13 December 2013

Burnsiana - a new perspective on the Bard

The life and legacy of Robert Burns is the inspiration for a new book and exhibition by Calum Colvin OBE, Professor of Fine Art Photography at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD).

'Burnsiana' combines Professor Colvin's intriguing photographic artworks with poems written in response by Scots poet Rab Wilson. The result is a witty, controversial and at times tender reflection on the influence of Burns on Scottish culture and society, which will be launched at the Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh tonight.

'The idea for this whole project was to start with Burns, and somehow end up with Burns but, in the process, contemplate subjects such as politics, mortality, tartanry, sectarianism and portraiture,' explained Professor Colvin.

'I wanted to look at characters from the time of Burns and hold a mirror up to aspects of contemporary society. I hope it will encourage people to reflect on the continuing relevance of Burns' legacy to our recent past and forwards into 21st Century Scotland.'

The book and the exhibition follow on from an earlier exhibition he had staged at the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Alloway, which was attended by Gavin MacDougall, Director of Luath Press and publisher of the Bursiana book.

'That exhibition contained a selection of works made over the last ten years or so which have some connection to the Bard. Burnsiana is a word which does not appear in any dictionaries. However, it's generally understood to loosely refer to any collection of literary odds and ends relating to Robert Burns. For this new exhibition this has been extended to also encompass a visual representation of these 'odds and ends'.

'For the book I expanded the idea of Burnsiana further to include works related to Burns poetry and political ideas. Gavin suggested the collaboration with Rab Wilson. I thought it was a great idea, particularly as Rab is a highly accomplished writer in Scots, which is of course, Burns' language.

'We got together, I talked him through the ideas behind the pictures in the exhibition, and he produced his first poems quite quickly after that. He responded to a number of portraits of Robert Burns, but also images such as 'Portrait of Colin McLuckie' an image of an ex-miner and reciter of Burns poetry from the village I grew up in, a tender homage to the working class autodidact Burns scholars who still populate much of Scotland.'

'Burnsiana: Poems and Artworks inspired by the Life and legacy of Robert Burns' is published by Luath Press and features a foreword by acclaimed Scottish writer Janice Galloway.

The exhibition at the Scottish Storytelling Centre will run until 31st January 2014.

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