Over the past year Big Things on the Beach has been connecting with community groups, local authorities, artists and arts educators in the Puglia region of southern Italy. These are people who share our interest in making it possible for the general public to become more involved in the creation of public art. We are supporting public art developments in Puglia and working towards inviting Apulian artists to work with us here in Portobello. Do you live in Portobello and have a connection with Puglia? Would you like to support us to build stronger cultural connections between Puglia and Portobello - please contact us!
Over the past year, Big Things on the Beach Chairperson, Damian Killeen, has visited Puglia on several occasions to meet with artists, community activists and officials of several towns in southern Italy. Many of these people are very excited by the concept of Big Things on the Beach, particularly in the way that we seek to ‘engage, educate and empower’ local people to play a part in transforming their physical environment through the medium of public art.
Together with our Italian partner organization LWB (Live, Work, Be), we are planning to support the people of Grottaglie – a town with a ceramic history and an artistic present that connects with that of Portobello – to create ‘Big Things on the Balconies’. This project will involve residents and artists in an exploration of the public/private nature of balcony life in this historic and progressive hill town.
We hope this will be the first of a number of collaborations with communities in Puglia where ‘public art’ is a new concept but one which chimes well with local aspirations and their interest in learning about social, economic and cultural developments from elsewhere in Europe.
In return for our activity in Puglia, we aim to host Italian artists to bring their imagination, creativity and Mediterranean perspective to Portobello. We would particularly like to know if there are any Portobello residents with Puglian connections who might be interested in helping us to build creative bridges between Portobello and Puglia. If you are are interested in participating in this, please contact us.
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Big Things on the Beach is a public art trust in Portobello, a seaside suburb close to the city centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was formed by a group of residents in 2003 to explore the potential of the seafront as a site for engagement with public artworks by both emerging and established artists.
