Carol Smillie Unmasks Scotland's Faces (14 March 2005)
Carol Smillie is set to unveil 'Scotland's Faces' today (Monday 14 March) in the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Glasgow.
The 3m x 3m photo mosaic contains over 1200 Polaroid pictures of people from across Scotland. Developed to capture the spirit of Scotland's rich and diverse cultural heritage; the project has been supported by Polaroid, and is part of Scottish Government's One Scotland Many Cultures campaign.
"It's a real pleasure to be unveiling the Scotland's Faces mosaic to the public," said Carol Smillie. "In Scotland we need to get better at celebrating diversity and this mosaic is a fabulous, visual way of doing just that. I'd definitely recommend that you get your family along to GOMA to see it!"
The Scotland's Faces team began their tour of Scotland in the St Enochs Centre in August last year and subsequently held photo calls all over Scotland.
People from over 128 places have had their head and shoulder shots taken, including some more famous faces in the shape of Darius Danesh, Lorraine Kelly, Cameron Stout, and George Bowie and Suzie McGuire from Clyde 1.
The piece will be on display in GOMA until the end of April before moving to the National Portrait Gallery at the beginning of May 2005, where it will be on display until the end of June.
Glasgow School of Art student, Steven Higgins, has been developing the mosaic image that represents the One Scotland Many Cultures logo. "It's been hard work, but it's worth it just to see the piece come to life," said Steven, 28 years.
"I'm a mature student who came back to studying after years of working, some of which as a photographer, so I'm really honoured to have been asked to develop something of this scale. Exhibiting my work in GOMA now, and the National Portrait Gallery in May is a massive accolade for any aspiring artist."
The One Scotland Many Cultures campaign was first launched by the Scottish Government (then called the Scottish Executive) in September 2002 to raise public awareness of racist attitudes and behaviour and the negative impact this has on individuals and society.
A main part of this has been to celebrate the positive aspects of multi-cultural society in Scotland as illustrated in Scotland's Faces.
"Racism is still a major issue in Scotland, something that I see a lot of in working for One Workplace," said Zaffir Hakim, Development Manager for One Workplace, STUC. "It's great to see initiatives like Scotland's Faces on exhibition in public places, that really make people think about the fact that diversity is something to be celebrated, not feared."
Polaroid UK sponsored the campaign by donating all the film and cameras needed to make it happen.
"It was a great honour to support the Scotland's Faces campaign over the last seven months," said Tracey Hart, UK Country Manager, Polaroid UK.
"Donating film and cameras for use in the mosaic is our way of saying that we feel cultural diversity is something that should be celebrated and that there should be no place for racism in this day and age."
For further information please contact:
Liz Anderson at Barkers PR
Tel: 0141 248 5030 Mob: 07966 485 301
Find out more about the Polaroid Mosaic and view the launch photos