With the Moray Artists Bursary 2019 now open for applications, we decided to speak to those who benefitted from the grants last year to find out more about the impact it had on their organisation and ambitions.
Here, we find out how Graeme Roger, a visual artist working across film, public art, performance, photography, installation and theatre, used his funding and how it has helped his future plans.
In 2018 I was awarded £1,500 funding from the Moray Artists Bursary for a period of research and the development of new work for the collaborative partnership Roger & Reid.
The funding allowed us to visit historical sites of significance, with a view to creating film work that explores recurring themes of eccentrics and impromptu performance. Travelling with props, cameras and sound equipment, we planned to capture footage at these sites that would either inform future projects or be used as completed video artworks.
During this time, we created a new short film entitled ‘Yokinges’, which was filmed at Glenlivet Battlefield. We have since submitted the film to artist film festivals in the UK and internationally, and incorporated it as part of a proposal for new work that we’re seeking funding for.
Thanks to the funding from the Moray Artists Bursary we were able to travel to Glenlivet Battlefield for filming and to test the idea and creative elements we wanted to incorporate into the video, like this cannon test:
Having the time and funding to create new work has generated new ideas for us and helped in our approach towards performance-based work.
Through our collaborative partnership, Roger & Reid, we also recently curated a Lux Scotland screening at Eden Court Cinema, which was a further chance for us to share our creative ideas and show other films that are ‘playful and concerned with cultural oddballs, outsiders and psychotropic adventures in the Scottish landscape’.
I think funding like the Moray Artists Bursary is important because it gives artists the space and time to develop new work. For me, it gave me the opportunity to experiment with ideas that have since inspired a host of new narratives which I’ll be exploring over the coming year…watch this space.
For more information on Roger & Reid or to keep up to date with Graeme’s latest creative outputs, visit the website.
The Moray Artists Bursary 2019 is now open for applications and is available to anyone working across the arts, screen and creative industries in Moray. Emerging and established local artists are encouraged to apply for funding of between £500 and £1,500 by midnight on Friday 25th October 2019, to support activities including advancing skills and technical expertise, ideation, research, and presenting new and innovative work.
For more information or to download your application form visit www.wemakemoray.org/opportunities or contact Sandra on sandra@tsimoray.org.uk or 01343 205274. Large format materials are available on request.
To keep up to date with We Make Moray and our news, follow us on social media. Find us on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook .