissioned by the Royal Academy of Arts.
Wednesday 11th August, 1-2pm, Brander Garden
This month Matthew Evans, our new Project Manager, chose our Reading Together texts. We looked at the opening of Briti(sh) (From 'On a Friday evening…' to '…we still talk about that day.') by Afua Hirsch and Lydia Davis's short story What She Knew, (which you can find via the link by clicking on the contents drop-down button at the top of the webpage). Matthew is new in town and the texts raise questions about identity, belonging and home – plus a few other ideas he had in his head since arriving in Huntly.
Wednesday 14th July, 1-2pm, Brander Garden
This month our Reading Together was led by current artist-in-residence Annie Runkel. We were looking at the introduction to Jenny Odell's How to Do Nothing, alongside two poems – Waiting by Joanna Guthrie, and K-T by Ned Balbo. Through these texts, we were looking at a culture of refusal, and thinking about connections between the natural world and human beings.
Wednesday 9th June, 1-2pm, Brander Garden
This month we welcomed back Kawther Luay to Huntly as our chef in residence. Kawther had chosen the texts for June's Reading Together and, inspired by the current hopeful emergence of fruits, berries and vegetables, had chosen two texts that explore the imagery and social purpose of the apple. We were looking at Desire: Sweetness, Plant: The Apple from Michael Pollan's The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World, and Eve was a Libra from Molly O'Neill's A Well Seasoned Appetite: Recipes for Eating with the Seasons, the Senses, and the Soul.
Wednesday 7th April, 1-2pm, Online
In April, we were reading Kully Thiarai’s essay A Duty of Care About the Nature of Engagement as part of a publication titled ‘What Would Joan Littlewood Say’, in relation to Deveron Project’s own text on Hospitality thinking about civic space and our responsibility to the public as arts organisations. Thiarai considers the responsibility of care and hospitality in arts organisations which we’ve been thinking about as a team here at Deveron Projects as we continue to produce an international arts programme during a global pandemic. What kind of care is required when inviting artists to rural towns; how does this relate to the capacity of art workers in organisations; how do we create space for adequate care?
In April, we were reading Kully Thiarai’s essay A Duty of Care About the Nature of Engagement as part of a publication titled ‘What Would Joan Littlewood Say’, in relation to Deveron Project’s own text on Hospitality thinking about civic space and our responsibility to the public as arts organisations. Thiarai considers the responsibility of care and hospitality in arts organisations which we’ve been thinking about as a team here at Deveron Projects as we continue to produce an international arts programme during a global pandemic. What kind of care is required when inviting artists to rural towns; how does this relate to the capacity of art workers in organisations; how do we create space for adequate care?
Wed 3rd March, 1 – 2pm, Online
In March, we were reading Francois Matarasso's provocation Notes for What Next UK; thinking of how we in the cultural sector can react to the 'new normal' post-pandemic situation. Are we going back to 'normal'? What if any positives has the pandemic situation brought us? Are we going digital? What is our role in community/society? Are there hybrid models of working out there? What are the prospects of international collaboration in an increasingly bordered world?
Wed 13th January, 1 – 2pm, Online
For our January meeting, we discussed Pods, Pots, and Potions: Putting Cacao to Paper in Early Modern Europe by Christine Jones. The other text we read is Stir-Up Sunday and the New Christmas Pudding by Dawn Finch for Neep & Okra. In her blog post, Dawn mentions the 14th century recipe for “fygge pudding” compared to her own version. By relating and comparing these texts we looked at historical and modern depiction of recipes and food.
2020
Wed 2nd December, 1 – 2pm, Online
For our December meeting, we discussed Jean Giono's The Man Who Planted Trees. You can watch a beautiful animation that accompanies the text here.
Wed 4th November, 1 – 2pm, Online
For our November meeting, we discussed Theodore Roosevelt's The Square Deal speech to farmers at the New York Agricultural Association.
Wed 2nd September, 1 – 2pm, Online
For our September meeting, we discussed modern contexts of traditional land use. To help us, we looked at Fernando García-Dory's publication A Shepherd's School as a Micro Kingdom of Utopia, which was made as part of his ongoing project A Shepherd's School, and a Scots poem by Margaret Gillies Brown entitled Hairst, which you can read here, or listen to here.
Wed 5th August, 1 – 2pm, Online
This month we looked into the effects of consumerism and streamlining on domestic settings by reading the introduction to Ellen Lupton and J. Abbott Miller's book The Bathroom, the Kitchen and the Aesthetics of Waste. Alongside this, we looked at Laurie Lee's poem Home From Abroad.
Wed 1st July, 1 – 2pm, Online
For our July meeting, the core text was Rebecca Solnit's The Shape of a Walk, from 'Wanderlust: A History of Walking', with support by The Artistic Medium of Walking (In Defence of Medium Specificity) written by Blake Morris.
Wed 10th June, 1 – 2pm, Online
This month we looked at New, Old and alternative economies through a poem by Gottfried Benn Think of the Unsatisfied Ones, a Brothers Grimm story The Fisherman and his Wife; and a short text by economist Guy Standing: Meet the precariat, the new global class fuelling the rise of populism
Wed 6 May, 1 – 2pm, Online
This month we reflected on the 75 years that passed since the end of World War II by reading the classic story The Willow-Wren and the Bear from the Brothers Grimm collections and the Poem To those born after by Bertold Brecht, as well as having a look at this poster by Käthe Kollwitz (with English translation here).
Wed 8 April, 1 – 2pm, Online
Feeling Overwhelmed? How art can help in an emergency by Olivia Laing
Wed 4 Mar, 1 – 2pm, Brander Kitchen
Nuno Sacramento and Claudia Zeiske, 'Curatorial Methodology' in ARTocracy, pp.54-109.
Wed 5 Feb, 1 – 2pm, Brander Kitchen
Kim Charnley, 'Brexit, Austerity and Social Practice', Field: A Journal of Socially-Engaged Art Criticism
Kim Charnley, 'Brexit, Austerity and Social Practice', Field: A Journal of Socially-Engaged Art Criticism
Wed 8 Jan, 1 – 2pm, Brander Kitchen
Readings: Feel free to read both or to choose one of the following readings
Lucy Lippard, Being in Place, Lure of the Local, pp32-38
Grant Kester, The Art of the Locality in The One and the Many: Contemporary Collaborative Art in a Global Context, pp140 – 153
Readings: Feel free to read both or to choose one of the following readings
Lucy Lippard, Being in Place, Lure of the Local, pp32-38
Grant Kester, The Art of the Locality in The One and the Many: Contemporary Collaborative Art in a Global Context, pp140 – 153
2019
Wed 13 Nov, 1 – 2pm, Brander Kitchen
Readings: Feel free to read both or to choose one of the following readings.
Claire Bishop. The Social Turn: Collaboration and its Discontents
Claire Bishop. The Social Turn: Collaboration and its Discontents
Grant Kester, Park Fiction: Desire, Resistance, and Complicity, in The One and the Many: Contemporary Collaborative art in a Global Context, pp199-210
