The Nation // Live is an exhibition of art and film investigating the contemporary relevance of major transformations in Scottish history. It’s similar then to buzzfeed, except it’s not pointless drivel about things that have no impact on your life.
The internet does a fine job of distracting us from mundane reality. New depths are found when Buzzfeed shows up as a retweet or a status update on Faecesbook. Heads buried in the sand often miss what’s going on outside on their own doorstop. It’s all me me me me.
Turning on the news and playing buzzword bingo with ‘immigration’, ‘community’ and ‘national identity’ could get you very drunk indeed. Even the BBC are rolling out Nick Robinson to reassure middle-class white Englanders that immigrants in the UK only represent one-eighth of the population.
If immigration is making identity a hot topic in England, the YES/NO campaign in Scotland for independence is reaching fever pitch. The historian in me finds it highly amusing that while The Fleg aka Union Jack in Norn Iron is still a stumbling block to a reprieve from civil disorder, their Scottish forefathers could be poised to wave goodbye to it.
So what is there to say about Scottish identity? As an Irishman living in Scotland I find the concept behind the Nation // Live exhibition fascinating.
“The Nation//Live is an exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery from 5 October 2013 to 4 May 2014. It features works of art created during five community outreach projects, which investigate the contemporary relevance of major transformations in Scottish history”.
“Warren’s film unites all the projects and reveals how today’s Scots feel about their ability to shape their own lives”.
In Edinburgh, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery hosts the art exhibition part of it. Daniel Warren’s powerful new film is its centrepiece which is available to see in Glasgow at the GFT.
The Nation // Live | Work, Union, Civil War, Faith, Roots.
5th October 2013 ? 6th May 2014
“Inspired by the portraits and personalities from the Scottish National Portrait Gallery collection, artists have led local groups in four locations – Clydebank, Inverness, Dumfriesshire and Skye – to explore the impact of themes that define the national narrative.”
