Aberdeen City Remembering Together: Artist Commission
North East Culture Collective on behalf of Culture Aberdeen in partnership with Aberdeen City Council, greenspace scotland and the local community.
Culture Aberdeen (led by Station House Media Unit – shmu), and Aberdeen City Council, in partnership with greenspace scotland are seeking to commission an artist(s)/creative practitioner(s), craftsperson(s), landscape architect(s), organisation or collective to develop, create and install a design for the Aberdeen City Covid Memorial, which will reflect the ideas generated through community consultation and co-design activity during phase one of this project, as part of the national collective memorial project Remembering Together. The partnership is seeking creative practitioner(s), with the ability to reflect, in either 2D or 3D, the discussions and recommendations outlined in the phase one report.
Remembering Together | Co-creating Covid Community Memorials is being delivered by greenspace scotland at the request of the Scottish Government. The programme has involved commissioned artists working with local partners and communities in all 32 local authority areas to co-create covid community memorials.
The project involves two phases:
In phase one 3 creative practitioners worked with local communities in Aberdeen to explore and shape ideas for a creative output that reflected local people’s experiences of the pandemic. At the end of phase one the creative practitioners delivered a report, with a project record, evaluation, and recommendations to inform phase two. The report document is included in the online commissioning call out documents.
For phase two, funding has been made available to realise the final memorial. The final commissioned creative output and “memorial” will be informed by the phase one creative practitioners’ co-creation and collaboration activity with community groups and individuals outlined in their final report.
A maximum budget of £70,000.00 is available for the commission including creative practitioner fees at SAU rates, any external fees such as engineering drawings, materials, plus the installation which includes the preparation of site, transportation any additional freelance staff required, VAT and contingency.
The phase two creative practitioner will be appointed by December 2023 and will have approximately 9 months to complete phase two of the project once a contract is signed. The project will continue to take an inclusive, learning and sustainable approach and be founded on the following four values: relevant, welcoming, aware, honest.
The preferred site for the final Public Art memorial is in the Aberdeen City Council public park, Bon Accord Terrace Gardens, near the centre of Aberdeen City, Bon Accord Terrace Gardens – Hidden Scotland.
For full details on the commission, application timelines, budget and phase 1 reports please follow the link.
The deadline for proposals is 22 November 2023 at midnight.
If you would like further information and to talk to someone about the Artist Brief, please email
stewart.aitken@shmu.org.uk – North East Culture Collective Coordinator
or Carla.almeida@greenspacescotland.org.uk – greenspace scotland LEAD OFFICER.
Call Out Resources:
Preferred site for Memorial: Bon Accord Terrace Gardens
Remembering Together - Phase 1
Remembering Together is a national programme of remembrance managed by greenspace scotland, supported by the Scottish Government, bringing together communities and creative practitioners in collective acts of reflection, remembrance, hope and healing. visit: www.rememberingtogether.scot
The Remembering Together project for Aberdeen City is being managed by Station House Media Unit (shmu), in partnership with Aberdeen City Council, as part of the Culture Aberdeen, North East Culture Collective, initiative. The creative practitioners for Phase 1 were Maja Zeco, Caitlyn Main & Roos Dijkhuizen
Like all the Remembering Together memorial projects, it will be co-created with a diverse range of local communities, geographical and of shared interest, working with creative practitioners to honour those that have lost their lives to Covid-19, reflect on all types of experiences during this time and what the hopes are for the city post pandemic.
The first phase of the Aberdeen City project started in late May with the appointment of a creative practitioner team. The team was made up 3 practitioners; Maja Zeco, Caitlyn Main & Roos Dijkhuizen who facilitated sessions across the city. All three have a wealth of co-created and participatory arts experience and held creative conversations with a wide demographic of the city’s residents, available to review in the report of Phase 1.
