A number of events showcasing local and international art will be hosted at Haddo House to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Haddo Arts Festival.
Haddo Arts, the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) and Haddo Country Park Forum are working in partnership to host a programme of events between October 8 and 17.
Katy Neithercut, NTS operations manager for Aberdeenshire North, said: “The Trust is so pleased to be playing its part in celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Haddo Arts Festival, especially as our charity is also celebrating a big birthday this year – our 90th.
“The house and the people who lived here have always had such a connection to art and music so it’s wonderful to be bringing that to life for our visitors and we hope to welcome the many people who love this place, for this special programme.”
Community connection
The 10th anniversary celebrations will kick off with an unmissable “one-night unique experience” titled Lights on Haddo. Images from festivals past and present will be projected onto the exterior of Haddo House with music and song accompaniment.
No booking is necessary for the opening event which will take place at 7.30pm on Friday, October 8.
Kimberley McPherson, from Love with Light Portraits, is one of the artists who will have their work on display during the festival.
She said: “A community is built on human connections which Haddo was and continues to be about.
“Art in the Park hopes to bring a little play to this subject using the photography of staff and those active in Haddo’s current community to emulate the paintings and history of those from the past.
“These will be displayed as portraits on a trail in the park linked to the art in Haddo House for everyone to enjoy for the duration of the Arts Festival.
“Love with Light Portraits is located in Haddo House and is a social enterprise providing portraiture photography which in turn supports our work with adopted children.”
Inspired by Haddo
Haddo Country Park are taking part in the festival through Art in the Park which will run between Saturday, October 9, and Saturday, October 16.
Art installations reflecting the history of Haddo House and the Gordon family, who are “still very much at the heart of Haddo”, will be on display on a trail through the park.
The Haddo Country Park is known for its ancient forest and woodland which offers itself as the perfect backdrop for art and will allow the installations to become a “seamless part of the visitor experience”.
Aberdeenshire painting student Sarah Calder, from Gray’s School of Art, has created artwork inspired by the property’s history.
She said: “By working with oil paint on canvas using classical still life painting techniques, I will be exploring aspects of Haddo that may go unseen or under-appreciated, bringing their focus to the foreground.
“This exhibition of paintings incorporates the use of light to accentuate objects and different surfaces allowing the light to bounce and reflect around the compositions, drawing focus to the significance of the objects themselves.
“By taking inspiration from Haddo House and the history of Haddo I hope to bring significance to the pieces of history within Haddo to beyond showing their beauty and bring history to the modern day.”
Accompanied by music
Visitors are also invited to view Haddo in “a different light” as part of the NTS’s Experiencing Collections project. Designer James Johnson worked with the Haddo team back in 2019 to create “new and enhanced atmospheres” for the house tour.
Based on the themes of light, dark, heat and cold, “dark forgotten” and “dramatic opulent” spaces have been created to add an extra element to the fascinating stories of Haddo.
This year’s programme of events also includes music from classical ensemble The Bach Players, international pianist Joanna MacGregor, Scottish traditional musicians The Whistlebinkies, and classical pianoforte players Steven Devine and Kate Semmens.
The Ten Feet Tall Theatre company will be performing The Proposal by Chekhov with all performances being recorded and made available to view online between October 9 and 16.