Remembering Together, West Lothian

Public Art

Sep 15

Creation of a Ribbon Sculpture to reflect the experiences and reflections of the Covid-19 pandemic from the people of West Lothian.

Immerse yourself into the project by listening to our audio track:

This audio piece was created after doing a series of engagement workshops with people in West Lothian. Through informal discussions and more specific question we shared personal experiences, feelings and stories of the pandemic. This inspired us to create a ribbon sculpture where each plant and flower painted on the piece remind us of a memory or feeling from these workshops.

Come and see our new exhibition “The Ribbon That Binds Us Together”at Howden Park Centre until 24th March 2024 to discover our botanical ribbon sculpture and share your thoughts on it.

We’ve created a ribbon sculpture as a memorial of the Covid-19 pandemic. It breaks the conventions of a traditional memorial, creating movement within the site, encouraging the community to engage with the artwork and it’s surrounding landscape. Ribbons are often used as commemorative symbols for a variety of causes.

As a memorial space, the ribbon acts as a symbol of remembrance, reflection and hope. This encourages the community to use the space to reflect on their own experiences or to share with others. Bringing influences from our textile background the floating characteristics of the ribbon can be captured in a robust outdoor material to bring elements of softness and calm to the surroundings. The semi-circle invite people to come and sing and play music.

We would love to hear your thoughts! Please fill in the form below to share your ideas and experience.

How would you describe your experience of the Covid pandemic?

We are currently designing an outdoor garden space for people to reflect on the Covid Pandemic. What would you like to see included in the space?

Is there any additional comments / thoughts you would like to share with us?

If you'd like to be kept up to date about the project fill in the form below but this is not required.

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I sit here and watch and wait was an exhibition of community artwork and ideas generated from the engagement sessions with the residents of West Lothian throughout 2022. The exhibition was showcased at the Linlithgow Burgh Halls from Friday 27 January to Sunday 28 May, 2023.

To view the virtual tour click here!

The collection of artworks on display sought to share collective and individual experiences of the pandemic through a diverse range of artworks and stories. The display included textiles, collages and photographs co-created by residents of West Lothian during phase one of the project with artist Marion Parola of Bespoke Atelier.

The immersive space invited visitors to take a peaceful moment to reflect and share. We also revealed the site for phase 2 where we will create a permanent memorial space facing the Civic Centre in Livingston.

Poster for the exhibition “I sit and watch and wait”.

Engagement Sessions

From August until December 2022 we visited a number of community groups from walking groups, youths groups, schools, dance groups or care homes to name a few. We tailored our activities we ran and the questions we asked to each group but overall our aim was to get to know people and understand how they experienced the Covid pandemic.

Walks

We organised a series of walks to hear everyone’s personal story during the Covid pandemic and brainstorm on what a memorial could be. During our walks we looked at the history, the nature, and existing public art in West Lothian. These events were an opportunity for us to chat to you about how the Covid pandemic has affected you and what kind of memorial we could create for the community of West Lothian.

Workshops In Schools

We are working with collage in our own practice and are involving the children of West Lothian to join us on our creative journey. We have sent the video-tutorial below to all the schools in West Lothian for them to create artworks with their pupils. We then hosted in-person workshops in a selection of schools. Many people shared with us that their safe space during the pandemic was their garden, we are therefore inviting the pupils to think about creating a dream garden using collage.

In Person Digital Workshop

Using an iPad and the app ‘Moodboard’ we are guiding people in creating an imaginative collage representing their idea of a "safe space". Our app has lots of shapes people can use to create this digital collage. It is a very intuitive and easy platform to use, and are guiding the participants throughout the process. This workshop only takes a few minutes and the artwork you create is directly sent to your email/ phone.

Bespoke Atelier has been commissioned by West Lothian Council on Remembering Together, an initiative created to encourage communities across Scotland to reflect and share their experiences of the Covid pandemic. This initiative focuses greatly on co-creation, taking participants on the journey of the project, from idea to conception whilst featuring the community’s experience at the forefront.

Offering a place to connect, to reflect and to create, Remembering Together is about creating collectively, being part of a process to commemorate those who have lost their lives, those who have experienced loss and change as well as celebrating the ways in which Scottish communities have come together during the most difficult times.

The images on this page are a snapshot of the project engagement, development and activities that took place between July 2022 and April 2023.

Collages co-created during a series of creative sessions with community groups from West Lothian.

A vast range of ideas and themes were generated together with the people of West Lothian to create a memorial for phase two. These shared experiences show resilience, growth, learning and compassion from everyone in the community. The memorial we will create will represent these qualities as well as help us remember loved ones.