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Helmut Lemke

The acclaimed contemporary artist, Helmut Lemke, was awarded the second Jon Schueler Scholarship at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig UHI in 2014. The German artist, who is based in Britain, works with a variety of sounds, some common, some obvious, and others that are to be found and often combines them with other media and art-forms in his exhibitions. Venues that the artist has explored and utilised include: concert halls, outdoor markets, galleries, museums, the frozen sea off Greenland, function rooms of pubs and international festivals. He has presented his work all over the globe, collaborating with other sound artists, musicians, dancers, scientists, visual artists, architects, poets, archaeologists, performance artists and wildlife rangers.

During his Jon Schueler Scholarship at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, sound artist Helmut Lemke presented aspects of his artistic practice and ongoing work. In an evening of experimental sound / music / poetry and  performance,  Helmut  performed  on  an  installation  of  long  strings – long strings are an ever changing site-specific instrument that he began to play around 30 years ago. Helmut was joined on the night by Sabhal Mòr’s Visual Artist in Residence, MacGillivray; Kenneth  Lindsay  (Writer  in  Residence);  Bàrd  Rody  Gorman  and  Musician Neil Campbell (MacBeat).

On  the  opening  night  of  an  exhibition  at  SMO,  Helmut  shared  thoughts  and  preliminary  results  from  his  residence  and  showed  drawings in response to the “sounding” environment of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. He spoke about his time during his residency and how this close encounter with the Gaelic language and culture, the support of the local community and the community of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, influenced his project. Helmut’s final event in closing his Scholarship at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig was the launch of an artist’s book of his work from the residency , CÀNAN SREATHAN TUINN.

 

Picture of a drawing
Picture of a drawing
Picture of a drawing
Picture of a drawing
Picture of a drawing

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