Why Sonia Boyce, Alberta Whittle and Simone Leigh

Life Between Islands

This year’s Venice Biennale sees Black women of Caribbean descent representing Scotland, Britain and the United States – this is why this rendition of the Biennale is so important

Words: Harvey Dimond

Photo: Cristiano Corte Image: courtesy the artist, Scotland+Venice Photo: Marco Cappelletti Image: courtesy La Biennale di Venezia Photo: Roberto Marossi Image: courtesy La Biennale di Venezia

(pause) at deep dive (pause) uncoiling memory., 2022, Alberta Whittle Feeling Her Way, Sonia Boyce Brick House, 2019, Simone Leigh

It may seem an odd comparison to make, but there are some commonalities between the islands of the Venetian lagoon and the islands of the Caribbean. Both archipelagos are creolised spaces, with histories that are entangled with migration, colonialism and the trade in enslaved people from Sub-Saharan Africa. It is widely believed that Venice itself was founded by refugees fleeing an invasion of mainland Italy nearly 2000 years ago, but now a new wave of refugees, many from Sub-Saharan Africa, find themselves on the margins of the floating city. In 2017, a Gambian man drowned in the Grand Canal in front of hundreds of onlookers, who, instead of helping him, shouted racist abuse. Alberta Whittle, representing Scotland at the Venice Biennale this year, examines Venice’s complicated relationship with Blackness. One scene of her film, Lagareh – The Last Born, features statues of enslaved Black people that can be seen in the Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari Church in the city. The statues, with torn clothing and tortured expressions, are an apt reminder of how Venice is inevitably tied up in European histories of slavery and colonialism. Whittle’s film exceeds simply just displaying Venetian representations of Black people but instead creates the possibility for their liberation. The film is dedicated to Sheku Bayoh, who died in police custody in Kirkcaldy in 2015, which made it tragically evident that police brutality is an issue that Scotland is not immune from. Footage shot at Bunce Island, an island off the coast of Sierra Leone where tens of thousands of enslaved people were held and then shipped to the Americas, which was administered by two Scottish men for several decades in the 18th century, attests to Scotland’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade. Sonia Boyce is exhibiting at the British Pavilion, a long-overdue recognition of an artist who has been creating multi-faceted and discipline-defying work since the early 1980s. Boyce’s commission Feeling Her Way brings together video works featuring five musicians of colour, as well as sculptural and wall-based installations. This new work expands on the artist’s Devotional Collection, which spans three centuries and honours Black British female musicians and their contribution to diasporic culture. Boyce has always been concerned with the ability of the archive to speak for the absences in Britain’s social and cultural history. Meanwhile, Simone Leigh is exhibiting in the American Pavilion, where her monumental sculptures fill the stately building. Titled Sovereignty, her works bridge transatlantic artistic traditions from Africa, Europe and the USA to create hybrid forms that the American scholar Saidiya Hartman describes as “an architecture of possibility”. Leigh also examines ideas of exploitation and mimicry; the low hanging thatch she has installed around the exterior of the building references a structure that was displayed at the 1931 Paris Colonial Exposition, where people from France’s colonies were put ‘on display’ alongside architectural replicas of their domestic spaces. On top of their radical commitment to surfacing and archiving transatlantic histories and their connections to the Caribbean, what binds the work of Whittle, Boyce and Leigh together is a celebration of community. As part of her commission for the American Pavilion, Leigh is co-programming Loophole of Retreat: Venice with Rashida Bumbray, a convening of Black women scholars and creatives in October this year. This communion is a method of extending the temporality of important conversations beyond the Biennale, within the context of an art world that still views Black artists as a trend. Sonia Boyce’s exhibition platforms five musicians of colour, while Alberta Whittle’s commission continues her collaborative practice with a variety of collaborators whom she calls ‘accomplices’.

deep dive (pause) uncoiling memory, 2022, installation shot, Alberta Whittle

Invest in Love

Alberta Whittle’s Venice Biennale exhibition is a cogent call to action against racist and colonial systems of domination

Words: Adam Benmakhlouf

deep dive (pause) uncoiling memory begins with a large gate-like metal sculpture that reads: ‘WHAT LIES BELOW’. The words are carefully rendered into one of several deep, green grates. The ambiguous wording can be read as a question or a statement, and it forms the introduction for Alberta Whittle’s emotional, intellectual and spiritual excavation of the social structures of anti-Blackness. The exhibition unfolds around and upon these gates, and they also serve to introduce elements of the architectural character of Venice into the gallery space. As they are metaphorically unfixed from hinges and doorways around the city, the bespoke fabricated gates still operate as boundaries, but they are now freestanding and easy to circumnavigate. The psychic effect is to create a space with prescribed points of flow, but still left as open as possible. On the first grate after the entrance on the left, there is a tapestry that depicts graphically rendered arms that weave in and out of each other and lead to snake-tails at their ends. Images of diamond-shaped jewels are woven into the tapestry as decorations for these thick and wri ling arms. The hands are more cartoonish than they are anatomical. They appear liquid, like splatters, or like graphic renderings of steam. Titled Entanglement is more than blood, this poetic phrase underlines the work as a symbol of complicated connection. Behind the grate there is a painting from 1987 by Whittle’s mother, Janice Whittle, of her daughter Alberta sleeping as a child. A tenderness is extended through the painterly communication of intimacy, warmth and love. Whittle’s silhouette is carefully picked out as the centre of the work. Her mother describes an environment around her of warmth and fullness through thickly painted brushstrokes: a wish for her own child’s wellbeing, and a vision of the way the child’s spirit radiates around her. The mustardy ochres of the domesticscaled painting complement the densely pigmented purple of the gallery that is at points deep, lustrous, plush, regal, and satiny. To the right of the painting of Alberta as a child is one of the many small and satisfying details around the exhibition: a tiny stool carved all over with a long snake. This motif occurs not only here, but in the previously-discussed tapestry and throughout the film in the second gallery space. So it is that the snake is able to slink, bend and twist between the different dimensions and elements of the installation. Cowrie shells have been cast on the snake stool, and seven are clustered together, all mouth side up. With these shells on the surface, the stool is charged with the su estion of divination. The carved wooden stool

“Whittle demands that the audience withdraw their consent to police power: ‘Premature death at the hands of the state MUST END!’”

seems holy next to the image of the sleeping babe, a soft reminder of church kneelers. The recurring symbol of the snake is further elaborated by the video next door in the second gallery, titled Lagareh, meaning ‘The Last Born’. Like the installation, the film work fuses myriad emotional registers through different audio and visual textures. Lagareh takes place over seven chapters, named after the days in the week. They lead to Sunday’s emotional climax. In the first part, Monday, a woman dances with a bright yellow snake. On-screen text says that Solariss (the dancing woman) lays libations for Mami Wata. Solariss pours rum on her feet, her wrists are laden with beads and shells, and her long, thick hair is bejewelled in gold and bends in loose curls. She sways, looking down sometimes, then beyond the gaze of the camera. All of this takes place in the courtyard of an ornate and colonial-style institutional building, whose perfect rows of windows and huge central statue are seen blurred in the background. After this intriguing and enchanting opening, the second part, Tuesday, then moves to domestic comfort in an ethereal documentary setup. Two Black, queer women chat to each other and Alberta (off-camera) about some of the legal recognition that was given to them by marrying one another, and they imagine their future parenting style when they have a baby. Softly, the lens blurs in and out of focus following the hands of

Photo: Cristiano Corte Image: courtesy the artist, Scotland + Venice & Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh

Entanglement is more than blood - deep dive (pause) uncoiling memory, 2022, installation shot, Alberta Whittle

Angela as she massages her partner Ama’s feet. Wednesday sees dancer Divine Tasinda move in vigorous, fluid gestures and swoops as she holds two knives: one rusted, one still bright. Her dance under blue skies is punctuated by bright portraits of Divine herself and two of her family members. The filmic portraits of the three Black women glow in their beauty, and form the powerful counterpoint to the violence that is represented by the colonial architecture of their backdrop: Oswald’s Temple, set within an estate formerly owned by a Scottish slave trader. Some of this disturbing history is brought into the present through mobile recordings of police violence. At the same time, Whittle’s poignant poetry describes the felt effects of state-sanctioned oppression, and how to resist the mechanics of domination. Thursday is narrated by Dr Isatu Smith, who tells the story of the unmarked graveyard on Bunce Island on the Sierra Leone River. Groundpenetrating radar recently revealed a hidden cemetery next to where the white Europeans are buried with tombstones and ornaments. At this point the film becomes more analytical, relaying Dr Smith’s dialogue about the horrific treatment of people forced into slavery. A drone camera surveys the land. One final note for Thursday comes on the screen: ‘Remember the dead are always with you.’ Thinking of the steel sculptures that frame the video, perhaps the Xs that decorate them are also the mark left in place of a signature for all those who are present but whose names have been ‘buried alive’. Friday shows scenes of four Black women holding the line, symbolised by a long piece of red fabric against the blaring wind. This is shot like an epic battle, showing these women at the vanguard, while Whittle demands that the audience withdraw their consent to police power: ‘Premature death at the hands of the state MUST END!’ The pace of the film builds to a stirring climax as the audience is invited to ‘invest in love’, and deconstruct the violence and surveillance of incarceration and police power. For Saturday, Alberta reads out her poem, Looking the Snare in the Eye, while different imageries from the previous days recur. The poem is an embodied and emotional remembrance of ancestors and a wish for transformation through observation, sensitivity and breaking the cultural amnesia that allows for horrific injustices to be ignored and forgotten. This leads to the final chapter, Sunday. In a courthouse, the singer Kumba Kuyateh tells the story of Sheku Bayoh and his family. The film is dedicated to Bayoh, who died in police custody after the injustices inflicted by the police in Kirkcaldy in 2015. Kuyateh’s voice rings with fondness as she sings the epic tale of the Bayoh family travelling from Sierra Leone. The song is in the Mandinka language, but Kuyateh’s cadence and powerful vocals convey hope and heartbreak in equal measure. As the final visual of the film, Kuyateh holds our gaze for what seems like over a minute of silence. The closing section is text on a black screen. A list of names appear, one by one, of Black people who have died due to police violence in the UK. Whittle’s voice reads them out each in turn; the pain audible in her voice. Just before she begins, she reminds us ‘that we must recognise [these names] with love. That they were once someone’s baby, someone’s little one. Someone’s cherished darling.’ Whittle’s voice wavers at this, exerting the full combined emotional and intellectual weight of the film. Throughout deep dive (pause) uncoiling memory, Alberta Whittle practises powerful resistance to social repression and the oppressions of anti-Blackness and state violence. With great care and a singular sense of purpose, Whittle reveals the terrifying stakes of social justice at the same time as she pronounces its beautiful possibilities: the radical expansion of love, and the true freedom that comes with systems of justice that are healing instead of lethal. A final reminder is emblazoned above the exit from the gallery: ‘Invest in love’.

deep dive (pause) uncoiling memory continues at Docks Cantieri Cucchini, S. Pietro di Castello until 27 November 2022, part of the Venice Biennale

Explore Edinburgh, the Festival City

The Edinburgh Festivals return this summer, and Edinburgh is packed with live music, theatre, comedy and events all year round...

Words by: Peter Simpson

Beltane Fire Festival

This summer marks 75 years since an event which changed Edinburgh forever. The rst Edinburgh International Festival took place in August 1947, alongside a group of shows that weren’t part of the o cial programme but turned up in town anyway – also known as The Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

In the intervening years, festivals of lm, visual art and literature have joined the August ranks and transformed Edinburgh into the world’s leading festival city. But art, entertainment and culture don’t leave town at the start of Autumn – Edinburgh’s cultural scene thrives year-round, and there’s always something new to see.

LIVE MUSIC IN EDINBURGH

Edinburgh’s live music venues o er an eclectic mix of genres and scale throughout the year. For intimate shows from up-and-coming bands, head to the cluster of venues around the Cowgate. Sneaky Pete’s is Edinburgh’s foremost grassroots nightclub, and the cosy 100-capacity space hosts new bands from around the world on an almost-nightly basis. The Mash House, La Belle Angele, The Caves and the Bongo Club on Cowgate are also great places to see bands on their way up, and catch gigs by some of the hottest acts on the scene.

For bigger names, head to the sprawling multi-arts space at Summerhall for their regular Nothing Ever Happens Here gig nights, or to the Usher Hall on Lothian Road. The 2,200-capacity venue is more than 100 years old, but refurbishments and revamps make the venue a great place to catch a gig in incredible surroundings. St Vincent, Fleet Foxes, Leon Bridges and Pavement all play at the Usher Hall this summer and autumn, and the Usher Hall’s Sunday Classics season brings some of the world’s nest orchestras to Edinburgh.

The Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival returns this July (15-24 Jul), with a line-up of musicians from around the world in a whole host of venues across the city centre, including a vintage Spiegeltent in George Square Gardens. And speaking of unique venues, Hidden Door Festival takes over the former Royal High School next to Calton Hill (9-18 Jun) for a bumper programme of art, theatre and live music. The programme includes unique collaborations headed by Edinburgh bands Post Coal Prom Queen and Maranta, site-speci c artworks and performances, and a huge roster of bands on indoor and outdoor stages.

The Edinburgh International Festival’s programme features a huge range of contemporary and classical music, while August brings a pair of contrasting music festivals to Edinburgh. If you want a boutique experience with avant-garde music and performance in the grounds of the incredible art park at Jupiter Artland, head to Jupiter Rising (26-28 Aug). For something on a larger scale, check out Connect at the Royal Highland Centre (26-28 Aug); the line-up is packed with big names including The National, Jon Hopkins, Little Simz and IDLES.

STAND-UP COMEDY

For decades, the Edinburgh Fringe has been the place to catch the rising stars of comedy before they go stratospheric, or to see your favourite comics in unique and unexpected places. From the Cambridge Footlights groups that brought the likes of Emma Thompson and Stephen Fry to Edinburgh, to the pioneering stand-up comedy of Tony Allen and Alexei Sayle in the 1980s, the city has a vital place in the development of comedy as an artform.

The Fringe brings literally hundreds of clowns, sketch groups and stand-ups to the city each August, and the city comes alive with gigs in bars, cafes and any space comics can get their hands on. This year, you could catch the likes of Daniel Sloss working on new material in a community centre in the Southside, or you might check out Best In Class, a showcase of

working-class comedians from across the UK; at the Edinburgh Fringe, you can do both, and throw in a lot more as well.

The full Edinburgh Fringe programme is released in July, but Edinburgh’s comedy scene is active year-round. There are two main hubs: the Monkey Barrel on Blair Street, and The Stand on York Place, and each host regular nights showcasing brandnew comedians. Monkey Barrel presents regular work-in-progress shows in the run-up to the Fringe each August, o ering the chance to see a true one-o . Meanwhile, The Stand’s Red Raw night regularly features big names like Frankie Boyle and Dylan Moran trying out their new material.

THEATRE IN EDINBURGH

The Edinburgh International Festival is the jewel in the city’s theatrical crown, and the 75th anniversary programme is excellent. Alan Cumming stars in Burn, a new dance-theatre show challenging our perceptions of Robert Burns, at the Festival Theatre. At The Lyceum, a beautiful 19th-century building, Counting and Cracking tells the story of a Sri LankanAustralian family over four generations, while Liz Lochhead’s gripping retelling of Medea takes up residence at The Hub.

On the Fringe, the Summerhall programme is packed with exciting, high-quality new theatre, with About Money (a drama following a teenage fast food worker caring for his young sister), and A Sudden Violent Burst of Rain (a modern fable tackling an impenetrable immigration system) among the highlights. Summerhall is also a great place to see brand new theatre all year round, whether as part of their multi-arts programming, or as part of grassroots festivals like Manipulate, Edinburgh’s visual theatre festival, which takes place each January.

If it’s a spectacular you’re after, head over to Edinburgh’s largest venue, and the UK’s largest all-seater theatre, the Playhouse. It’s home to touring shows direct from the West End – catch The Book of Mormon, The Commitments, and the queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in the next few months.

EXPLORING EDINBURGH

Edinburgh’s historic architecture, endless festivals and vibrant cultural scene mean that sightseeing can very quickly turn into something else entirely. Take the Edinburgh Art Festival (EAF), for example. A stroll from South Bridge to Princes Street takes you past Dovecot Studios, the Talbot Rice Gallery, the National Museum of Scotland and the National Galleries, all of which host exhibitions as part of EAF throughout August. A trip to Leith Links at the end of August will see you bump into the Edinburgh Mela, a two-day celebration of music, fashion, food and art. The Mela (the Sanskrit word for ‘gathering’) brings together all ages, backgrounds and communities for a vibrant and engrossing weekend.

Later in the year, a walk through the Old Town could see you come across Samhuinn, the traditional Celtic re festival that marks the passage from summer into winter. Organised by the Beltane Fire Society, the torchlit ceremony of drums, re-play and immersive performance takes place on 31 Oct. Beltane also mark the beginning of summer with a vast celebration on 1 May. Edinburgh’s literary side comes to life each August with the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Based at the Edinburgh College of Art on Lauriston Place, the Book Festival combines talks and discussions involving world-renowned authors with a massive childrens’ programme and one of the best bookshops you’re ever likely to come across.

Guided tours of the city allow you to explore some of its hidden areas, and get a unique perspective on Edinburgh. A free walking tour of St Giles’ Cathedral on the Royal Mile will ll you in on the building’s storied past, from its role in past unrest and rebellion to its place in Edinburgh’s royal history. A tour of Mary King’s Close or the Blair Street Vaults will take you under the Old Town to explore the ways in which Edinburghers lived in the 17th century, while a trip around BT Murray eld is a chance to get a one-of-a-kind look at Scotland’s national rugby stadium.

And if you fancy some refreshments while you explore the city, why not take a tour around one of Edinburgh’s distilleries or breweries? From Bell eld in Abbeyhill to Cold Town Brewery at the foot of the Grassmarket, many of the city’s craft breweries o er behind-the-scenes tours and the chance to nd out more about the brewing process. It’s a similar story at the distilleries, whether it’s Pickering’s Gin at Summerhall, the Secret Garden Distillery in the shadow of the Pentland Hills, or the Glenkinchie whisky distillery just 15 miles from Edinburgh.

Edinburgh is an ever-evolving city that never fails to entertain. It’s unrivalled in its ability to o er brand new experiences in the most historic of settings. Discover Edinburgh’s rich history yourself this summer and create your own memories for tomorrow.

Princes Street Gardens and the Ross Bandstand

Street performers at St Giles Cathedral

Usher Hall

Discover more entertainment in Edinburgh on Forever Edinburgh: The Of cial Guide To Edinburgh