Inverkeithing Arts collaborated in 2015 with Inverkeithing artist Rosie Gibson for her project ‘Trading Wisdom’ (read here and here), and we are following with interest her current project ‘Breathing Space – Living a Citizen’s Income’. Check our her Breathing Space – blog and follow her investigation, research and lived experience of this fascinating subject. As always Rosie’s thoughtfulness and thoroughness shines through in her work..
Trading Wisdom: Afternoon Tea on 15th October 2015 was a chance for all those involved in Rosie Gibson’s Trading Wisdom Art Event to come together and celebrate as part of the Scotland-wide Luminate Creative Ageing Festival.Rosie gathered ‘nuggets of wisdom’ from local people born between 1925-35, her mother’s generation, celebrating…
“..both the grittily lyrical wisdom of my mum’s generation and also the shops and businesses in the High Street. I was curious about what happens if you put the two together’
Each of the participating trading places (pub, locksmith, hairdresser, cafe etc.), had a nugget of wisdom interwoven into their trading practice, embedding them into the daily life of Inverkeithing. Rosie and Luminate are delighted to say that every one of the shops have decided to keep their nuggets in place until the end of October 2015.
Inverkeithing Arts Initiative were delighted to be invited to create the the setting for the event, based on the core idea of a drying green on a summer’s day, with the nuggets interwoven between familiar items of everyday washing; baby clothes and men’s shirts, pinnies and football boots, pillowcases, negligees and washing baskets.
The theme of work threaded through the whole event. From Grace’s working days at the Paper Mill, (not to mention her mother, providing frequent meals for her children), to the hope that new technology will free us from work to spend more time with our families, to the participating tradespeople, working to provide Inverkeithing with a functioning and lively high street. In IAI’s design for the event, the drying green seemed to capture this sense of working to support each other, with more than a hint of play and pleasure. Hopefully, we can all imagine taking a moment from our work to stand on the green, enjoying the sunshine? And perhaps we can all “work and play as if you are living in the early days of a better nation.”
Nuggets of Wisdom: ‘I’ve been walking a long time’
‘Podemos! Yes we can!’
Nugget of Wisdom: ‘Some people think the good old days are a joke, but it isn’t.’
Nuggets of Wisdom: ‘When washing machines came out we thought we would have more time to spend with our families’
‘Keep moving’
‘Work and play as if you are living in the early days of a better nation.’
Nugget of Wisdom: ‘My mother’s hoose was like a canteen. We went hame fae the mill for breakfast, lunch,, then hame for the tea!! And my brothers were on different shifts so they went hame at different times tae!’ (3D maps of Inverkeithing created by p4 pupils of Inverkeithing Primary School)
..and sample the handmade chocolates and other delights inspired by wise words from the local generation born between 1925 and 1935, as part of the Trading Wisdom art event on Inverkeithing High Street running between 10th – 17th October. In each of the 10 collaborating shops, Rosie has incorporated a gathered nugget of wisdom into each shop’s trading activity.
Trading Wisdom is part of Luminate, Scotland’s Creative Ageing Festival.
The event is free, but ticketed, so please call Rosie at the number below or email rosiegibson@me.com or online at Eventbrite.
Rosie Gibson has collaborated with older people in Inverkeithing to create wonderful works of art incorporating their nuggets of wisdom! Find each of the 10 works incorporated into the trade of one of the 10 local shops.
Trading Wisdom is part of the Scotland wide Luminate: Scotland’s creative ageing festival which starts on 1st October, bringing older people and people from across the generations together across Scotland to celebrate our creativity as we age, share stories of ageing and explore what growing older means to all of us.
More than 400 creative events take place all across Scotland until 31 October. Find out what’s on at http://www.luminatescotland.org/
The p4 pupils of Inverkeithing Primary School took part in an art project based on their own experiences of living in the town. The children were asked to have a think about their everyday surroundings and get drawing, resulting in these wonderfully vivid and exciting 3 dimensional street scenes.
The pupils worked with the volunteers of Art Club Inverkeithing after artist Rosie Gibson asked if they’d like to help her with one of the pieces for her forthcoming Trading Wisdom art project, taking place in Inverkeithing from 10th-17th October. With the collaboration of the teachers, headteacher and depute head, the p4 pupils took part in the whole-day map project, resulting in two fantastic 3 dimensional maps of the centre of Inverkeithing. These works are now being interpreted into one of the exhibits for Trading Wisdom (details to follow soon!).
For inspiration for this project, the children were shown one of Rosie’s Nuggets of Wisdom, collected from the local generation born between 1925 and 1935:
The children were invited to respond to this quote, and were shown a short presentation about the history of Caldwell’s Mill, which was demolished in 2012. They imagined Grace, whose quote it was, as a young woman, making her way home from the Mill to her mother’s hoose. Would she have seen the same things on her walk which the children see today?
We were very impressed by how much the pupils took to this project. They were very interested and engaged – showing us just how naturally they feel that their town belongs to them. They were sincerely excited about the idea of representing their daily surroundings through art, getting down to several hours of drawing without complaint. I think we can all agree they re-created their environment in the most colourful and imaginative way. And, for the volunteers of Art Club Inverkeithing, the children were a delight to spend a day with!
Well done the p4 pupils at Inverkeithing Primary School, and many thanks to the teachers and management for being so patient and accommodating.
As well as being a part of Rosie’s Trading Wisdom project, the maps will continue to be proudly displayed at Inverkeithing Primary School.
inverkeithingarts.org 