Denmark trip for Veer
SHETLAND contemporary art was in the spotlight last weekend at the opening of a new exhibition in Denmark by members of isles visual arts group Veer North.
Jimmy Thomason of Veer North and Gwilym Gibbons from Shetland Arts attended the event, the group’s first international exhibition, which took place in the Farum Kulturhuset, outside Copenhagen.
The event was well attended by more than 100 people who were greeted with music on fiddle and piano and food. The gallery, part of a large arts complex containing a library, workshop spaces, a restaurant, shopping area and a large courtyard, is hosting Veer North’s exhibition entitled Crossing Waater. Running concurrently is an exhibition of the work of Shetland schoolchildren on the same theme in the Kulturhuset’s children’s gallery.
The main gallery was magnificently enhanced with an old boat, floats, oars, driftwood, nets and a barrel of salted fish arranged almost sculpturally.
The gallery caters for all sections of the community with international visual art exhibitions, workshops and musical shows to attract the varied community groups.
Mr Thomason was very impressed by the opening event and the venue itself, particularly the reception he and Mr Gibbons received.
He said: “We were showered with hospitality throughout our visit and the director of the Kulturhuset, Zanne Jahn, was impressed by the high standard of the artwork from Shetland.”
Invited guests included the Mayor of Farum, a community of less than 20,000, and several speeches were made.
Mr Thomason thanked the Danish gallery for its support and apologised for being unable to speak Danish. He pointed out that he would have had no problem but for an accident of history.
