Friday, August 29, 2014

Edinburgh Printmakers’ Future Home at Castle Mill Works, Fountainbridge

Local Ward 9 readers may well be aware that Edinburgh Printmakers has recently received a Heritage Lottery Enterprise Fund 'round 1 pass' for an award of close to £5 million for the redevelopment of Castle Mill Works. The site is the former HQ of the North British Rubber Company in Fountainbridge, a 2000m2 ‘at risk’ building of significant industrial heritage value.

The ambition to save Castle Mill Works, a building of huge industrial heritage significance in Edinburgh stemmed from Edinburgh Printmakers’ search for the ideal home in which to build a world class contemporary arts centre specialising in printmaking, a vision that is now well on the way to becoming a reality.

Over the next 3 years of capital development, Edinburgh Printmakers’ artistic programme will deliver ambitious projects featuring art work by accomplished international artists, who will each in their own unique way respond to the distinctive and exceptional cultural heritage and legacy of Castle Mill Works whilst also reflecting on the proposed contemporary use as centre for artistic productivity.

Through ambitious and responsive commissioning of temporary artist interventions, permanent site-specific installations, and integrated community projects, Edinburgh Printmakers hopes to draw attention to the features of this historic building, addressing perceptions around the value of the building to the built environment and develop widespread support for retaining and preserving the industrial heritage of the city for re-use as a centre for cultural production.

Edinburgh Printmakers want local people to be at the heart of the project, sharing their knowledge and memories of the history of the area as a rubber manufacturing plant and getting familiar with the new role the building will have as a home for contemporary art practice.

During the programme the temporary installations on and around the building will have a thematic link to works on show at Edinburgh Printmakers gallery in Union Street.

To launch the temporary installations programme, Scottish artist Calum Colvin has created a stunning and unique intervention using the boarded up window recesses of Castle Mill Works. This installation comprises 120 posters consisting of 60 different images ... see photo above :-)


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