An art exhibition made up of diverse artists from a range of working class and international backgrounds has opened to the public this weekend in Granton.
The ‘Rooted In Community’ installation will showcase the work of local artists as part of Create Community Wealth - a collaborative community wealth-building project, delivered in partnership between WHALE Arts, North Edinburgh Arts, SCOREscotland and Passion4Fusion. It aims to support local people living in North Edinburgh and Wester Hailes to explore their creative and enterprising ideas, to tackle social exclusion and improve wellbeing and local economic prospects through creativity.
The exhibition is a celebration of community and diversity, highlighting the unique experiences and diverse cultures of people living in North Edinburgh and Wester Hailes. Through their work, the artists explore themes such as community, identity, grief, and mental health, inviting those in attendance to reflect on their own experiences and engage with the world around them.
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Colourful paintings to representative photography, sculpture, portraits, and pencil drawings, tell a different story about life in North Edinburgh and Wester Hailes. The exhibition is the first that many of the artists have taken part in and it is hoped that it will inspire more events like it in the future.
Brian Picasso Sinclair, 73, who lived in Wester Hailes before relocating to Craigleith has spoken of how his journey to becoming an artist was shaped by the loss of his son and his surroundings.
His son Bryan died 30 years ago and art acted as something to help to process his grief as a form of therapy. He is excited by the exhibition as it gives diverse artists the opportunity to advertise their work within a professional setting.
Brian is a visual artist, poet and writer. Despite being reliant on a wheelchair and blind in one eye, he has still created over 600 paintings that are colourful and unique in style.
He works with both acrylics and oil paints. His subject matter tends to focus on landscapes, people, flowers and abstracts.
“Around 30-years-ago my son died at the age of 23 after going out drinking with some friends. Nobody told me to take up art but I just did it as it was a way to process the grief”, he said.
“My art is motivated and encompasses all the different aspects of my experiences and my surroundings. When I was younger I went through a bad time with my old man who used to be quite physically abusive.
“I became blind in one eye when I fell as a toddler onto a marble fireplace and my eye popped out. My father did not take me to the doctors at the time and just popped it back in.
“It is fair to say that my journey to becoming an artist has come about in a dramatic way and this has shaped my art. For me I wanted to be cheery through my art and not dwell on the past.
“This exhibition is a great opportunity for me to showcase my work. Those of us coming from working class communities can find it difficult to get our work into galleries as the industry can be quite snobby.
“But it is important that we are recognised as individuals and as artists. Art is really enjoyable and I think it can be used as a mechanism to lift people out of poverty as it is innovative by nature.
“I would like to inspire others in the community by opening myself up through my work. It can be challenging for working class artists as we often do not have the space or means for a studio.”
Mum Reyhaneh Mozaffar, 37, who stays in Orchard Brae, became involved with North Edinburgh Arts through her young son. She has been a professional artist for over 20 years, whilst also having a PHD in Landscape Architecture from Edinburgh University.
Originally from Iran, she moved to the UK at the age of six before returning to Iran at age 11. She travelled to Edinburgh to study in 2012 and has remained here since.
Reyhaneh says that she has relied on art as a mechanism for experiencing and understanding culture from two very different parts of the world. She says that she found painting to be the best medium to communicate to other humans by using her artwork to express the spirituality that connects us.
She has created several oil paintings which she will showcase in the exhibition. Reyhaneh added that her art has allowed her to connect with her kids and continue the heritage that her grandfather started when he motivated her to become creative as a young girl.
“During my time in the UK I’ve not been involved in exhibitions at all. Around a year and a half ago I wanted to get back to art and I decided that I would take it more seriously after having children.
“After a year of painting and being in contact with North Edinburgh Arts this is exactly the opportunity I needed. Art for me can connect two sets of people from very different backgrounds through our shared spirituality and souls.
“It has not been easy to juggle being a mother and an artist. But with the help of my partner I’ve been able to share our time with the kids and to focus on producing my work.
“Before I would maybe try to separate the kids from my art but now I have found that it is great to involve them. It doesn’t matter how much mess they make as it is a great opportunity for them to learn and live with a mum who enjoys being an artist.
“I like passing art through my children and speaking to them about it. My son now conducts his own storytelling through art.
“This opportunity to be a part of this exhibition has been amazing as it has allowed me to get out and feel more confident in terms of the marketing aspect of being an artist.”
Ema-Sayuru Nyx, 34, who is also based in a working class community that she is unable to reveal for safety reasons, has spoken of how art allowed her to escape past trauma and a myriad of difficult health conditions. As an artist she focuses on nature, the environment and sustainable themes.
She creates mostly digital work, which she says is conducive with living in small accommodation typical of working class areas. Ema-Sayuru aims to use Riso shops along with local print shops to produce her work so that she can sell in the local area.
The physical work that she creates uses recycled and natural materials. During the exhibition she will be displaying a selection of the different styles including fresh flower ink prints, pour painting, Riso prints and photographs she has captured.
“I have struggled with housing as there is a limited availability of adapted properties that can accommodate the rare medical diseases that I live with. My current home has problems with asbestos and this can pose challenges when creating artwork”, she said.
“Like many people in an area like mine, you are unable to produce a lot of physical art in the house due to a lack of space. I’ve found that digital art has allowed me to produce a lot without having to worry about room for materials or it becoming contaminated with mould.
“A smartphone or a tablet can allow you to draw as well as produce photography. I’ve experienced a lot of trauma in my life and art has acted as an escape. Art allows you to focus on something that can be completely unrelated to your past.
“This field allowed me to start from scratch and to escape any triggers. To anyone looking to explore art as a medium I’d say doing something mindless, that doesn't have to be good, is a start.
“If you go into producing art with no expectations then you often find something good can come from it even if you are not necessarily happy with the quality. I’ve found that in the past most exhibitions require the artist to do all of the chasing and you can be left in the dark a little.
“The Rooted In Community exhibition has been the opposite and is a really supportive experience. It is important for people to know that art can be cheap and it can be found anywhere. There is also an option for working class people to make a career out of it.
“If you look at the type of art that is found in really posh homes when they are being sold it is normally something that a lot of creative people could produce. Before art could be exclusive but if you look in your community there are centres and spaces for people to become involved with producing or exploring work.”
Henri Van Der Lest, 43, from Muirhouse, moved over from the Netherlands and developed an interest in art from an early age. He says that he hopes the exhibition can show young people from his area that art can be an option in life.
He is a visual artist who is inspired by cityscapes. Henri describes his works as 2-D expressionist and his photography in the exhibition features nature in urban environments.
“At first I did think that I could not make a living off of being an artist. Therapeutically it is a good career to have independence and Edinburgh is a place where there is opportunity to pursue art”, he said.
“There should not be any obstacles for those from Muirhouse or Grantin wanting to learn and develop as artists. North Edinburgh Art shows that there is a development of a cultural centre in the area.
“People are interested in working class communities and how they are represented by artists within these areas. I hope the exhibition will inspire people to see what is achievable in places such as Muirhouse.
“My art for Rooted In Community was inspired from supporting a friend who was very sick in January 2023. I took some pictures to show her what it was like outside to entice her to come out into the world again and that is how I noticed the spring colours.
“I tried to offset the darkness of depression that can happen in life. Art can be a great process for escaping mental health. It should inspire and evoke new ideas and explore how our daily reality can change or positively channel our existence.
“I’d encourage anyone to be productive and give producing art a try.”
Portrait artist Moses George and Niddrie based artist Scott Whitelaw will also see their work displayed at the exhibition. An opening event took place on the evening of Friday April 28.
Those looking to visit the exhibition on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 April can do so between the hours of 11am-6pm. The event will take place at Madelvic House on Granton Park Avenue in the north of the capital.
Tickets for the event can be accessed for free via the exhibition website here. You can learn more about all of the artists by clicking here.
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