Pathways to Peace from Disparate Points

Bringing together artworks created by Ukrainians and Edinburgh locals together in five art-making workshops in music, photography, pottery-making, loom-weaving, and cooking, this exhibition explores the potential of art objects in building compassionate and constructive relationships between people from disparate points of geography, culture, and life. In times of uncertainty, dislocation, and assimilation, personal and cultural objects take on a peculiar solidity, becoming remnants of experience, identity, and memory. The art objects on display here are remnants of shared experiences and interactions in these workshops, but they are also a possible means of visibility and communication among those attending the exhibition as part of the Fringe.

The exhibition includes a photography series, hand-built pottery vessels, a loom sculpture, a musical performance, and the ‘Peacemaker’s Loom’, an interactive French knitting loom which served as inspiration for the workshops. Food from the cooking workshop will be available for purchase at Pulse, a plant-based home cooking kitchen and eatery below the sanctuary of St Johns’ Church.

These artworks emerged from ‘Five Objects for Art and Peacebuilding’, a project run by Dr Caleb Froehlich and Supported by the Susan Manning Workshop Fund from the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, the Centre for Theology and Public Issues, and the Communities Fund at the University of Edinburgh. Other supporters and collaborators include the Ukrainian Community Centre, the Leith Community Centre, the University of Edinburgh Chaplaincy Centre, Blue Skye Catering, the musician Sally Jaquet, photographer Ciara Menziez, ceramicists Andy Lang and Sara Collins, visual artist Rhona Jack, and chefs Julia Bouvy and Iryna Drobysh.

This project will culminate with Just Festival’s Closing Concert on 26 August at 8pm.

This exhibition is free, with a suggested donation of £7.