Scotland is more than bagpipes, kilt and whiskey, as the exhibition “Document Scotland: Views from a country in transition” at the Museum Europäischer Kulturen (MEK) impressively shows. It forms the center of the European Culture Days in the MEK, which presents the guest country Scotland for a month.
The four photographers of the “Document Scotland” collective each have their own perspective on the country that has been part of the United Kingdom since 1707, whose centrifugal forces are becoming ever stronger, especially after Brexit. Colin McPherson observes life on the small Inner Hebridean island of Easdale with 65 residents. Everything has to be imported, including the coal for heating and cooking. So when the ship with the coal arrives, everyone pitches in with wheelbarrows to distribute the raw material. On a soccer field, the sign “Bombay 4962 miles” is reminiscent of colonial times.
Stephen McLaren is also on the trail of the past great. Scottish planters owned a third of all plantations in Jamaica, Britain’s wealthiest colony. The wealth of the past is still reflected in the noble houses of Edinburgh’s New Town with their shiny brass plaques and the mighty funerary monuments on Calton Hill. The money came not only from the sugar trade, but also from government compensation payments to the slave traders, who were compensated for their loss of income in 1837, three years after slavery was outlawed. No one thought of compensating the formerly enslaved.
But traces of that time can also be found in Jamaica, such as the seemingly harmless street sign “Culloden”, which commemorates the catastrophic defeat of the Scottish resistance against the English in 1746. One photo shows the view from the mansion of a former plantation that is still owned by the Jamaican government and may be sold to a Chinese investor who wants to build a luxury resort here. The reminder of the complicated history of the former colony is the most surprising aspect of this Scotland exhibition.
Glasgow and its tradition of protest are the focus of Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert’s work. The working-class city of Glasgow is still the starting point for social and political protests. Photos of demonstrations on Brexit, on unemployment, against the war in Ukraine, against Boris Johnson show it. Sutton-Hibbert also documents the Unionist marching bands and the Scottish sea of blue and white flags at a 2018 independence demonstration in Sterling.
The heart of the European Culture Days are the numerous events. Next Thursday (August 25th) there will be a green whiskey tasting and next Sunday (August 28th) the motto is “Eat and meet: Haggis, Tatties and Talks”. You can book a traditional three-course menu and enjoy it at a table with Schott:innen to exchange ideas about Scotland.
