Jon Blackwood

In Aberdeen, recently, a young Montenegrin footballer has been in the news quite a bit. Slobodan Rubežić, although born in Belgrade, qualifies for Montenegro through his mother, who was born in Nikšić. Rubežić, a towering and uncompromising centre back, has become a firm fan favourite at Pittodrie stadium already through his whole-hearted approach and sometimes … Continue reading On Art and football in Montenegro (feat. Slobodan Rubežić) →

I am really looking forward to hosting a really important discussion on the vexed issue of artists' exploitation this Friday, the 16th of June. There's still time to sign up for what will be a very busy session at this link. The discussion was prompted by the publication of weindustria's Structurally F*cked text in March, … Continue reading Aberdeen Cultural Summit : Mini Summit on Artists’ Exploitation, Friday 16 June : Resources →

NOTHING’S GUARANTEED : EXHIBITION OF BOSNO-FUTURISM Artists: Igor Bošnjak, Mladen Bundalo, Lana Čmajčanin, Lala Raščić, Saša Tatić, Maja Zećo Curator : Jon Blackwood Nothing’s Guaranteed : Exhibition of Bosno-Futurism is a showing of six contemporary artists from Bosnia-Herzegovina. It runs in the basement galleries at Summerhall, Edinburgh, opening on 29 July and available for viewing … Continue reading Nothing’s guaranteed : exhibition of bosno-futurism →

I'm really looking forward to showing a Swiss audience at Museum Tinguely a showreel of Macedonian performance art on video, as part of PANCH's extraordinary three month long festival of performance art, BANG BANG. Nora Stojanovikj, Gathering Scales of the Big Fish (In the Fish Tank), 1997, video still For those unable to come or … Continue reading Late to the party : macedonian performance on video since 1991- links & resources →

This essay was written at the end of july in response to Luca Nasciutti & Maja Zećo's digital residency with Look Again Aberdeen, entitled "Streaming to the Sea". Maja Zećo leads her Streaming to the Sea soundwalk, Aberdeen, 26 July 2020 Sunday’s sound-walk by the River Dee, as part of Maja Zećo and Luca Nasciutti’s … Continue reading The Urgency of Listening →

Vitebsk Virality Vitebsk's astonishing new kit modelled by (l-r): Diego Santos Carioca (now Shakhtyor Soligorsk), Daniil Chalov, Dmitry Gushchenko, Ruslan Teverov It's rare that anything from Vitebsk goes viral, these days. Yet in the last week an extraordinary and all too rare collaboration between the worlds of fine art and football, went viral on social … Continue reading Art, Football and Vitebsk →

Why Make Sense? is a show of new work done during the lockdown period by Alan Grieve, founder and driving force behind Workspace Dunfermline, that unique blend of haircuts and visual art that has been running in the Fife town for a decade now. Alan's work as a hairdresser had enabled him to funnel money … Continue reading Why Make Sense? →

Triple Harvest Films, Fermynwoods Contemporary Art, Corby It's been a very hard millennium so far for the steel industry, coming immediately after the precipitate decline of the late twentieth century. The UK's remaining large steelworks, at Scunthorpe and Port Talbot, have been engaged in a pitiless, attritional struggle for survival; whilst Scunthorpe and "British Steel" … Continue reading Stripping the Overburden →

Background For the first time in perhaps a decade, tensions are stirring in Belarus. The country is approaching a general election on August 9th, in which the incumbent President Aleksandr Lukashenko, in power since 1994, is facing his stiffest challenge for many years. Aleksandar Lukashenko addresses the Belarusian National Assembly on 4 August (BBC) Lukashenko … Continue reading Contemporary Protest & the Visual in Belarus →

It's really exciting to see Mladen Miljanović's first Scottish exhibition come together at The WorM in Aberdeen- it opens this coming Thursday at 1800hrs. I have written a new long essay on his work which you can download and read here! The show runs until mid-March.