Heralding an exciting new collaboration between two of the biggest arts events in southwest Scotland, it was announced this week that Dumfries and Galloway-based multimedia artists Sarah Jackets and Chris Helson have been selected for a Spring Fling artists' residency project which will take place in Wigtown, Scotland's National Book Town, for 12 days in the lead-up to and during Wigtown Book Festival 2009.Spring Fling, the annual artists open studios weekend, takes place every May bank holiday weekend across the region (next year’s event will take place from 29 to 31 May). Wigtown Book Festival, which takes place from 25 September to 4 October this year, has grown into one of the autumn's best-loved arts gatherings. With potential for much connection between the audiences of both events, it is hoped that the artists’ residency project will help enhance this relationship and prompt visitors from outside the region to return to Dumfries and Galloway more often.
The 12-day residency will culminate in a new piece of work to be shown during the final weekend of the Wigtown Book Festival 2009, in an open studios-style environment in the Hut at Reading Lasses bookshop. The results of this will then be shown in Wigtown during Spring Fling 2010.
The selected artists, who are based in Carsluith, have been working together on a number of arts projects for the past seven years and are interested in exploring the construction of spaces and peoples’ relationships to those spaces.
“It's a fascinating residency and we are very much looking forward to engaging with the people of Wigtown, Spring Fling and Wigtown Book Festival," said Chris.
For more information about Wigtown Book Festival, please visit http://www.wigtownbookfestival.com/.For more information about Spring Fling, or to sign up for a brochure for next year’s event when it becomes available, please visit http://www.spring-fling.co.uk/.
