In the past, Edinburgh Art Festival’s commissioned programme has explored epochal change and an accompanying sense of unwavering uncertainty. From ‘Remembering The Future’ in 2014 to ‘The Making Of The Future: Now’ in 2017, artists have been invited to imagine new and better ways of living in their practice. But this year’s commissioned programme centres on something more concrete and tangible: the Union Canal.

Originally built to transport coal between Edinburgh and Glasgow in 1822, the canal’s purpose rapidly diminished within two decades thanks to the arrival of railways. Since the millennium, it has been revived as a green route running through the capital, and a leisurely pocket of the city principally used by locals. This summer, it will become the unique setting for a series of newly commissioned works which span the disciplines of film, sound, dance, graphic design and print. 

‘When you start to unpick what we’re walking on and what we’re a part of, much of that is based on the labour of those who’ve been oppressed or came from other places,’ says Glasgow-based artist Emmie McLuskey, who has curated EAF’s Associate Artist Programme. McLuskey observes that the canal was built by Highlanders and Irish immigrants whose labour is under-acknowledged; some even lost their lives during the process. It’s only the second time that the festival has given responsibility for curating a series of new works to an artist. Marking a fresh approach to the EAF’s programming, McLuskey invited four artists to delve into Union Canal’s rich history.

^{Janice Parker / Picture: Sally Jubb}

The associate artists are primarily process-led with behind-the-scenes research just as vital as a project’s outcome. Graphic designer Maeve Redmond spent hours in Edinburgh Central Library’s archive examining material, including maps, ephemera and records of its construction. Redmond observed that 20th-century newspaper cuttings ‘varied wildly from negative to positive’ in their view of the canal’s existence.

Experimenting with typographical styles, and exploring the relationship between craft and art, Redmond has designed two new signs for the canal. One acknowledges its original labourers, and the other includes the polarised newspaper headlines from last century. The prominence of historical context in Redmond’s work prompts viewers to consider how they themselves relate to the canal.

Testament to the diversity of their collective work, artist Hannan Jones has recorded sound under water, which McLuskey interprets as ‘a pulse reading of the canal’. Jones will present a sound sculpture which considers the canal’s vibrations and frequencies. On land, Amanda Thomson, author of A Scots Dictionary Of Nature (2017), has logged the many wild plant species which grow along the canal’s edges. Collaborating with a botanist, Thomson has developed a map which charts the flora and fauna, embellished with stories from the canal’s archives. 

Bringing an element of serendipity to this year’s theme, dance artist Janice Parker will choreograph solo works everyday between Lochrin Basin and Wester Hailes for the festival’s final two weeks. Experienced in performing in a multitude of settings (from factories to fields), Parker’s movements rely on improvisation and misrule. The times of her daily performances will not be readily available to the public. Instead, Parker hopes that people stumble across the performances, which are typically meditative, though she notes that ‘if there’s a raucous party happening on the canal, I might join them’. 

For those who prefer structure to their festival activities, there are ticketed walking tours led by activist Jim Slaven, and cruises on the Lochrin Belle canal boat. Beyond the Associate Artist Programme, other commissions include ‘Tell Me Of Your Boats And Your Waters: Where Do They Come From, Where Do They Go?’ by Montreal-based artist Nadia Myre. This multi-format presentation explores migratory routes starting on the Union Canal, indigenous storytelling and archival research. Meanwhile, visual artist Jeanne van Heeswijk has teamed up with the Community Wellbeing Collective, a group of residents from Wester Hailes, to create a supportive space to explore what community wellbeing is and could be. Or join artist Sarah Kenchington in building a community raft made from found wood, string and a set of sails designed by fellow artists Pester & Rossi. 

While the canal may initially strike festival-goers as an unusual choice of subject matter, it offers a chance to seek out some big existential questions. Community is at the heart of 2022’s theme, resonating with those who may have reassessed their everyday surroundings as a result of the pandemic. Once a symbol of the industrial revolution in Scotland, and now a place of leisure and contemplation, Edinburgh Art Festival invites the public to shape their canal’s meaning by being present in it. 

For full details on all commissions and events, go to edinburghartfestival.com.