Art and Nature
2 pm - 5 pm, 31st OCTOBER 2021, The Dunoon Burgh Hall invited an audience to a one-day exhibition and symposium, relating both to COP26 and the Demarco Gallery’s ‘Edinburgh Arts’ contribution to the 1974 Edinburgh International Festival’s programme, where it has been suggested THE FIRST GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON THE THREAT OF CLIMATE CHANGE was held. This event, some 50 years previous to COP26, involved politicians, environmentalists and ‘Edinburgh Arts’ faculty and students. Among the speakers were two world-renowned artists-environmentalists: JOSEPH BEUYS and BUCKMINSTER FULLER.
2021 celebrated the 100th anniversary of the birth of Joseph Beuys, a leading 20th-century artist and co-founder of the German Green Party in 1979. As a result of the recent German elections, the German Green Party has become highly influential, not only in Germany but also in European politics. Richard Demarco invited Joseph Beuys to visit Scotland, over a period of eleven years 1970-1981, so that Joseph Beuys could experience the impact of Celtic culture on Scotland’s cultural heritage. Joseph Beuys created eleven masterworks, all inspired by Scotland’s natural world and made in Scotland. Demarco's "Art and Nature" symposium featured a panel of distinguished guests and screenings of rare footage including Rary McEwen's film of Beuys on Rannoch Moor and the groundbreaking
Oil Conference of 1974.
The imagery used in the event's poster was inspired by the watercolours of George Edwards, which in turn were digitally reinterpreted by Walter Dalkeith. Central to the poster is a photograph taken by Sally Holman of Demarco and Beuys rejoicing that the Argyllshire hillside above Loch Awe should be planted with the oak trees of the ancient Caledonian Forest. This event influenced Beuys’ work “7000 Oaks”
Below is a selection of photographs from the event, interviews and films, originally streamed live by Dunoon Burgh Hall but since edited into separate instalments by friends of the Demarco Archive, Michael Lloyd and Marco Federici.
1. Helen Douglas
2. Prof. Alan Flowers
3. The Road to Meikle Seggie
4. Andrew Marr
5. North Light Arts
6. Prof Craig Hutton
Photo Gallery
