Scots contemporary arts titan Richard Demarco’s collection to find new home in Scotland and Poland.
Edinburgh, 10 July 2025 - Scots contemporary arts titan Richard Demarco’s collection is set for a new home in Scotland and Poland. Demarco, who celebrated his 95th birthday this week, is a curator, writer, teacher and philosopher who has brought contemporary visual arts to the Edinburgh International Festival since its inception in 1947 and has exhibited works through seven decades by artists like Damien Hirst, Joseph Beuys, Tadeusz Kantor, and Ian Hamliton Finlay has been forced to move the 4,500 piece strong Demarco Collection and Archive from its current base at Summerhall in Edinburgh due to the venue going up for sale last year.
The collection will now move to both the Muzeum Sztuki in Lodz, Poland, considered to be one of the world’s leading contemporary arts museums, and Papple Steading in East Lothian, the historic farm development and cultural hub owned by Scottish entrepreneur George Mackintosh and his wife Eriadne Mackintosh.
While some of the Collection has been held since 1995 as part of the National Collection by the National Galleries of Scotland at its Museum One Gallery in Edinburgh, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design at the University of Dundee will continue its plans to digitise the moving images and sound contained within the Collection in collaboration with Muzeum Sztuki and Papple.
Amassed over 60 years, the Demarco Collection and Archive also includes one million photographs, plus sculptures, rare books, posters, letters, and catalogues. Demarco, who has Italian Scots heritage, graduated from Edinburgh College of Art (where he met lifelong friend and supporter Sean Connery), and was a co-founder of the city’s Traverse Theatre in 1963, going on to launch his first gallery in 1966.
Richard Demarco has been awarded honorary citizenship by several cities and countries. He was made an honorary citizen of the Polish city of Lodz in 2008. In addition, he has been recognized as a European Citizen of the Year by the European Parliament in 2013. He also received a gold medal from Romania and another from the Culture Minister of Poland. He was awarded a CBE in 2006.
Damien Hirst’s work was exhibited by Richard Demarco at the Demarco European Art Foundation in Edinburgh in 1994. The specific installation was titled ‘Agongo’ and featured live rats, and was part of a larger presentation of Hirst’s work and other concurrent exhibitions during the Edinburgh International Festival.
The Demarco Collection and Archive will be in place at Papple in Scotland and Museum Sztuki in Poland by the end of the summer.
Richard Demarco said: “It was of paramount importance to find such fitting new homes for the collection here in Scotland at Papple and at Sztuki in Lodz, and we extend great thanks to both teams for their commitment over the last few months to make this happen. And naturally, we are extremely happy that scholars and students will be able to access the collection in person and online over the years ahead.”
George Mackintosh, Director, Papple Steading, said: “Richard’s father was born in Dunbar, East Lothian and he spent his childhood in the towns of Musselburgh and Portobello. In the same mindframe as the late multi-talented German artist Joseph Beuys, Richard has been a vigorous advocate of the environment for decades and he recalls that the great 18th century Scottish philosopher Lord Kames viewed agriculture as, “the chief of all arts”. Papple was home to Lady Eve Balfour, the founder of the Soil Association. Richard has brought his work to this farm, at which we will celebrate “Art in Agriculture”.
Daniel Muzyczuk, Director of Muzeum Sztuki, said: “On the occasion of Richard Demarco’s 95th birthday, we celebrate a visionary curator whose life has been deeply intertwined with Polish art and culture. He has been a passionate advocate for Polish artists, tirelessly introducing their work to audiences across the UK and Europe. Demarco’s commitment to fostering cultural exchange has opened doors for painters, sculptors, and performance artists from Poland. His long-standing friendship with the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź has resulted in numerous collaborative projects. Through joint initiatives with the museum, he helped bring avant-garde Polish art into dialogue with Western European audiences. Over decades, Richard has supported emerging talents from Poland, ensuring their voices are heard on the international stage. As he turns 95, we honour Richard Demarco’s remarkable legacy of solidarity, artistic vision, and profound connection to Poland.”
Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws LT KC [Helena Kennedy]
My dearest Richard,
You are one of life’s great forces and I count you as a hero and a friend. You are the best of men - imaginative, creative, visionary and so full of humanity. You certainly know the meaning of soft power- understanding how the arts speak a language that crosses all boundaries. You have done so much to advance cultural life in Scotland but also far beyond its borders. People should know more about all your international work, about your insights into the human condition and your ability to empathise with anyone and everyone. There is no one like you, Richard. I love and admire you - dearly and deeply.
Józef Robakowski:
Dear Ryszard,
I write to remind you of the four filmmakers from Łódź — Wojciech Bruszewski, Ryszard Gajewski, Antoni Mikołajczyk, and myself, Józef Robakowski.
It is I, Józef, who now sends these words; the others have already journeyed beyond, into the realm of shadows.
Yet even so, together — I and They — we thank you, for the TIME you so generously shared with us, for the unforgettable journeys through Scotland (above all, that visit to the poet Ian Hamilton Finlay)... and for the faith you placed in our experimental art — that led you to be the first to discover us, and to invite us to the great ATELIER 72 exhibition in Edinburgh.
LINKS:
1. https://www.demarcoarchive.com/
2. https://www.demarco-archive.ac.uk/richard_demarco_biography.pdf