From environmentally-themed installations to a Hidden Door retrospective, the festival's latest edition promises a dynamic visual arts experience
Hidden Door has revealed the visual arts roster for their 2019 weekender, which will see the volunteer-run multi-arts festival return to Leith Theatre from 30 May to 2 Jun. With a total of 36 participating artists to showcase their works in the theatre's historic rooms and corridors this year, Hidden Door boasts its largest and most diverse visual arts offering to date.
Since its inaugural outing in 2014, the festival has made a name for itself as a champion of contemporary art, having showcased hundreds of both established names as well as emerging talent in the eclectic architecture of their venues. This year will therefore feature a retrospective of 2D works which reflect upon the artists which have exhibited at Hidden Door over the years, designed by 13 artists across a range of mediums. Meanwhile, artist Henry Martin will be responding to the materiality and structure of Leith Theatre itself, in a collection of collages, sculptures and gilded objects that promote alternative perspectives on the building's logic and the relationship between performer and viewer.
A vibrant installations programme is set to explore issues around the environment, whether real or imagined, including works by artists Lotte Fisher and Koralia Maciej. Sax Shaw will also be considering ideas about heritage and different world-views through his stained glass installation of a rose window, which harkens back to a similar window in Orkney's St Magnus Cathedral that Shaw's father had helped restore in the 90s. Finally, a range of works by postgraduate students at Edinburgh College of Art will be displayed throughout the theatre, encouraging awareness of the liminal spaces that exist within the self, the environment and the systems of power that structure our experience of society.
'Hidden Door started as a simple idea, to try and make art exhibitions a bit more interesting, more lively, by bringing art and music together to create more of an experience.' David Martin, the Creative Director of Hidden Door, said. 'When we first thought of doing something, we were thinking it would probably be an exhibition in a pub, with some live music to get a bit more audience interest. One thing led to another, and here we are, bringing life back into one of Scotland's most amazing live performance spaces, cramming it full of art and music demonstrating a staggering array of creative talent. It makes me really proud that we can do this for the city.'
Hidden Door, Leith Theatre, Thu 30 May–Sun 2 Jun, hiddendoorblog,org