EK MODERNISM: Project Legacies
Overview:
The artist was awarded a UK Urban Culture Public Art Award through the Millennium Commission for Cities of Culture, Liverpool (2005) to create a permanent sculptural work to celebrate the Modernist developments within the former New Town of East Kilbride, Scotland.
Project outcomes: EK MODERNISM
Award development period 2005-07 | Exhibition & Lecture dates: September 2005 - Feb 2010
Output type:
(i) Net Artwork www.eknewtown.com (June 2006 - Jan 12, 2021)
(ii) Artist-Photo book, EK MODERNISM, ISBN-10: 0955312728; ISBN-13: 978-0955312724
Number of pieces: 8,000 photographs
Collection: Artist project proofs (100 images) and project sketches (3) held at the University of British Columbia.
Project acquisition requested by Scott Watson (2009) and approved by the Belkin Art Gallery Committee Board (2011)
http://belkin.pastperfect-online.com/38521cgi/mweb.exe?request=keyword;keyword=borda;d
(iii) Community Engagement Project : Surrey Art Gallery, BC, Canada and the East Kilbride Arts Centre, Scotland
Project description: The artist created three proposals with full fabrication and manufacture costings for East Kilbride City Council and the Millennium Commission for Cities of Culture Board. The proposals included: 1) the creation of a cast in situ Modernist styled concrete staircase with public lookout platform by the park’s play courts; 2) the renewal of the public boardwalk with inlaid bronze architectural details throughout the park’s radius; and 3) the delivery of a large photo screened work for inclusion on the Park’s recreation and cultural centre, the Dollan Baths.
In receiving consent to develop the lookout platform and wall work for the Dollan Baths, Sylvia worked over the next months with developers to finalize site plans. By the end of 2005, she received word from City Council Park Councilors that the Park’s status, including the Centre had changed to a Grade A heritage site. Effectively no additional site features could be added. She approached the Millennium Commission for Cities of Culture and asked in the spirit of the commission to respond to the Town and its history if she could make the Town into the artwork. She was granted permission to formerly annex and record the town to complete her art commission.
The resultant work “EK MODERNISM” is a limited edition artwork, book publication and series of photographs,
in which every significant modernist building within East Kilbride (EK) has been documented.
Overview:
The artist was awarded a UK Urban Culture Public Art Award through the Millennium Commission for Cities of Culture, Liverpool (2005) to create a permanent sculptural work to celebrate the Modernist developments within the former New Town of East Kilbride, Scotland.
Project outcomes: EK MODERNISM
Award development period 2005-07 | Exhibition & Lecture dates: September 2005 - Feb 2010
Output type:
(i) Net Artwork www.eknewtown.com (June 2006 - Jan 12, 2021)
(ii) Artist-Photo book, EK MODERNISM, ISBN-10: 0955312728; ISBN-13: 978-0955312724
Number of pieces: 8,000 photographs
Collection: Artist project proofs (100 images) and project sketches (3) held at the University of British Columbia.
Project acquisition requested by Scott Watson (2009) and approved by the Belkin Art Gallery Committee Board (2011)
http://belkin.pastperfect-online.com/38521cgi/mweb.exe?request=keyword;keyword=borda;d
(iii) Community Engagement Project : Surrey Art Gallery, BC, Canada and the East Kilbride Arts Centre, Scotland
Project description: The artist created three proposals with full fabrication and manufacture costings for East Kilbride City Council and the Millennium Commission for Cities of Culture Board. The proposals included: 1) the creation of a cast in situ Modernist styled concrete staircase with public lookout platform by the park’s play courts; 2) the renewal of the public boardwalk with inlaid bronze architectural details throughout the park’s radius; and 3) the delivery of a large photo screened work for inclusion on the Park’s recreation and cultural centre, the Dollan Baths.
In receiving consent to develop the lookout platform and wall work for the Dollan Baths, Sylvia worked over the next months with developers to finalize site plans. By the end of 2005, she received word from City Council Park Councilors that the Park’s status, including the Centre had changed to a Grade A heritage site. Effectively no additional site features could be added. She approached the Millennium Commission for Cities of Culture and asked in the spirit of the commission to respond to the Town and its history if she could make the Town into the artwork. She was granted permission to formerly annex and record the town to complete her art commission.
The resultant work “EK MODERNISM” is a limited edition artwork, book publication and series of photographs,
in which every significant modernist building within East Kilbride (EK) has been documented.
|
EK Modernism in its entirety represents over 8,000 images of Scotland's first new town; wherein, a large portion of that content has been re-mapped to form an interactive net art website. The website was just launched prior to Google's Streetview systems in 2006, and enables user to explore images and texts about the town. The site was accessible online at www.eknewtown.com from June 2006 to Jan 12, 2021. With the end of the Adobe Flash plug-in being supported by web browsers in 2021 the site has since gone offline. |
Select media reviews:
2022
Trainer, Paul and Ann Fotheringham. “New Town Architecture Better by design - A photographic chronicle of the planners – vision for EK’” EK/75 Saturday Souvenir Supplement in The Herald and Glasgow Times, October 22, 2023 pp. 32- 34.
2020
A critical discussion about the artist's development of EK Modernism is included in the book, Shifting Perspectives, co-published by Surrey Art Gallery and Heritage House Publishers (Canada) A full catalogue can be accessed and downloaded at www.surrey.ca/arts-culture/surrey-art-gallery/gallery-publications/exhibition-catalogues/shifting-perspectives
2017 Turner, Michael. “Sites of Assembly” in Preview Magazine The Gallery Guide, June 2017
https://preview-art.com/oldsite/previews/06-2017/sitesofassembly.html
2008 Bruce, Keith. ‘There could be a market for timeshares in Cumbernauld’ Main feature, Arts, UK Herald, July 18, 2008
2007 Goto. Reiko. “Reflections on Working in Public Art, Practice and Policy Seminar 1: Aesthetics and Ethics of Working in Public” Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen, Scotland
2006 Docherty, Eddie "Roundabouts, concrete, construction: is this a world heritage site?" The Herald, UK 24 Oct 2006
Paisley, Jonathan. "Artist in with the bricks at modern town.' in UK Evening Times, 24, October, 2006.
Dorrell, Ed. “Call for East Kilbride to become World Heritage Site” Architect’s Journal, UK, October 26, 2006.
Laurence, Robin. “Borda’s Images restore modernism’s vision” The Georgia Straight Newspaper April 6-13, 2006 p48
Burnham, Clint. “Critic’s Picks: Sylvia Grace Borda – EK Modernism” WestCoast Life Section, Vancouver Sun Newspaper, March 30, 2006 p D34.
Rhizome NY Arts review http://rhizome.org/editorial/2006/jun/2/new-tools-for-new-towns/
Whitehead, Terri. “Borda Crossings” Canadian Architect, Vol 51, No. 2, February 2006. pp 52-54.
2022
Trainer, Paul and Ann Fotheringham. “New Town Architecture Better by design - A photographic chronicle of the planners – vision for EK’” EK/75 Saturday Souvenir Supplement in The Herald and Glasgow Times, October 22, 2023 pp. 32- 34.
2020
A critical discussion about the artist's development of EK Modernism is included in the book, Shifting Perspectives, co-published by Surrey Art Gallery and Heritage House Publishers (Canada) A full catalogue can be accessed and downloaded at www.surrey.ca/arts-culture/surrey-art-gallery/gallery-publications/exhibition-catalogues/shifting-perspectives
2017 Turner, Michael. “Sites of Assembly” in Preview Magazine The Gallery Guide, June 2017
https://preview-art.com/oldsite/previews/06-2017/sitesofassembly.html
2008 Bruce, Keith. ‘There could be a market for timeshares in Cumbernauld’ Main feature, Arts, UK Herald, July 18, 2008
2007 Goto. Reiko. “Reflections on Working in Public Art, Practice and Policy Seminar 1: Aesthetics and Ethics of Working in Public” Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen, Scotland
2006 Docherty, Eddie "Roundabouts, concrete, construction: is this a world heritage site?" The Herald, UK 24 Oct 2006
Paisley, Jonathan. "Artist in with the bricks at modern town.' in UK Evening Times, 24, October, 2006.
Dorrell, Ed. “Call for East Kilbride to become World Heritage Site” Architect’s Journal, UK, October 26, 2006.
Laurence, Robin. “Borda’s Images restore modernism’s vision” The Georgia Straight Newspaper April 6-13, 2006 p48
Burnham, Clint. “Critic’s Picks: Sylvia Grace Borda – EK Modernism” WestCoast Life Section, Vancouver Sun Newspaper, March 30, 2006 p D34.
Rhizome NY Arts review http://rhizome.org/editorial/2006/jun/2/new-tools-for-new-towns/
Whitehead, Terri. “Borda Crossings” Canadian Architect, Vol 51, No. 2, February 2006. pp 52-54.
Detailed summary of EK MODERNISM
Project Legacies:
2020-2021
The National Galleries of Scotland have recently acquired a set of prints from EK Modernism that will feature in the rescheduled Temples to Tenements exhibition curated by Louise Pearson for 2021.
2020
A critical discussion about the artist's development of EK Modernism (2006) and Every Bus Stop in Surrey, B.C.(2005) written by Rebecca Travis is included in the book, Shifting Perspectives, co-published by Surrey Art Gallery and Heritage House Publishers (Canada)
2017
Sylvia's project archive from 'EK Modernism' is included in the exhibition Sites of Assembly (June 23 - Aug 13, 2017) co-curated by Gabrielle Moser and Lorna Brown for the University of British Colulumbia: Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery.
Exhibition review:
Turner, Michael. “Sites of Assembly” in Preview Magazine The Gallery Guide, June 2017
http://www.preview-art.com/previews/06-2017/sitesofassembly.html
2016-17
Presentation of EK Modernism and A Holiday in Glenrothes prints as part of the exhibition, Scotland Through the Lens: 175 years of documentary photography (Sept 2, 2016 – April 5, 2017), curated by Rachel Nordstrom and presented as part of the inaugural launch of the annual St Andrew's Photography Festival.
2016
February-March
St Andrew's University received over 300 artist's study prints as well as 1000+ digital image files from the series 'EK Modernism' and 'A Holiday in Glenrothes' As a result of this acquisition the University's Art History department is now considering to develop modules to respond to the artist's work and to further examine Scottish New Town cultural histories from its past to present.
2015
November:
St Andrew's University agreed to acquire 'EK Modernism' and 'A Holiday in Glenrothes' for its Special Collections holdings.
September:
Sylvia spoke about the project legacies generated from EK Modernism as part of a 'Cultural Heritage as Resource_' conference at the Serde Arts Centre in Aizpute, Latvia. During this event, she was approached by Azipute's regional cultural co-ordinator to create an independent artwork for the region in the spirit of EK Modernism. Sylvia has since decided to make the town into an artwork not through virtual means as done in EK Modernism but through an applied activity to paint the whole town.
August:
“Rethinking towns and cities: becoming generous” in Reiach and Hall 50 years of Scottish Architecture: The Stravaigers (2015) Edited By Neil Gillespie and Laura Kinnaird pp 9-13 ISBN 978 0 95556148 6 6
The artist has produced a book chapter on the importance of Scottish New Towns and the concept of generous urban design, planning, and architecture. The text was included as part of a series of essays about recent Scottish architectural achievements to be published by Reiach and Hall Architects (2015).
April 2015
As part of a chapter examining mapping, identity, digital imaging and archiving - EKNewTown.com was described as a pioneer for its efforts to present graphical and informational data together as a visual interface in relation to place in
Thinking Through Digital Media: Transnational Environments and Locative Places Palgrave Macmillan Press 2015 ISBN-10: 113743362 Editors Hudson, D and P. Zimmermann.
March 17, 2015
The artist was invited to reflect on the development of 'EK Modernism' as part of events celebrating Scotland's participation in the 2014 Venice Biennale.
The seminar videos are online at https://vimeo.com/127147907
Other related events can be found here: https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/files/52954034/re_casting_modernism.pdf
http://ads.org.uk/events/seminar-re-casting-modernism
http://ads.org.uk/features/working-with-post-war-buildings
2014
Sylvia Grace Borda was invited by the Scottish Civic Trust to assist in the development of national curriculum about the built environment through the visual arts. Sylvia's projects 'EK Modernism' and 'A Holiday in Glenrothes' helped informed a range of photographic-based activities and learning resources for the Scottish Civic Trust, which encourage young persons to create 'portraits' of their local urban and rural environments. A suite of these learning resources can be found online at http://www.scottishcivictrust.org.uk/my-place-photography/learning-project/learning-resources/a-holiday-in-glenrothes-sylvia-grace-borda/
2011
Artist photographs and sketches are requested in 2009 by Scott Watson, curator of the Belkin Art Gallery, to form part of contemporary holdings held by the institution. Committee approval and transfer of title is granted in 2011, and the University of British Columbia acquires directly from the artist 100 photographic artworks and three hand drawn project sketches.
http://belkin.pastperfect-online.com/38521cgi/mweb.exe?request=keyword;keyword=borda;d
2010 -11
'Seeing Across Boundaries' was an artist led project that aimed to foster an appreciation of both cultural identities and geographical histories based on the successful delivery of 'EK Modernism.' The artist mentored participants from Co. Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan and Louth, each of whom had an opportunity to re-examine the art of observation in the context of the built environment between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Artists were introduced to the camera obscura, as well as stereo and macro photography, photogrammetry, and cartographic drawing as alternative ways of recording and observing. Work culminated in a series of exhibitions and public debate.
The mentorship programme ensured that both the lead artist and participants responded to how both architectural and digital forms could illustrate how surveillance can be a theme to comment on the recent Irish socio-political histories as well as be part of a larger contemporary art vocabularies. The project succeeded in producing a new civic ontology that explored how audiences respond to geography, borders, information mapping and architectural space within their own familiar landscapes through exhibition and cross-border dialogue.
2010 Peer reviewed Article: "Digital image archives as public artwork and community engagement,” BCS, The Chartered Institute for Information Learning, Electronic Visual Arts Anthology 2010, London, UK.
Sylvia was invited to contribute an essay on two recent projects developed in which social media and conceptual art strategies were adopted to present alternative ways of exploring the production and dissemination of digital archives. Projects for this examination are: EK Modernism (eknewtown.com) – an archive of over 8000 digital images used to map and conceptualise Scotland’s first New Town of East Kilbride, and an open source and collaborative global community project that was being developed for the launch of the Urban Screen at the Winter Olympics 2010 in Vancouver
2008-09
Book title: ‘PRAKTIKA, Huntly Aberdeenshire, Socially engaged art practice’
ISBN 978-0-9555253-7-7; Publisher: Deveron Arts, pp 54; Introduction by Rosie Gibson & David Harding
Sylvia was commissioned by Deveron Arts, Scotland to write about the development and long-term impact of EK Modernism on social engagement in the arts. This book represents an anthology of essays by art practitioners working across Scotland, particularly addressing the question of how artist led research and practice can be applied to community based projects.
2008
Sylvia was invited to be a keynote presenter at the Architecture Foundation (London, England) New New Town planning and urban conference (Feb 20-21, 2008) with panelists Sir Peter Hall and Derek Walker. She specifically addressed in her lecture the importance of learning from early town planning. During Sylvia's talk, she described why East Kilbride should be considered a model planned and sustainable town even by today's standards. To illustrate her reason behind this thinking, she deconstructed the town's planning in relation to the UN Millennial goals on environmental standards and urban living. Part of Sylvia's talk became part of a larger article published by Blueprint magazine that year.
Her book 'EK Modernism' becomes a key learning tool at the Glasgow School of Art (Architecture Department) and at the University of Strathclyde (Glasgow). It is cited often in MA and PhD architectural and engineering student papers.
'EK Modernism Passages' a film of still and moving images inspired in format by Chris Marker's La Jette is premiered as part of UBUNTU.KUQALA, Finger Lakes Film Festival, Ithaca, New York. Curator Dale Hudson (catalog)
2007 Sylvia presented at Scottish Parliament a paper entitled “Assigning Cultural Value to Public Commissioned artworks – an artist’s perspective about EK Modernism”
She spoke about the artist’s role in public art commissioning and in creating cultural legacies. This paper was delivered as part of an extended dialogue with Robert Gray’s School of Art (Aberdeen) in conjunction with Scottish Arts Council at Scottish Parliament. Members of Parliament (September 25th) were given the opportunity to engage and learn more about how artist led projects create long-term heritage and tourist based legacies.
Also in 2007 the artist led a Community Engagement Project as artist and curator for the Surrey Art Gallery (Canada) and East Kilbride Arts Centre, Scotland
She initiated a cultural exchange between youth from Canada and Scotland. Each participant group was invited to describe and document their own local (Modernist) environments. The resulting efforts from each participant group informed the production of a set of postcards which were exchanged between the two communities and exhibited at both the East Kilbride Arts Centre and Surrey Art Gallery.
Project partners: Sylvia worked with Laura Hackett, Senior Secondary Art Instructor, and the Surrey Art Gallery to have 50 youth participate in an endeavour to document their own Canadian residential neighbourhoods. Project sponsored by Surrey School Board and Surrey Art Teacher's Association, British Columbia, Canada.
Partnered with 70% of East Kilbride’s secondary and primary schools to have at least one class of social studies and/or studio art participate in producing cards that traced their own neighbourhood’s urban development. Sylvia spoke to nearly 140 students from grades 3 to 10 about how to read, trace, and respond to documenting the urban environment.
Outcomes included a Surrey Art Gallery Exhibition and catalogue with contributions from project curator, Brian Foreman, and artists-educators Sylvia Grace Borda and Laura Hackett
Exhibition dates: Surrey Art Gallery Forum Exhibition Space (August 18 – December 9, 2007) & East Kilbride Arts Centre exhibition (November 3 – December 9, 2007)
Blog site: http://ek2surrey.blogspot.co.uk/2007/08/postcards-from-east-kilbride.html
Exhibition catalogue: www.surrey.ca/files/suburban-exchange-publication.pdf
Media coverage: East Kilbride Mail
Thompson, Paul. “Answers on a postcard about EK” East Kilbride Mail, Oct 31, 2007. p16
Project Legacies:
2020-2021
The National Galleries of Scotland have recently acquired a set of prints from EK Modernism that will feature in the rescheduled Temples to Tenements exhibition curated by Louise Pearson for 2021.
2020
A critical discussion about the artist's development of EK Modernism (2006) and Every Bus Stop in Surrey, B.C.(2005) written by Rebecca Travis is included in the book, Shifting Perspectives, co-published by Surrey Art Gallery and Heritage House Publishers (Canada)
2017
Sylvia's project archive from 'EK Modernism' is included in the exhibition Sites of Assembly (June 23 - Aug 13, 2017) co-curated by Gabrielle Moser and Lorna Brown for the University of British Colulumbia: Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery.
Exhibition review:
Turner, Michael. “Sites of Assembly” in Preview Magazine The Gallery Guide, June 2017
http://www.preview-art.com/previews/06-2017/sitesofassembly.html
2016-17
Presentation of EK Modernism and A Holiday in Glenrothes prints as part of the exhibition, Scotland Through the Lens: 175 years of documentary photography (Sept 2, 2016 – April 5, 2017), curated by Rachel Nordstrom and presented as part of the inaugural launch of the annual St Andrew's Photography Festival.
2016
February-March
St Andrew's University received over 300 artist's study prints as well as 1000+ digital image files from the series 'EK Modernism' and 'A Holiday in Glenrothes' As a result of this acquisition the University's Art History department is now considering to develop modules to respond to the artist's work and to further examine Scottish New Town cultural histories from its past to present.
2015
November:
St Andrew's University agreed to acquire 'EK Modernism' and 'A Holiday in Glenrothes' for its Special Collections holdings.
September:
Sylvia spoke about the project legacies generated from EK Modernism as part of a 'Cultural Heritage as Resource_' conference at the Serde Arts Centre in Aizpute, Latvia. During this event, she was approached by Azipute's regional cultural co-ordinator to create an independent artwork for the region in the spirit of EK Modernism. Sylvia has since decided to make the town into an artwork not through virtual means as done in EK Modernism but through an applied activity to paint the whole town.
August:
“Rethinking towns and cities: becoming generous” in Reiach and Hall 50 years of Scottish Architecture: The Stravaigers (2015) Edited By Neil Gillespie and Laura Kinnaird pp 9-13 ISBN 978 0 95556148 6 6
The artist has produced a book chapter on the importance of Scottish New Towns and the concept of generous urban design, planning, and architecture. The text was included as part of a series of essays about recent Scottish architectural achievements to be published by Reiach and Hall Architects (2015).
April 2015
As part of a chapter examining mapping, identity, digital imaging and archiving - EKNewTown.com was described as a pioneer for its efforts to present graphical and informational data together as a visual interface in relation to place in
Thinking Through Digital Media: Transnational Environments and Locative Places Palgrave Macmillan Press 2015 ISBN-10: 113743362 Editors Hudson, D and P. Zimmermann.
March 17, 2015
The artist was invited to reflect on the development of 'EK Modernism' as part of events celebrating Scotland's participation in the 2014 Venice Biennale.
The seminar videos are online at https://vimeo.com/127147907
Other related events can be found here: https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/files/52954034/re_casting_modernism.pdf
http://ads.org.uk/events/seminar-re-casting-modernism
http://ads.org.uk/features/working-with-post-war-buildings
2014
Sylvia Grace Borda was invited by the Scottish Civic Trust to assist in the development of national curriculum about the built environment through the visual arts. Sylvia's projects 'EK Modernism' and 'A Holiday in Glenrothes' helped informed a range of photographic-based activities and learning resources for the Scottish Civic Trust, which encourage young persons to create 'portraits' of their local urban and rural environments. A suite of these learning resources can be found online at http://www.scottishcivictrust.org.uk/my-place-photography/learning-project/learning-resources/a-holiday-in-glenrothes-sylvia-grace-borda/
2011
Artist photographs and sketches are requested in 2009 by Scott Watson, curator of the Belkin Art Gallery, to form part of contemporary holdings held by the institution. Committee approval and transfer of title is granted in 2011, and the University of British Columbia acquires directly from the artist 100 photographic artworks and three hand drawn project sketches.
http://belkin.pastperfect-online.com/38521cgi/mweb.exe?request=keyword;keyword=borda;d
2010 -11
'Seeing Across Boundaries' was an artist led project that aimed to foster an appreciation of both cultural identities and geographical histories based on the successful delivery of 'EK Modernism.' The artist mentored participants from Co. Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan and Louth, each of whom had an opportunity to re-examine the art of observation in the context of the built environment between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Artists were introduced to the camera obscura, as well as stereo and macro photography, photogrammetry, and cartographic drawing as alternative ways of recording and observing. Work culminated in a series of exhibitions and public debate.
The mentorship programme ensured that both the lead artist and participants responded to how both architectural and digital forms could illustrate how surveillance can be a theme to comment on the recent Irish socio-political histories as well as be part of a larger contemporary art vocabularies. The project succeeded in producing a new civic ontology that explored how audiences respond to geography, borders, information mapping and architectural space within their own familiar landscapes through exhibition and cross-border dialogue.
2010 Peer reviewed Article: "Digital image archives as public artwork and community engagement,” BCS, The Chartered Institute for Information Learning, Electronic Visual Arts Anthology 2010, London, UK.
Sylvia was invited to contribute an essay on two recent projects developed in which social media and conceptual art strategies were adopted to present alternative ways of exploring the production and dissemination of digital archives. Projects for this examination are: EK Modernism (eknewtown.com) – an archive of over 8000 digital images used to map and conceptualise Scotland’s first New Town of East Kilbride, and an open source and collaborative global community project that was being developed for the launch of the Urban Screen at the Winter Olympics 2010 in Vancouver
2008-09
Book title: ‘PRAKTIKA, Huntly Aberdeenshire, Socially engaged art practice’
ISBN 978-0-9555253-7-7; Publisher: Deveron Arts, pp 54; Introduction by Rosie Gibson & David Harding
Sylvia was commissioned by Deveron Arts, Scotland to write about the development and long-term impact of EK Modernism on social engagement in the arts. This book represents an anthology of essays by art practitioners working across Scotland, particularly addressing the question of how artist led research and practice can be applied to community based projects.
2008
Sylvia was invited to be a keynote presenter at the Architecture Foundation (London, England) New New Town planning and urban conference (Feb 20-21, 2008) with panelists Sir Peter Hall and Derek Walker. She specifically addressed in her lecture the importance of learning from early town planning. During Sylvia's talk, she described why East Kilbride should be considered a model planned and sustainable town even by today's standards. To illustrate her reason behind this thinking, she deconstructed the town's planning in relation to the UN Millennial goals on environmental standards and urban living. Part of Sylvia's talk became part of a larger article published by Blueprint magazine that year.
Her book 'EK Modernism' becomes a key learning tool at the Glasgow School of Art (Architecture Department) and at the University of Strathclyde (Glasgow). It is cited often in MA and PhD architectural and engineering student papers.
'EK Modernism Passages' a film of still and moving images inspired in format by Chris Marker's La Jette is premiered as part of UBUNTU.KUQALA, Finger Lakes Film Festival, Ithaca, New York. Curator Dale Hudson (catalog)
2007 Sylvia presented at Scottish Parliament a paper entitled “Assigning Cultural Value to Public Commissioned artworks – an artist’s perspective about EK Modernism”
She spoke about the artist’s role in public art commissioning and in creating cultural legacies. This paper was delivered as part of an extended dialogue with Robert Gray’s School of Art (Aberdeen) in conjunction with Scottish Arts Council at Scottish Parliament. Members of Parliament (September 25th) were given the opportunity to engage and learn more about how artist led projects create long-term heritage and tourist based legacies.
Also in 2007 the artist led a Community Engagement Project as artist and curator for the Surrey Art Gallery (Canada) and East Kilbride Arts Centre, Scotland
She initiated a cultural exchange between youth from Canada and Scotland. Each participant group was invited to describe and document their own local (Modernist) environments. The resulting efforts from each participant group informed the production of a set of postcards which were exchanged between the two communities and exhibited at both the East Kilbride Arts Centre and Surrey Art Gallery.
Project partners: Sylvia worked with Laura Hackett, Senior Secondary Art Instructor, and the Surrey Art Gallery to have 50 youth participate in an endeavour to document their own Canadian residential neighbourhoods. Project sponsored by Surrey School Board and Surrey Art Teacher's Association, British Columbia, Canada.
Partnered with 70% of East Kilbride’s secondary and primary schools to have at least one class of social studies and/or studio art participate in producing cards that traced their own neighbourhood’s urban development. Sylvia spoke to nearly 140 students from grades 3 to 10 about how to read, trace, and respond to documenting the urban environment.
Outcomes included a Surrey Art Gallery Exhibition and catalogue with contributions from project curator, Brian Foreman, and artists-educators Sylvia Grace Borda and Laura Hackett
Exhibition dates: Surrey Art Gallery Forum Exhibition Space (August 18 – December 9, 2007) & East Kilbride Arts Centre exhibition (November 3 – December 9, 2007)
Blog site: http://ek2surrey.blogspot.co.uk/2007/08/postcards-from-east-kilbride.html
Exhibition catalogue: www.surrey.ca/files/suburban-exchange-publication.pdf
Media coverage: East Kilbride Mail
Thompson, Paul. “Answers on a postcard about EK” East Kilbride Mail, Oct 31, 2007. p16
2007
Angus Montgomery writes a critical review of the book "EK Modernism” in Architects Journal, London. February, 2007.
2006
Ed Dorrell writes a well summarised and overview to the potential of the EK Modernism project in the article
“Call for East Kilbride to become World Heritage Site” published for the Architects Journal on October 26, 2006.
|
GLASGOW: Architecture Week UK
17 Jun 2005 Artist Sylvia Grace Borda spoke about the development of her photo documentation project and research work for EK Modernism to a full crowd at The Lighthouse Gallery, Glasgow. |
EAST KILBRIDE : East Kilbride Walking town tour – Architecture Week UK (June 2005, June 2006)
Participants learned about the unique architectural features and designs adopted by New Town Corporation and local architects in planning East Kilbride. The walk was led by Sylvia Grace Borda, and J.Keith Donnelly, last town artist for East Kilbride, over a half day. |
2005
EK Modernism book is launched at CCA Glasgow. See the full publication now digitised at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRNnNgcKTEEwww.youtube.com/watch?v=HRNnNgcKTEE
EK Modernism book is launched at CCA Glasgow. See the full publication now digitised at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRNnNgcKTEEwww.youtube.com/watch?v=HRNnNgcKTEE