1 Nov – 23 Nov 2104 Public opening: Saturday 1 Nov 2014, 11am – 1pm WirdCraft event: 13th November 6.30pm
This weekend sees the return of Bonhoga’s Christmas contemporary art and craft exhibition in the main gallery. This year, a pop up exhibition, and earlier and shorter than usual because of the upcoming ARTIST ROOMS exhibition, will run for just three weeks and is therefore aptly titled Peerie Christmas.
But this is where the ‘peerie’ association ends, there will be art and craft in abundance with collections of work from textile artists, ceramicists, jewellers, painters and printmakers that have been selected from Shetland and across the UK, bringing a particular warmth and colour to the exhibition. There is a focus on jewellery this year, for children as well as adults, from some of UK’s most talented makers. It is an essential destination for anyone looking for an affordable, unusual and beautiful gift for Christmas and all work will be available to take away at the point of sale. Peerie Christmas begins with a public opening on 1st November at 11am to which everyone is welcome.
In the Lower Gallery is an exhibition of prints by Julie Dennison - a current student at the Shetland College and an exceptionally talented emerging artist. Taught and inspired by artist and tutor Paul Bloomer her striking, illustrative prints feature landscapes, narratives and recognisable Shetland scenes.
Alongside Julie’s work is WirdCraft, an exhibition of craft inspired by Shetland dialect. As part of its 10th anniversary celebrations, the Shetland Forwirds group collaborated with Shetland Arts and local craft artists in a project to demonstrate, through craft, how the Shetland dialect is still alive and how it can be utilised in a contemporary, informative and creative way. The work in the exhibition demonstrates the natural connection between language and craft. Angela Smith of Shetland Arts said ‘we were delighted to have the opportunity to work with the ForWirds group and the response by the makers to the concept was inspiring with all the artists creating exciting new work’. The artists exhibiting are Sue Horne, Angela Irvine, Jo MacPherson and Samantha Jack, Kit Mowat, Hannah Nelson, Monica Pothecary, Helen Robertson and Cecil Tait. All work is for sale and will make especially unique gifts.
During the exhibition there will be a WirdCraft event on 13th November at 6.30 – 7.30pm at Bonhoga as part of WordPlay, Shetland Arts’ annual book festival. Introduced by Mary Blance of Shetland Forwirds, it will be an evening of poetry and song, with discussions from some of the makers involved in the project. It will be a free event and everyone is welcome.
