A contemporary art festival is set to take place in Dundee for the first time, showcasing work from artists in well-known locations across the city.
Developing in small villages and towns across the UK since 2016, Art Night teams up with local groups to deliver work from a diverse range of artists to unexpected public spaces.
The free-to-attend festival has an aim of bringing art to a wider audience, collaborating with international artists and local people to commission installations for communities.
In 2021, the festival went national for the first time, working with audiences at museums, art galleries and outdoor spaces across the UK, as well as providing online work.
Four editions of the festival have taken place in London, but for the first time, Art Night will take place in the City of Discovery, with this being its first full festival outside London.
On June 24, in what is set to be a full weekend, organisers will present 10 new commissions in spaces across the city by a variety of international and up-and-coming artists.
These will comprise of live performances and bright installations in key locations in Dundee city centre.
The festival will be brought to the city in partnership with Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA), with other collaborations including the V&A Dundee, Creative Dundee and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD) at Dundee University.
Dundee has ‘vibrant cultural scene’
When asked why Dundee was chosen to be the first city to host the festival outside of London, a spokesperson said: “Dundee was our first choice as it’s got such a wonderful rich history, great creative partners to work with and many brilliant artists and arts communities who we plan to collaborate with too.”
Artistic director of Art Night, Helen Nisbet, said she is “delighted” to bring the first full national festival to Dundee.
“Dundee is an excellent city which is very close to my heart due to formative experiences in the city and the people I’ve met here,” Helen said.
“Dundee is a tremendous venue for Art Night. It has a vibrant cultural scene and strong social history and we will collaborate with inspiring partners to commission new work by globally important artists and work with local people to deepen our knowledge of the city.
“Art Night will bring a festival atmosphere to the city and wider area and kick off the summer of festivals in Scotland in 2023.”
Being a London-based event since it was launched, Art Night has showcased work from international creatives such as Zadie Xa and Christine Sun Kim, with one edition even taking place online during the Covid-19 pandemic.
This included an outdoor commission by the Guerrilla Girls in Dundee, which was also installed in further sites across Scotland, England and Wales.
Beth Bate, director at the DCA, said: “We’re thrilled to be partnering with Art Night to bring this exciting programme of new commissions to Dundee.
“Our city, with its lively visual arts scene and world-class galleries and museums, is a perfect location for Art Night’s first full festival outside London, and we can’t wait to share the full programme with our audiences.”
Mark Flynn, convener of Dundee City Council’s city development committee, added: “I am delighted that Dundee will be the first venue outside London to host the unveiling of so many ambitious live events, installations and performances developed in partnership with local communities.
“The city’s reputation as a visitor attraction of choice for its heritage and culture can only be cemented with the announcement of such a prestigious and creative event happening here.”
‘Exciting development for Dundee’
Many of the commissions in Dundee will be developed with local people, the majority as co-commissions with local, national and international partners.
Those working in the arts from Dundee will be employed by the festival, with some works set to be installed longer than the festival weekend for audiences to work with across the summer.
One piece of artwork will be gifted to a local collection after the project ends.
One commission that has been confirmed will be a new work by Turner Prize-winning artist Tai Shani, known for using performance and film to explore forgotten history and stories.
Kirsteen Macdonald, visual arts officer at Creative Scotland, said: “This is a hugely exciting development for Dundee and art lovers across the city and beyond.”
