360° Courtyard Exhibition Area & Artist Studios in Leith
On the anniversary of South Korea’s Independence Day, 15 August 2020, a group of artists made a socially distanced live art installation at the Leith studio Quality Yard. Edinburgh-based Korean-born visual artist Sejin Moon (MFA Photography) invited artists and a writer to join a visual dialogue. Through the day, the artists collective made a live art installation recalling Korean “comfort women” forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army during WWII.
The installations referenced a statue installed in 2017 in the city of Busan, South Korea depicting a life-sized girl in traditional dress and bare feet sitting on a chair, representing the plight of the “comfort women”.
The artists intend to commemorate the normalisation of rape in wartime, centered on female sexual slavery, bringing attention to the silencing of women throughout the world.
The artists including Lauren McLaughlin, Zoe Atherfold, Andy Cumming, Sylwia Kowalczyk, and Louise Omer created a black and white mural, a collage “wall of comfort”, printmaking on scarves and other soft fabrics, also a video projection and a final photographic self-portrait by Moon herself.
NEW WORK.... ALL THE TIME
The 360º Wraparound Street Art and Graffiti Exhibition has been updated in April 2021 . Come down and immerse yourself in the new 360 degree artwork...
NEW ART.... A 2021 Refresh
Following the success of Quality Yard’s 2018 & 2019 Leith Festival events, the yard has been transformed once again by Scotland’s finest female street artists and their collaborators in April 2021. The yard repaint was inspired by International Women's Day 2021.
In Quality Yard, at 20 Maritime Lane, a large scale exhibition of creative street art and graffiti opened during the Leith Festival 2018. A collective of nationally and internationally exhibited street artists created new artworks over the course of the week on 6 walls, resulting in a unique 360 degree courtyard experience.
Following this success, the yard has now been transformed by Scotland’s finest female street artists and their collaborators, including:
2018's Artists included:
Just a few seconds walk away from the Port of Leith pub on Constitution Street sits this humble 18th century walled enclosure, once towered by the 19th century warehouses and development of Constitution Street, now flanked by The Scottish Mineral and Lapidary Club and the Maritime Lane Collective artspace.
4 Doors Down - a new public art initiative in the old town of Leith
Four humble doors in Maritime Lane and Maritime Street showcase how new street art on these unloved and unused doorways can entertain, inspire and brighten a small corner of Leith for residents, workers and visiting tourists during June 2019 and beyond.
Under the guidance of the Leith Festival and Leith Late, experienced talented street artists have been given the opportunity to create urban artworks for the Leith Festival. During the Festival, feedback will be taken on this project from residents, businesses, and tourists.
4 Artist spaces in Leith Shore area
Maritime Lane Collective @ Quality Yard, Leith EH6
The Artist Studios in Maritime Lane are now fully occupied. Keep an eye on this page, or register an interest to be kept in the loop.
Register an interest by sending an email to davidorganuk@gmail.com with a brief description of yourself & links to your artwork.
These studio spaces ranging from 2m x 3.2m at £115 a month to 2.2m x 1.5m for £60 a month. All have a 3 month initial lease term, which will then run from month to month. Tenancy is conditional on active use of the studio spaces. All artists will have the free use of the gallery area for exhibitions once fully completed in Q1 2019.
The studio spaces are for practicing artists and artisans. Failure to make regular use of the space, may result in notice being served, after the initial 3 month term. The spaces are not to be used exclusively for storing artworks or art equipment!
The new studio configuration will include a small exhibition gallery space offering 10m wide by 2.4m high wall space over approximately 12 square metres (128 square feet) of floor space. This area is free to use by all the artists in residence for solo shows and open studios exhibitions. The cost of studio rental includes heat, light, water and buildings insurance. Access to the studios is 24 hours a day 7 days a week. The Gallery Area will be available for a 3 day weekend hire from Friday noon - Monday noon for £120 with £80 deposit for external artists or photographers wanting to exhibit in the historic centre of Leith.
In August 2018 Andy Cummings held his Edinburgh Art Festival Pop Up Show titled "Adam Linklater: Mythopoeia" in the studios.
Outside the studio we have a 360 degree street art installation in the 8m x 10m courtyard created as part of the Leith Festival 2018 in June (see below).
Register an interest
Please can artists interested in applying for studio space email davidorganuk@gmail.com with a brief description of yourself and any links to your artwork.