Perthshire artist George Finlay Ramsay’s latest project focuses on how we are haunted by and, in turn, haunt our ancestors. Gayle Ritchie finds out more.
George Finlay Ramsay is making plans to have his body burnt in a volcano after he dies.
But at 33 years old, death is (hopefully) a long way off, and so the Perthshire artist has been keeping himself busy working on a new film and exhibition, Family Fugue.
It’s about how we are haunted by and, in turn, haunt our ancestors, and a family who cannot agree on how to tell their own story.
The show, at Dundee’s Generator Projects, kicks off with a preview night on October 7 with a film screening, a reading by Dundee poet Mark Thomson and an “explosive” performance from artist Nina Lopez le Galliard and George himself.
George describes the film, which features performances from family members, as “about a white snake, a red duchess and a golden boy, spanning eight centuries and starting in a cave”.
Inspiration
The inspiration for the film came from an increasing curiosity about his ancestors.
“I grew up hearing these stories about them, about this 13th-Century wizard, this early 20th-Century female politician, this guy who died in the Second World War and haunted his room,” George explains.
“I found it quite boring as a kid – like, who are these dead people and what are they doing in my house? But as I got older I became more interested. This is part of my identity, whether I like it or not. So I decided to make this film.”
The White Snake
The first part focuses on the family’s myth, and local legend, “The White Snake” about Neish de Ramsay, who was said to have cured King Alexander of Scotland using a potion from a serpent found in a cave at Reekie Linn waterfall in Angus.
The potion allowed him to see inside people, and he saw that the dying king had a ball of hair in his stomach, which he cut out and saved him and was given the lands of Bamff, where the family live to this day.
In order to tell this story, George teamed up with poet Mark to tell the myth in Scots, as it would have originally been told.
The Red Duchess
The second part of the film is about Katherine Stewart Murray (Kitty), Duchess of Atholl, the first female MP in Scotland and a vocal opponent of Franco and Hitler, gaining her the nickname “The Red Duchess”.
“Kitty was extremely brave and outspoken, and was repaid by losing her seat in the build-up to the Second World War,” says George.
“She is a significant historical figure but not as celebrated as she might be, perhaps also because she is not a straightforward feminist figure, having initially opposed female suffrage.
“In the film I focus on the moment when she had just stood as an Independent MP on the issue of appeasement.
“She arrived home and sat down at her piano to play Beethoven’s Appassionata, a piece written when he was going deaf. I find this very moving.
“I think she was heartbroken, and angry too.”
Gifted artist
The third part is about David Ramsay, a gifted artist, athlete and birder who died during the Second World War and is said to haunt Bamff House.
In addition to the film, the gallery space will be inhabited by “David’s Room”, a facsimile of a haunted room in Bamff House, created with Le Galliard.
George, who moved to Glasgow in January, works with poetry, ritual and film and has presented work at Camden Art Centre, the British Film Institute and Mubi.
“My living family is extremely intelligent and creative, and annoyingly opinionated,” he reflects.
“When I showed my novelist mother Louise Ramsay an early version of the film, she was initially complimentary, but I knew something was up, so I probed and ultimately we had a big argument about it.
“Once I got over my strop, I thought, this is perfect, it’s the family fugue, so we reenacted the argument for camera and it features in the film too.”
- The project, which runs until November 6, is funded by Creative Scotland, Hope Scott Trust and Generator Projects.
- There will also be events throughout the programme including a camera and film workshop, and a children’s workshop focusing on dyeing with plant materials and fibres, with artist Bebe Green. For more details see generatorprojects.co.uk
