Detail of Bugarin + Castle, Set Upon, part of Shame Parade curated by Mount Stuart Trust for Scotland + Venice 2026. Image by Ryan Scott.
For me, Bugarin + Castle are quite easily the standout artists at this year’s Venice Biennale. Both young and right at the beginning of their collaborative artistic career, Davide Bugarin and Angel Cohn Castle first crossed paths in Edinburgh, where they were both performing in the city’s queer cabaret scene. Read more
Sculpture Placement Group (SPG) was appointed by the Scotland + Venice partnership in July 2022 to undertake a year-long research fellowship, looking into how the partnership could preside over sustainable and ethical presentations at the Art and Architecture Venice Biennales. Read more
Scotland + Venice has been developed over twenty years as an official Venice Biennale collateral event. Up until its pause in 2024, Scotland+ Venice had established a reputation as one of the Biennial’s most exciting collateral events. Read more
Birch trees of Ravenscraig – work on display in the Ravenscraig section of A Fragile Correspondence. Photo by Daniele Sambo.
After an Open Call asking artists and writers for a creative promotional response to the themes of A Fragile Correspondence, Harvey Dimond was commissioned to write the below creative response. This three-part text considers how colonialism has shaped the natural ecologies of Scotland, South Africa and Barbados, and considers their historic and contemporary resonances from a diasporic perspective. Read more
A close-up of the work by Raghnaid Sandilands in the Loch Ness section of A Fragile Correspondence. Photo by Alyesha Choudhury.
After an Open Call asking artists and writers for a creative promotional response to the themes of A Fragile Correspondence, Harper Walton was commissioned to write the below poem, which explores the geographically distinct areas of Highland, Island and Lowland as queer spaces through a transgender and non-binary lens. Read more
Photo credit: Robb Mcrae.
The Scotland + Venice | Found in Translation: Architecture, Land, Landscape, Language event on 14 October brought together presentations from the Austrian Pavilion, Orizzontale (from Rome, exhibiting within the Arsenale), Dualchas, A Fragile Correspondence, the Lithuanian Pavilion and Scottish author Cal Flyn. Read more
A Fragile Correspondence, work on display in the Orkney Section. Photo: Daniele Sambo
The frequency of an island sounds different from that of the mainland; and in conversation with the rhythms of the sky and sea, Orcadians live in conjunction with the water that they are surrounded by and in response to its temperament - floods, rain, and storms. Read more
Model (detail) of a potential future for Ravenscraig site. Photo by Daniele Sambo.
In response to A Fragile Correspondence, journalist Diyora Shadijanova visits the site of Ravenscraig and considers its past, present and potential future. Wikipedia describes Ravenscraig as a "village" and a "new town", but when I travel there one sunny afternoon, it's all roads and roundabouts breaking vast areas of greenery fenced off for future construction. Read more
A Fragile Correspondence, display in Loch Ness section. Photo: Daniele Sambo
In response to A Fragile Correspondence, Eilidh Akilade explores land ownership - imagined, formal, and otherwise. Centring around the Isle of Lewis, the piece looks to the island’s history, familial encounters with the natural landscape, and the Gaelic language. Read more
Maxwell Wilson formed part of the Professional Development Programme, during the summer. From Lhanbryde, Moray, he was a Stage 6 student at the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture in Aberdeen, graduating in July. Read more
