Body Parts 2006

Following the success of Body Parts 2005, the Royal Scottish Academy and the Society of Scottish Artists have once again come together to produce Body Parts 2006 - a long weekend celebrating the diversity of performance art in the UK today. Through open submission & rigorous selection, Body Parts reflects the growing interest and participation in performance art amongst visual artists. The brainchild of SSA President, artist Kate Downie and RSA Exhibitions Officer Colin Greenslade, Body Parts seeks to encompass, entertain & educate audiences right across the geographical and social strata.

From seasoned performers to burgeoning talent, this year's performance collaboration is host to 9 artists/artist groups: Angela Bartram (from London), Carlos Cortes (London), Amanda Couch (Nottingham), FOUND (Edinburgh), Skylla & Charybdis (Norway), Gillian Taylor (Edinburgh), Bronwyn Platten (Aberdeen), Mark Wayman (London) and Zhane Warren (Belgium). All the participating artists display a kind of discipline beyond dance or theatre. "They take conceptual leaps of the imagination & make physical those emotional places you wouldn’t dare go yourself. Come, see, experience - be guaranteed not to like everything but to be changed by something. We fit no moulds, yet, beyond the stony exterior of the city’s institutional architecture, happy madness lies." Kate Downie, SSA President.

‘From the outside it is easy to assume that the RSA building is a museum of historic art. It often comes as a surprise to the casual visitor that the contemporary and avant garde are alive and kicking in the extensive galleries at the Royal Scottish Academy. For Body Parts 2006 the artists deal with challenging issues such as fear and violence, politics and endurance, the everyday and the unusual..... and all of it live and exciting....." Colin R Greenslade, Exhibitions Coordinator, Royal Scottish Academy

Body Parts is an independent festival, funded and curated by RSA and SSA artists. The SSA & RSA are two of the biggest and most influential artists’ collectives in Scotland as well as being amongst the earliest existent in Scotland with a combined history of some 300 years. Both societies seek to support and develop opportunities for the creation and presentation of new work in Scotland by artists at all stages of their careers.