Scottish Art Events & Exhibitions: March 2024

March is a bumper month for new shows across the country. Between 7-10 March, the 19th rendition of the Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival takes place in venues across Berwick-upon-Tweed, with a special focus on the Palestinian filmmaker Basma al-Sharif. In Fife, Crafted Selves: The Unfinished Conversation, a group show of 13 artists curated by Cat Dunn, tours to Kirkcaldy Galleries this month, opening on 23 March and continuing until 12 May.

 In Glasgow, The Reid Gallery at The Glasgow School of Art is mounting a retrospective of the textile works of Fraser Taylor. Titled Instant Whip: The Textiles and Papers of Fraser Taylor 1977-1987 Revisited, the exhibition brings together textiles and archival material relating to Taylor’s practice and his involvement in art and design collective The Cloth (16 Mar-20 Apr). Close by, at their new York Street space, The Common Guild’s first show of 2024 runs 20 April. Day Care, Nicole Wermers’ most substantial UK presentation to date, considers women’s bodies and labour in relation to urban spaces – all set against Glasgow’s industrial cityscape. 

In Edinburgh, Matthew Arthur Williams’ solo show In Consideration of Our Times opens at Stills from 22 March and runs until 15 June. The exhibition features a selection of entirely new colour and black & white self-portraits and landscapes which delve further into Williams’ exploration of memory, race and queer identities. Down the road at Fruitmarket, Martin Boyce’s first solo show at the gallery in 25 years opens on 2 March, as part of Fruitmarket’s programme celebrating its 50^th birthday. Before Behind Between Above Below (2 Mar-9 Jun) will fill all of the gallery’s spaces with Boyce’s architecture-inspired sculptural forms. Collective are also celebrating a birthday this year (their 40^th), opening their 2024 programme with the Scottish premiere of Italian artist's Elisa Giardina Papa’s “U Scantu”: A Disorderly Tale (1 Mar-19 May), which explores a Sicilian myth about women cast as otherworldly, supernatural creatures. 

Also in Edinburgh, the Drill Hall hosts Homestead, a new exhibition by Lauren Cory, featuring pastel compositions that blend the nostalgic comfort of home with the sense of something bigger on the horizon. Continues until 30 March. At the tail end of the month, the Royal Scottish Academy hosts its annual New Contemporaries exhibition, featuring a selection of graduates from Scotland’s art and architecture schools. Opens 30 March and continues until 24 April.